Music Producers-The Unsung Heroes of the 50s-80s Pop Music Renaissance

You may not have heard of some of these people, but a few may be responsible for dragging a drugged-out Ray Charles, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, or Bob Dylan through a late-60s recording session, and creating pop-music gold. Recent Biopics about Johnny Cash, Jim Morrison, Charles, and Dylan have made mention of these recording-studio heroes. What went into making a late 20th Century hit? Was it the artist, the one who cultivated the artist, or both?

George Martin, “The Fifth Beatle”, produced most of the Beatles biggest hits.

1. George Martin: Martin was not called the “5th Beatle” for nothing. Imagine its 1965, Paul McCartney had received from a French Teacher the rhyme “Michelle..ma belle”, and he added “these are words that go together well”, which suggested a tune to go with a finger-picking guitar style he’d been trying. As was often the case, John Lennon suggested the middle eight bars, “I want you, I want you, I want you…” From there, Martin took over, adding the three-part harmony (ever notice how critical this is to the making of a hit?) and adding a guitar solo that he’d written. He essentially maintained the appealing simplicity of the song, while making it highly marketable. Recall that during the “Sgt. Pepper” recording, he provided many of the Mellotron sounds (an early precursor to the Digital Audio Workstation), in conjunction with Lennon. Another tribute to Martin might be his…