“A mind-producer”: The bizarre moment when George Martin arrived to produce America
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(Credit: Alamy)
Production work can make or break an album, even if music producers themselves are rarely afforded the same fame and fortune as the artists they work with. There once was a time when music producers were largely nameless, known only to music industry executives and artists. This began to change during the 1960s, thanks in no small part to producers like George Martin, whose work formed an intrinsic aspect of The Beatles’ sound, leading to Martin becoming a very high-demand producer for a vast array of groups all over the world hoping to follow in the footsteps of the Fab Four.
By the time The Beatles finally dissolved in 1970, after a decade of completely reinventing the foundations of rock and pop music, George Martin was among the most sought-after producers in the world. His position on the upper echelon of the music industry by that point meant that the ‘fifth Beatle’, as he was often dubbed, could afford to be a little picky about which artists he worked with. So, when a band called America contacted him in the early 1970s, Martin took the opportunity and ran with it.
The confusingly named America had formed in London, England, in 1970 and quickly adopted the kind of soft rock sound that would dominate the musical mainstream throughout much of the the decade. While the trio, made up of Dewey Bunnell, Dan Peek, and Gerry Beckley, were nowhere close to being on the same level, musically or creatively, as The Beatles, Martin obviously saw something in their work that was worthy of his attention.
By 1974, America had released three albums, often delegating production duties between themselves. Although these albums were very successful, at least in a commercial sense, the group yearned for something a little more artistic, particularly after the disappointment of their third record, Hat Trick. So, for their fourth record, Holiday, the band members sought out the talents of George Martin to take their sound to the next level, leading to a long and beneficial partnership between the producer and the band.
Dan Peek, recalling how the collaboration first came about, once told Circus, “Gerry [Beckley] had been in England, and we’d talked about using George Martin as our producer. He’s such a hot arranger, thinking about all the stuff he’s done.” Continuing, he shared, “There were several other people we wanted to use, but that idea sort of flashed, and George was available. Gerry had a house outside of London where we knew we could rehearse.”
Unfortunately for Martin, though, he could not stay in London forever. Although the band had been formed in England’s capital, its members were all citizens of the United States, and the producer would have to travel over to the sun-soaked streets of Los Angeles to work with them in full capacity. However, Martin was not overly used to the American climate, leading the band to have a particularly bizarre meeting with him upon travelling to the States.
“The first thing he did was take his shirt, sweater and shoes off. He said it was too hot in L.A,” Peek recalled. Despite this, the producer was a natural fit for the band. “He put everyone at ease,” the songwriter said, “and we just got along well from the first second. He has a very musical mind, and as we began working we bounced ideas off of him quite a bit, with things like vocal arrangements and guitar parts. It was an amazing experience working for a mind-producer.”
Following the groundbreaking success of 1974’s Holiday, Martin would go on to produce six more albums for America. In fact, his work with the band came to define much of his post-Beatles production work, reflecting the fact that his skills behind the mixing desk were certainly transferable from one musical style to another.
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