George Martin

George Martin has died at the age of 90..

I can’t begin to tell you how much pleasure George Martin has added to my life. Here is “In My Life,” which includes the famous piano bridge written and performed by Martin:

And this is how Wikipedia describes the bridge:

The song was recorded on 18 October 1965, and was complete except for the instrumental bridge. At that time, Lennon had not decided what instrument to use, but he subsequently asked George Martin to play a piano solo, suggesting “something Baroque-sounding”. Martin wrote a Bach-influenced piece that he found he could not play at the song’s tempo. On 22 October, the solo was recorded with the tape running at half speed, so when played back at normal pace the piano was twice as fast and an octave higher, solving the performance challenge and also giving the solo a unique timbre, reminiscent of a harpsichord.

It’s hard to believe that this song has been around for over 50 years.

“I Feel Fine” is 50!

Yesterday we pondered the genius of John Donne.  Today we honor another British genius, John Lennon.  Fifty years ago this week “I Feel Fine” was the number one song in the US.  Seems like only yesterday.

Donne was a great poet, but it clearly never occurred to him to add guitar feedback to a rock-and-roll song.  It fell to Lennon to come up with this idea three centuries later.