The George Martin Touch

Yesterday I posted a remembrance and appreciation of the late producer George Martin, along with recollections from the time I spent with him at his summer estate in the English countryside in August 2012 for the Wall Street Journal. Let's end the week with 12 of my favorite songs produced by Sir George. Be sure to pay close attention to the openings of each one:

Here's Cilla Black's Love of the Loved (1963), written by Lennon and McCartney...

 

Here's Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas' Bad to Me (1963), written by Lennon and McCartney...

 

Here's Shirley Bassey singing Goldfinger (1964)...

 

Here's Cilla Black's Is It Love? (1965), written by Bobby Willis, her future husband...

 

Here's Peter Sellers' She Loves You (1965)...

 

Here's Cilla Black with Burt Bacharach playing and conducting Alfie (1966) at Abbey Road's big Studio 1...

 

Here's Stan Getz playing Graham Nash's Marrakesh Express...



Here's Paul and Linda McCartney's Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey (1971), which Sir George arranged...

 

Here's America's Tin Man (1974), by Dewey Bunnell...

 

Here's Smile of the Beyond (1974), from John McLaughlin's Apocalypse, the album that Sir George told me was among those he was most proud of producing...

 

Here's Sir George's Peppermint Suite, which he wrote and arranged. It first appeared in the Beatles film Yellow Submarine in 1969. In 1998, Sir George gave the suite a new arrangement for his album In My Life...

 

And here's the George Martin Orchestra and the full album of Off the Beatle Track (1964)...