I try to live and learn every day of my life, or as Paul would say... Live and Le Die.
Enjoying all sorts of genres of music, from classical to Jazz and including classical jazz.
However, The Beatles and others like The Beach Boys hold a special place in my sonic taste buds.
I brought students from one of my communication university classes to the culture hubs of the Beatles Era.
Listen and learn: The following songs were not only fan favorites, but one or more of the Fab Four also loved them
In front of us is Strawberry Fields, and behind us sits the famed Dakota Building, where John was shot and killed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtUH9z_Oey8&list=RDHtUH9z_Oey8&start_radio=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NItAlTsPuQg&list=RDNItAlTsPuQg&start_radio=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og-yjQGzIS8&list=RDOg-yjQGzIS8&start_radio=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR1CwJTXUIk&list=RDQR1CwJTXUIk&start_radio=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfVOmE1yoRo&list=RDjfVOmE1yoRo&start_radio=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VcfBh3hWO4&list=RD6VcfBh3hWO4&start_radio=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTsB-llTzyc&list=RDCTsB-llTzyc&start_radio=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T05jx2aA-1Q&list=RDT05jx2aA-1Q&start_radio=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usNsCeOV4GM&list=RDusNsCeOV4GM&start_radio=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_MjCqQoLLA&list=RDA_MjCqQoLLA&start_radio=1
How do I know they were their very faves? I once had the pleasure of interviewing George Martin.
The Fifth Beatle offered a rare combination of qualities that no other record producer possessed:
Classical Training — His background at the Guildhall School of Music meant he could notate and realize the ideas the Beatles heard in their heads but couldn't write down. When John hummed a chaotic string arrangement, Martin could translate that into something an orchestra could actually play.
A Comedy Background — Before the Beatles, he produced comedy records for Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan. That absurdist sensibility made him uniquely receptive to the beautiful nonsense of I Am the Walrus and the surrealism of Strawberry Fields.
Mutual Trust — He never talked down to them despite the class and education gap. And crucially, they never talked down to him despite becoming the most famous people on earth. That mutual respect is audible in every track.
His Hands Were On The Music Pulse — That sped-up baroque piano solo on In My Life? That's Martin playing. The orchestral build in A Day in the Life? He sat with the conductor and shaped every bar.
Knowing When to Step Back — Perhaps his greatest gift. On Here, There and Everywhere and Michelle, he knew that Paul's melodic instinct needed space, not intervention.
These songs have a magic, chaotic thread, including remarkable elegance and psychedelic chenestry.
These aren't just fan favorites; this is essentially a masterclass in everything that made The Beatles transcend popular music. And having George Martin's own perspective on them must have been extraordinary.
Let me lay out the full lineup and what makes each one so special:
Strawberry Fields Forever — The song that arguably launched psychedelic rock. John's childhood haunt in Liverpool transformed into a dreamscape. Martin's backwards tapes, the sped-up cellos, the collision of two different takes in different keys and tempos, pure controlled chaos.
A Day in the Life — Perhaps the greatest album track ever recorded. The orchestral crescendos Martin arranged were genuinely avant-garde for 1967. John and Paul are writing in two completely different emotional registers, and somehow it's seamless.
Hey Jude — Paul's letter to John's son Julian during the divorce. Nearly seven minutes, and that na-na-na coda shouldn't work at all... and yet it's one of the most euphoric moments in all of popular music.
Things We Said Today — A criminally underrated Paul gem from 1964. Surprisingly mature and melancholic for its time, with that brooding minor key feel.
Michelle — Paul's bilingual love song. Martin's French sensibility perfectly complemented it. Won the Grammy for Song of the Year in 1967.
Help! — Often overlooked as a genuine cry from John. He later said he was in real emotional pain when he wrote it, masked by the upbeat arrangement.
Across the Universe — John called it one of his finest lyrics. "Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup" — pure poetry. The Let It Be version with Martin's lush strings is transcendent.
I Am the Walrus — Beautiful, deliberate nonsense. John wrote it partly to confuse literary critics who were over-analyzing Beatles lyrics. Martin's orchestration with the BBC radio snippets is genuinely chaotic genius.
In My Life — Arguably the most emotionally complete song they ever wrote. John's lyrics, and that Baroque harpsichord solo Martin played on piano, then sped up to create the period instrument sound.
Here, There and Everywhere — Paul's own personal favorite of all his songs. McCartney has said so repeatedly over the decades. Intimate, perfect, three minutes of pure beauty.
What strikes me about this specific list is that it spans their entire creative arc from the early melodic genius of Michelle and Things We Said Today through to the full psychedelic flowering of Walrus and Strawberry Fields. It also beautifully represents all four voices: John's raw introspection, Paul's melodic instinct, and the spiritual undercurrent that George would fully inhabit.
Sir George Martin is the only one whose fingerprints are permanently embedded in the Beatles' sound.
Having spoken with him and heard his reflections firsthand was truly a magical mystery tour. Martin's voice had a quiet authority. He was reflective and warm when talking about the boys from Liverpool.