Editing George Martin (section)

===Head of Parlophone===
Preuss retired as head of Parlophone in April 1955, leaving the 29-year-old Martin to take over the label.{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=36}} Martin soon hired [[Ron Richards (producer)|Ron Richards]] to be his A&R assistant.{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=43}} However, Martin had to fight to retain the label, as by late 1956 EMI managers considered moving Parlophone's successful artists to [[Columbia Records]] or the [[His Master's Voice (British record label)|His Master's Voice]], with Martin possibly to take a junior A&R role at the His Master's Voice under [[Wally Ridley]].{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=43}} Martin staved off corporate pressure with successes in comedy records, such as a 1957 recording of the two-man show featuring [[Michael Flanders]] and [[Donald Swann]], ''[[At the Drop of a Hat]]''.{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=44}} His work transformed the profile of Parlophone from a "sad little company" to a highly profitable business over time.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=297}}

====Early music records====
As head of Parlophone, Martin recorded classical and Baroque music, [[original cast recording]]s, [[jazz]], and regional music from around Britain and Ireland.{{sfn|Martin|1995|p=63}}{{sfn|Martin|1995|pp=84–85}}{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=259}} He signed singer [[Dick James]], later the music publisher for the Beatles and [[Elton John]], to a recording contract, and reached no. 14 with James's theme from ''[[The Adventures of Robin Hood (TV series)|The Adventures of Robin Hood]]''.{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=40}}

Martin became the first British A&R man to capitalize on the 1956 [[skiffle]] boom when he signed [[the Vipers Skiffle Group]] after seeing them in London's [[2i's Coffee Bar]].{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=54}} They reached no. 10 on the [[UK Singles Chart]] in 1957 with "Don't You Rock Me Daddy-O", though their success faded with the end of the skiffle boom.{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=54}} In 1957, Martin signed [[Jim Dale]], hoping the singer would prove Parlophone's answer to British [[rock and roll]] star [[Tommy Steele]].{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=55}} Dale achieved success as a [[teen idol]], reaching no. 2 on the chart with "Be My Girl". After recording an album, ''[[Jim!]]'', in 1958, Dale cut his music career short to pursue his original profession as a comedian, frustrating Martin.{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=55}}<ref name="IGN">{{cite web |last1=P. |first1=Ken |title=An Interview with Jim Dale |website=IGN |date=16 June 2003 |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2003/06/16/an-interview-with-jim-dale |access-date=10 July 2022}}</ref>

Martin courted controversy in summer 1960, when he produced a cover of the teen novelty song "[[Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini]]" and released it mere days after the release of the record in the UK, opening him to public accusations of piracy. Martin's version, recorded by 18-year-old Paul Hanford, failed to chart in Britain—though it performed well in several other countries and reached no. 1 in Mexico.{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=55}}

Martin produced two singles for Paul Gadd in 1961. Later better known as [[Gary Glitter]], at this time Gadd used the name "Paul Raven". Neither single was commercially successful.

Martin's first British no. 1 came in May 1961, with [[the Temperance Seven]]'s "[[You're Driving Me Crazy]]".{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=60}} Also that year, Martin produced [[Humphrey Lyttelton]]'s version of "Saturday Jump", which became the theme tune of the influential [[BBC Radio]] programme, ''[[Saturday Club (BBC Radio)|Saturday Club]]'', and scored a success at no. 14 in the charts with [[Charlie Drake]]'s novelty record, "[[My Boomerang Won't Come Back]]".{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=49}}

In early 1962, Martin collaborated with [[Maddalena Fagandini]], then working at the [[BBC Radiophonic Workshop]], to create two electronic singles, "Time Beat" and "Waltz in Orbit", which were released as records by the pseudonymous Ray Cathode.<ref name=Cathode>{{cite web |title=George Martin Early Electronic Recordings to Be Reissued |date=9 March 2021 |website=bestclassicbands.com |url=https://bestclassicbands.com/george-martin-electronic-recordings-reissued-ray-cathode-3-9-21/ |access-date=10 March 2021}}</ref> Martin also earned praise from EMI chairman Sir [[Joseph Lockwood]] for his top-10 1962 hit with [[Bernard Cribbins]], "[[The Hole in the Ground]]".{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=67}} He earned another top-10 hit with Cribbins that year, with "[[Right Said Fred (song)|Right Said Fred]]".{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=98}} Though Martin wanted to add [[rock and roll]] to Parlophone's repertoire, he struggled to find a "fireproof" [[hit record|hit-making]] pop artist or group.{{sfn|Miles|1997|pp=330–331}}

In August 1964, Martin oversaw [[Judy Garland]]'s final studio recording session, with two songs from the ''[[Maggie May (musical)|Maggie May]]'' musical.{{sfn|Womack|2017|pp=222–223}}

====Liverpool pop and rock acts====
By late 1962, Martin had established a strong working relationship with [[Brian Epstein]], the Beatles' manager.{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=117–118}} Epstein also managed (or was considering managing) a number of other Liverpool music acts, and soon these acts began recording with Martin. When Martin visited Liverpool in December 1962, Epstein showed him successful local acts like [[Gerry and the Pacemakers]] and [[the Fourmost]]; Martin urged Epstein to audition them for EMI.{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=117}} Gerry and the Pacemakers scored their first no. 1 with their version of "[[How Do You Do It?]]", a song previously rejected by the Beatles, in April 1963. The group's next two singles (also produced by Martin), "[[I Like It (Gerry and the Pacemakers song)|I Like It]]" and "[[You'll Never Walk Alone]]", also reached no. 1, earning the group the distinction of being the first British act to have their first three singles top the charts.{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=132–133}}

Martin also produced the Epstein-managed [[Billy J. Kramer]] and [[The Dakotas (band)|the Dakotas]], whose first single was a cover of the Beatles' "[[Do You Want to Know a Secret]]", which hit no. 2 on the chart. Kramer and Martin scored two UK no. 1's in 1963 and 1964—"[[Bad To Me]]" (also Lennon–McCartney original) and "[[Little Children (song)|Little Children]]".{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=134–135}} Kramer also reached no. 4 with another Lennon–McCartney song in 1964, "[[I'll Keep You Satisfied]]".{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=215}}

Martin began work with the Fourmost in summer 1963 with a cover of one of John Lennon's earliest songs, "[[Hello Little Girl]]", which reached no. 9. Their follow-up, released in November, was another Lennon–McCartney work, "[[I'm in Love (Lennon–McCartney song)|I'm In Love]]", which reached the top 20.{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=140}}

Martin also agreed to sign the Beatles' Cavern Club associate [[Cilla Black]]. Her first record was a discarded Lennon–McCartney song, "[[Love of the Loved]]". The record was only a minor hit, reaching no. 35.{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=142}} Martin and Black rebounded in 1964 with two no. 1 hits, "[[Anyone Who Had a Heart (song)|Anyone Who Had a Heart]]" and "[[You're My World]]". Black's "Anyone Who Had a Heart" was the top-selling British single by a female artist in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite news |title=Biggest selling chart stars of the '60s |date=1 June 2010 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/7791739/Ken-Dodd-outsold-only-by-The-Beatles.html |access-date=2 June 2010}}</ref>

Between the Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Martin-produced and Epstein-managed acts were responsible for 37 weeks of no. 1 singles in 1963, finally transforming Parlophone into the leading EMI label.{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=154}}

In December 1964, Gerry and the Pacemakers released "[[Ferry 'Cross the Mersey]]", a teaser for the February 1965 [[Ferry Cross the Mersey (film)|film of the same name]] in the style of the Beatles' ''[[A Hard Day's Night (film)|A Hard Day's Night]]''.{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=216–217}} The [[Ferry Cross the Mersey (album)|soundtrack album]] featured music by Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Fourmost, Cilla Black, and George Martin-orchestrated instrumental music.{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=217}}

====Comedy records====
Martin produced numerous comedy and novelty records. His first success in the genre was the 1953 "Mock Mozart" single, performed by Peter Ustinov with [[Antony Hopkins]] – a record reluctantly released in 1952 by EMI, only after Preuss's insistence. In 1956 he produced the well-known children's song "Nellie the Elephant" which was released by Parlophone in October of that year. In 1955, Martin worked with [[BBC]] [[radio comedy]] stars [[The Goon Show|the Goons]] on a parody version of "[[Unchained Melody]]", but the song's [[music publishing|publishers]] objected to the recording and blocked it from release. The Goons subsequently left Parlophone for [[Decca Records|Decca]], but member [[Peter Sellers]] achieved a UK hit with Martin in 1957, "[[Any Old Iron (song)|Any Old Iron]]".<ref>{{cite web |title=Peter Sellers |website=officialcharts.com |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/4961/peter-sellers/ |access-date=25 May 2022}}</ref>  Recognising that Sellers was capable of "a daydreaming form of humour which could be amusing and seductive without requiring the trigger of a live audience", Martin pitched a full album to EMI.<ref name="hepworth">{{cite book |last1=Hepworth |first1=David |title=A Fabulous Creation: How the LP Saved Our Lives |date=2019 |publisher=Bantam |isbn=978-1-7841-6208-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WH1lDwAAQBAJ&dq=songs+for+swingin+sellers&pg=PT86 |access-date=25 May 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603212109/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_Fabulous_Creation/WH1lDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=songs+for+swingin+sellers&pg=PT86&printsec=frontcover |archive-date=3 June 2022}}</ref> The resultant album, ''[[The Best of Sellers]]'' (1958), has been cited as "the first British comedy LP created in a recording studio". Both ''The Best of Sellers'' and its follow-up ''[[Songs for Swingin' Sellers]]'' (1959) were critical and commercial successes in the UK.<ref>{{cite book |last=Doering |first=James |title=Lewisohn, Adolph |date=2010-02-24 |publisher=Oxford University Press |series=Oxford Music Online |pages=273 |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.a2085302 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.a2085302}}</ref>
[[File:Abbeyroadtomswain.jpg|thumb|alt=Studio Two, Abbey Road Studios|At Parlophone, Martin recorded many of his acts in Studio Two of [[Abbey Road Studios|EMI Studios]].]]
Martin later became firm friends with [[Spike Milligan]], and was best man at Milligan's second wedding: "I loved ''[[The Goon Show]]'', and issued an album of it on my label Parlophone, which is how I got to know Spike."{{sfn|Ventham|2002|p=62}} The album was ''[[Bridge on the River Wye]]''. It was a spoof of the film ''[[The Bridge on the River Kwai]]'', being based on the 1957 ''Goon Show'' episode "An African Incident". It was intended to have the same name as the film, but shortly before its release, the film company threatened legal action if the name was used.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sikov |first1=Ed |title=Mr. Strangelove: A Biography of Peter Sellers |publisher=Hachette Books |isbn=978-0-7868-6664-9 |date=2003-11-01 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rZGZAAAAQBAJ&q=%22The+Bridge+on+the+River+Kwai%22+%22George+Martin%22&pg=PT314}}</ref> Martin edited out the 'K' every time the word ''Kwai'' was spoken, with ''Bridge on the River Wye'' being the result. The [[River Wye]] is a river that runs through England and Wales. The album featured Milligan, Sellers, [[Jonathan Miller]], and [[Peter Cook]], playing various characters.{{sfn|Lewis|1995|pp=205–206}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Description of ''Bridge on The River Wye''—scroll down page |publisher=Thegoonshow.net |url=http://www.thegoonshow.net/facts.asp |access-date=22 September 2011 |url-status=dead  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220813071442/http://www.thegoonshow.net/facts.asp |archive-date=13 August 2022}}</ref>

Martin scored a major success in 1961 with the ''[[Beyond the Fringe]]'' show cast album, which starred [[Peter Cook]], [[Dudley Moore]], [[Alan Bennett]], and [[Jonathan Miller]]; the show catalyzed Britain's [[satire boom]] in the early 1960s.{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=49–50}} In early 1963, he produced the accompanying soundtrack album for [[David Frost]]'s satirical BBC TV show ''[[That Was the Week That Was]]'', recorded in front of a live audience.{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=213}}

Martin frequently used comedy records to experiment with recording techniques and motifs used later on musical records, such as recording [[magnetic tape]] at half-speed and then playing it back at normal speed.{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=48}} (Martin used this effect on several Beatles records, such as his sped-up piano solo on "[[In My Life]]".){{sfn|Lewisohn|1990|p=65}} In particular, Martin was curious to see how tape offered advantages over existing technologies favoured by EMI: "It was still in its infancy, and a lot of people at the studio regarded tape with suspicion. But we gradually learnt all about it, and working with the likes of Sellers and Milligan was very useful, because, as it wasn't music, you could experiment. ... We made things out of tape loops, slowed things down, and banged on piano lids."{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=50}}