LEGENDARY music producer and ‘fifth Beatle’ Sir George Martin has died at the age of 90. Martin’s career began in the 1950’s as a professional oboist.
He became head of the Parlophone music label in 1955; signed The Beatles in 1962; and the rest is history.
After the break-up of the Beatles, he started his own music publishing company and worked with the likes of Jeff Beck, Bob Dylan, Sting and Sir Elton John. He recorded two of Sir Paul McCartney’s solo albums, Tug Of War and Pipes Of Peace.
In 1997, he co-produced Sir Elton’s Candle in the Wind, which was released to mark the death of Princess Diana: the song sold 37 million copies.
It was in 1988 that Sir George arranged an album version of Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood which included musical pieces performed by Elton John and others. The cast included Sir Anthony Hopkins, Bonnie Tyler, Mary Hopkin and Sir Tom Jones.
Set in the village of Llareggub, Dylan Thomas’s ‘play for voices’ is based partly on the characters Thomas observed while living in Laugharne. To add authenticity to the recording, George Martin visited Laugharne to record the sounds of the town, as well as the singing of local school children, which can be heard on the finished album. Some of the recording was done at a local school, before it was completed in London.
Laugharne has always attracted poets, writers and balladeers and now hosts the Laugharne Weekend each year, which celebrates writing, poetry, music and art in a series of venues throughout the town.
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