Sir George Martin, ‘Fifth Beatle,’ Dies at 90

Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr has announced the death of the so-called "fifth Beatle," producer Sir George Martin, at age 90.

Starr posted the news on Twitter Wednesday, with a photograph of Martin with the Beatles captioned "Thank you for all your love and kindness George."

Universal Music Group has confirmed the death, but details have not been released.

British Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted a tribute early Wednesday, calling Martin "a giant of music."

Martin, a classically trained musician, signed the four young Beatles to a music contract in 1962. He was considered essential to their success, helping them arrange, and produce many of their biggest hits, starting with one of their first: 1962's "Love Me Do."

​​In some cases, Martin's classical music training filled in gaps for band members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Starr, who entered the industry with only a basic knowledge of reading and writing music. Martin is credited with scoring now-iconic trumpet solos, string quartet interludes, and piano breaks in some of the Beatles' most memorable songs.

After the breakup of the Beatles in 1970, Martin went on to work with other artists such as Elton John, Bob Dylan, and Sting. He was knighted by the British monarchy in 1996.

Martin continued working on Beatles-related projects, recording two solo albums for Paul McCartney and, in 2006, developing a Beatles-based Cirque de Soleil show called "Love" that has won two Grammy awards for its soundtrack.

Guinness World Records has named Martin as the most successful music producer ever, with more than 50 number-one hit records in Britain and the United States alone, over a career that lasted six decades.

Hamlisch Remembered for Iconic Broadway Tunes

by Katherine Cole

Marvin Hamlisch, who composed the scores of dozens of plays and movies, died in Los Angeles on August 2 at the age of 68. His songs were some of the most iconic of Hollywood and Broadway.

Origins

Hamlisch, the Pulitzer prize-winning composer of “A Chorus Line” and recipient of numerous Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Awards, was born in New York City to immigrant parents. His father was a professional accordion player and, seeing musical promise in his son, sent him to the famed Julliard School for piano lessons before he turned 7. As he recounted in many interviews, however, Marvin Hamlisch soon realized he wasn’t cut out to be a classical concert pianist.  Instead, he turned his sights to pop music. He was 21 when he wrote Lesley Gore’s 1965 hit “Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows.”

Legacy

It is for his Broadway and Hollywood scores that Marvin Hamlisch will be best remembered.

Hamlisch was only 29  when he swept the music categories at the 46th Academy Awards in 1974, becoming the first person to receive three Oscars on the same evening. That night, he won best scoring for “The Sting,” and best song and best original dramatic score for “The Way We Were.”

In July, Hamlisch received the first Legends Award from the film, television and digital media non-profit organization CINE at its 55th Annual Awards Gala.  Mark Finkelpearl, a filmmaker and Cine Board member, says that during a question and answer session before the awards, Hamlisch explained that he had to fight to get “The Way We Were” the way he wanted it.

“He played the piano for us in this little, tiny theater and showed clips from movies like 'The Way We Were' and 'The Sting' and talked about different scenes and how changing the music a little bit would change a scene completely. He didn’t like the final music cue in the scene between [Robert] Redford and Barbra Streisand outside the Plaza Hotel in 'The Way We Were.' And the director wouldn’t let him change it," Finkelpearl recalled.  " [He said] ’You know what Marvin? We’re too far along, we don’t want to change it, I think it works. You’re overthinking it.’  And Marvin said ‘Look, I have to live with this movie for the rest of my life. And I know that I can make it better.  I will take the money out of my fee to go back and redo the cue and lay it into the film the way that I think it should be laid in.’  And the director agreed to that. So he lost some money on the deal, but he got the cue the way he wanted it for the end of “The Way We Were.” It was a really, really poignant about craft. And about really elevating your craft to the point where if you’re not happy with it, if you can’t live with it, it’s not right.”

Finkelpearl added that it's not possible to overstate Hamlisch's importance.

"Marvin Hamlisch was a titan.  There’s no one who can ever fill those shoes again," he noted. "Everything’s changed. Showbiz has changed, the movies have changed. There will never be another Marvin Hamlisch.”

Last works

Hamlisch’s latest musical theatre work is the Broadway-bound production of “The Nutty Professor,” based on the 1963 Jerry Lewis Movie. The show, with songs by Hamlisch and Rupert Holmes, just opened in Nashville. Producer Mac Pirkle says Hamlisch was a joy to work with.

“He’s got a very high level of excellence that he strives for in everything that he does," Pirkle recalled. "And that shows in the music that he did and shows in the detail of the arrangements that followed from his compositions. And shows in the work that he did with Rupert [Holmes].” They really have been able to explore the wide variety of emotions in the show in a beautiful way that is fun, it’s energetic, it provides great moments for dance, great moments for character insights. It’s great fun.”

Symphony

A tireless worker, Hamlisch was also the principal Pops conductor for the Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Dallas, Seattle, San Diego and Pasadena Symphony Orchestras and next week was to announce that he’d taken on the same role with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Hamlisch was the recipient of four Grammy Awards, four Emmys, three Academy Awards, two Golden Globes, a Tony and the Pulitzer Prize. That last honor came for “A Chorus Line” which ran for 6,137 performances on Broadway from 1975 to 1990.  Hired by director Michael Bennett, he scored the lyrics and composed songs including “One (Singular Sensation)” and the oft covered ballad “What I Did For Love.”

(Photo by Alan Light.)