Following the announcement of the death of Sir George Martin this morning, a Chester musician has recalled a chance meeting with the legendary record producer when he was trying to establish himself as a solo artist.
Iain Morton, of Handbridge, was in London at Chrysalis Records with his friend, a budding producer, when he spotted the man known as the ‘Fifth Beatle’.
Iain, now 54, was 26 at the time.
“I said: ‘Bloody hell, there’s George Martin!’
“We went over to talk to him and George was really encouraging and asked Duncan to send him some of his work, which I have to say was really good stuff. Bizarrely, I don’t think he ever did!”
Iain, a video editor at The Business Video Company in Birkenhead, still plays drums for the Red River Band, who did a gig in the Leigh Arms in Northwich recently. He has also played with Merseyside band Jimmy Rae and the Firewalkers.
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He said: “I started out playing drums but then, after I left uni in 1983, I started singing. I tried my hand at becoming a solo artist and then went back to playing drums in about 2004.”
Iain also did a stint as a sound engineer at Studio One in Saughall and was sound engineer for Chester women’s choir A Handbag of Harmonies.
Sir George Martin, who was 90, helped The Beatles achieve global success as the head of the Parlophone record label after hearing their demo tape in 1962.
Ringo Starr paid tribute to Sir George for his ‘love and kindness’ to the Fab Four through the years.
He tweeted: “God bless George Martin peace and love to Judy and his family love Ringo and Barbara. George will be missed.”
Iain added: “ He was a true gentleman.”
