GEORGE MARTIN: "ALL YOU NEED IS EARS"

-"George," he said, "I don't know if you'd be interested, but there's a chap who's come in with a tape of a group he runs. They haven't got a recording contract, and I wonder if you'd like to see him and listen to what he's got?"

-"Certainly," I said, "I'm willing to listen to anything. Ask him to come and see me."

-"O.K., I will. His name's Brian Epstein..."

"[Paul] said: 'There's a guy in them playing this fantastic high trumpet.' 
'Yes,' I said, 'the piccolo trumpet, the Bach trumpet. Why?' 
'It's a great sound. Why can't we use it?' 
'Sure we can,' I said, and at that he asked me to organize it for him. Now the normal trumpet is in B flat. But there is also the D trumpet, which is what Bach mostly used, and the F trumpet. In this case, I decided to use a B-flat piccolo trumpet an octave above the normal. To play it I engaged Dave Mason, who was with the London Symphony Orchestra."



All You Need Is Ears (1979, republished in 1994) is the story of George Martin, the man who spotted the Beatles' talent, who recorded and produced them from the start, and who brought their musical ideas to life. In this autobiography, he describes exactly what it was like to work in the studio with the Beatles--from the first audition (and his decision to scrap Pete Best on drums) to the wild experimentation of Sgt. Pepper (complete with sound effects, animal noises and full orchestras in evening dress at the direct request of Paul McCartney).

YOU CAN BUY IT HERE