Sound Pictures

July 15, 2018
A Beatles expert recounts Sir George Martin's (1926-2016) years producing the Fab Four's final records, their breakup, and his career afterward.In this final volume of the meticulous and lively biography of the famed Beatles music producer, Womack (English/Monmouth Univ.; Maximum Volume: The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin, the Early Years, 1926-1966, 2017, etc.) resumes after the release of the groundbreaking album "Rubber Soul." The author invites us into the Beatles' world with assurance and aplomb as he guides us through the creation of some of the group's greatest musical achievements. In 1966, Martin observed the band grumbling about live performances and complaining about deficiencies in Martin's Abbey Road studio. Brian Epstein, the band's manager, explored recording at Stax Records in Memphis, but Martin was never keen to move. Meanwhile, Paul McCartney had a song about a spinster, and John Lennon wrote one influenced by his first LSD experience. As Martin recalled, "their ideas were beginning to become much more potent in the studio." While working on a new album, the band's "Penny Lane" single kept them high on music charts. Womack is excellent at chronicling the group's ever increasing creative relationship with Martin as he helped channel their energy and excitement into exploring new ways of producing records. He called McCartney's idea about using "alter egos" to sing songs on "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" a "revelation" and "She's Leaving Home" one of the "best constructed songs they ever did." Martin helped them score the end of "A Day in the Life" and drew upon his orchestral expertise to add strings and brass to their compositions. Womack also reveals how much influence Martin had on the placement of certain songs on the albums. After the Beatles, the wizard behind the curtain continued making his own records and producing for Jeff Beck, Cheap Trick, and Elton John.This impressive, compendious biography is a must-read for fans of the Beatles and other seminal rock groups of the 1960s and '70s.

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September 1, 2018

This is the promised ending to Womack's (English, Monmouth Univ.; Maximum Impact) two-volume biography of producer-musician George Martin, best known for his innovative work recording the Beatles. The first volume, Maximum Impact, was enjoyable enough, exploring the chemistry between the Fab Four and Martin, as well as the nitty-gritty details of recording, but this volume, which chronicles the glory years of the combo, from Yesterday and Today and Rubber Soul (1966) through 1970's Let It Be, is out-and-out fascinating. The Beatles were growing steadily more sophisticated musically, and for every demand they put on him, Martin responded in spades. (John Lennon's remark: "Well, George, I'm sure you can fix it, can't you?") With Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), Martin and the Beatles created a masterpiece that stretched the limits of what could be done on a recording. The final hundred pages of the work discuss Martin's prolific post-Beatles life and his retirement. VERDICT This book will reinforce readers' admiration for the Beatles and give them an appreciation for a producer's efforts. For all collections.--David Keymer, Cleveland

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2018
In his mammoth second title, following Maximum Volume (2017), about the iconic record producer George Martin?who died at age 90 in March 2016, prolific Beatles scholar Womack continues his minutely detailed biography of the so-called Fifth Beatle. Although the vast majority of the text is devoted to Martin's work with the Beatles, from 1966 until their famous breakup in 1970?including Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The White Album, and Abbey Road?Womack also discusses Martin's post-Beatles output, including his work with America, Cheap Trick, solo McCartney, and Elton John. Also discussed is Martin's work on the Beatles Anthology, and, with his son Giles, his remixing of Cirque du Soleil's Love. True, the Beatles' recording sessions have been documented before, but the fun is in seeing those sessions through Martin's eyes. It's also entertaining to read about the various recording innovations that took place under Martin's watch, such as artificial double-tracking (ADT) and backward recording. Womack also includes plenty of lively anecdotes. Complete the Martin set with this strong addition to Womack's impressive list of Beatles books.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)