All You Need Is Ears: The Inside Personal Story of the Genius Who Created the Beatles

There are very few memoirs published by record producers, especially producers as important as George Martin, producer and ?discoverer" of the Beatles. I do call it a memoir because that's what it is - much more is covered than the Beatles. This is a book about George Martin, through and through. The first 100 pages or so recount Martin's early history in the British military up through his first job in the recording industry. There is staggering detail to this, naming even the most insignificant people he met along the way. But since we know this is all contributing to what would become Martin's genius, it really isn't all that tedious. Eventually we come to the chapter on the Beatles - how he discovered them, how he recorded them, and then single by singe, how they became the biggest band in the world. Whether he intends it or not, there is an epic quality to practically every word Martin writes (or rather, has ghostwritten for him). Being a professional in today's music industry and seeing literally all music being recorded on computers, it's fascinating to see the technology they were working from. He writes of actually recording to *wax records*. It's also nice to see someone getting so excited about the advent of stereo recording. It's something we don't even think about today, but to the producers of Martin's era, recording in stereo was as profound as recording to hard drives today. I also was amazed to learn that he made almost no money off the Beatles records. Today, a comparable producer - say Glenn Ballard, Alanis' former producer - has probably made in the dozens of millions of dollars. Martin didn't earn any royalties on those records, and he also refused an ownership stake in the publishing company set up exclusively for Beatles songs. This probably cost him upwards of $50,000,000 if not more. He goes on to say that he has no regrets in refusing the ownership, and whether or not you believe him, he does lay out a pretty impressive spiel about not doing it for the money. I arrived at the conclusion, however, that while a genius producer he is possibly the world's worst businessman. Hundreds of people made millions off the Beatles and the one closest to them - Martin - managed to make almost nothing. That is truly staggering. This is the kind of book that's a must-have for a Beatles fan or aspiring musician, and will proselytize everyone else. A classic book from a classic producer.

George Martin's autobiography is highly readable and interesting for any fan of popular music. It should be noted that this book is not an in-depth discussion of how Beatles records were made, but more of an overview of Martin's larger career (yes, he did do many other things besides produce the Beatles!), and a rumination on the astonishing changes in recording technology which have taken place in so short a time over the course of Martin's career. Special chapters discuss such specifics as the acoustics of studios, the changing role of record producers, and methods of writing film scores, all in a clear way that the average reader can understand without being very technical. I was struck by the breadth of Martin's sonic understanding, his appreciation of many kinds of music, and his down-to-earth approach to everything. Along the way we are treated to anecdotes about his personal life, his work with comedians such as Peter Sellers, his financial struggles with EMI and his own company, AIR, etc. The Beatles are mostly discussed in a chapter on "Sgt. Pepper," though his recent book "The Making of Sgt. Pepper" is an even more illuminating tract on that subject. "All You Need is Ears" first came out in the late 1970s and may seem a bit dated now, were it not for the fact that Martin predicted most of the technological advances that have happened since, including the rise of digital recording and compact discs.Fans interested only in the Beatles should also look elsewhere, but anyone interested in a larger view of various aspects of the recording industry will be fascinated.

This book as the answer. It was written by their producer who sometimes had to work from insane directions. The Bealtes were not the only ones working hard on thier songs. George Martin contributed to the group as well. The parts on the early days are fascinating too. The chapter on the making of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is hysterical. By early days, I mean his early days as a producer of comedy records, and when he first started working with the Beatles. He has an interesting perspective on them, and their music. It never becomes more of a musical study then his story, which is a definite plus. This is worth reading.

This is an excellent "must read" book for both the professional musician,recording engineer, music producer and music enthusiest. Giving insight to the producer of one of the worlds most influentcal bands in history.

For every music lover, its history is part of the pleasure. As we'll enter soon in the 21st Century, one must absolutely read the story of the man who, with The Beatles, changed the second half of the 20th century in helping them composed the most important opus of its time. This is a book about music, about people making music, this is a book about Sir George Martin, a humble man, a musician who was able to recognize that those youngs guys from Liverpool would, with a little help, change the course of music history and rise popular music to a higher livel, equal to the one normally reserved to the so-called "serious music". His life, his love, his work... Our pleasure.And my greatest honour was to have my personal copy of this book autographed by Sir George Martin himself at EMI Abbey Road Studios in London...