0:00:20 > 0:00:24# There could never be
0:00:25 > 0:00:28# A portrait of my love
0:00:31 > 0:00:34# For nobody
0:00:36 > 0:00:41# Could paint a dream
0:00:43 > 0:00:48# You will never see
0:00:50 > 0:00:54# A portrait of my love
0:00:56 > 0:01:03# For miracles are never seen... #
0:01:04 > 0:01:10The first impression in the office, the bicycle clips and a beret.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12- And my naval greatcoat.- Yes.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15- With the epaulettes removed. - Yeah, well, that was all right,
0:01:15 > 0:01:18but the bicycle clips and the beret were definitely...
0:01:18 > 0:01:22I'm sorry they didn't conform to your standards!
0:01:22 > 0:01:25What was it like, meeting Mum for the first time at Abbey Road?
0:01:25 > 0:01:28Because she was working there when you started.
0:01:28 > 0:01:33Yeah. She'd gone there from secretarial college.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37She greeted my arrival in a very cold manner.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42She told me later that she thought I was very square, definitely uncool.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44It's lovely now.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46Put my suntan cream on.
0:01:46 > 0:01:52But eventually, I fell for her, and seemingly she seemed to care for me.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56# ..To try and paint
0:01:56 > 0:02:02# A portrait of my love. #
0:02:22 > 0:02:25- Don't knock them back. - Couldn't get the black in?
0:02:30 > 0:02:32- GEORGE LAUGHS - He missed it!
0:02:32 > 0:02:35You are very competitive as a person,
0:02:35 > 0:02:39and ambitious, and it's not a criticism at all.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43- And it's interesting to hear that you had a band and you even went to record your own piece of music.- Yeah.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46And titled it, in case it was played.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49PIANO MUSIC
0:03:09 > 0:03:13I actually wanted to be a classical composer,
0:03:13 > 0:03:16and I wanted to be Rachmaninoff II.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20MUSIC: Warsaw Concerto by Richard Addinsell
0:03:25 > 0:03:28I mean, watching films like Richard Addinsell's Warsaw Concerto
0:03:28 > 0:03:32became a pet piece of mine, and I used to play it a lot.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35And, I thought, well, that's the way to go.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39You know what it is, that music?
0:03:39 > 0:03:43It's Warsaw Concerto. I've got the records.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47- Perhaps that music will bring back a lot of things.- I hope so.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53I'd like to know what he's thinking about now.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35- Would you like some tea? - I'd love some.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37- I'll be mother.- Yes, milk.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45I like afternoon tea. It's a very civilised thing.
0:04:45 > 0:04:46Where is your oboe?
0:04:46 > 0:04:51I had to sell it, I needed the money to buy a house, in fact -
0:04:51 > 0:04:54my first house was the money from the oboe.
0:04:54 > 0:04:59- You've still got yours?- Oh, yes, of course!- You treasure it, do you?
0:04:59 > 0:05:02- Yes.- But you don't play, do you? - Yes, I do.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06- Do you really?- Well, you never forget.- No, you never forget...
0:05:06 > 0:05:10- but I don't think I could play one now.- Uh!
0:05:10 > 0:05:14- I'll give you one lesson... - Would you really?- ..for nothing.
0:05:17 > 0:05:22- Do you know, I might take you up on that.- Yes. Why not?
0:05:25 > 0:05:28You spent three years at the Guildhall.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32Were you surrounded by people from a totally different background?
0:05:32 > 0:05:37There can't have been that many ex-servicemen joining the Guildhall at that stage, or were there?
0:05:37 > 0:05:39I felt a little bit out of place,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42because I was older than most of them.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45- You'd had no real music education until then.- No.
0:05:45 > 0:05:50Did you find that the late arrival into the classical music scene meant
0:05:50 > 0:05:54you weren't completely institutionalised by the rules?
0:05:54 > 0:05:57Well, it's possible that I hadn't been kind of...
0:05:57 > 0:06:03over-educated in music, and so that I had a kind of naivety as well.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06# Suddenly
0:06:06 > 0:06:10# I'm not half the man I used to be... #
0:06:10 > 0:06:15If you look at that Yesterday score, it's pretty naive, but it does work.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19# ..Oh, yesterday came suddenly... #
0:06:19 > 0:06:21It's very, very simple writing,
0:06:21 > 0:06:24but it couldn't be anything else.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28If it were, it would destroy what the point of the song is,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31which is utter simplicity.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33I did this in an afternoon.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36I had it in my mind what I had to do
0:06:36 > 0:06:39and it was just straightforward.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45The Guildhall wasn't just a school of music,
0:06:45 > 0:06:47it was a school for music and drama,
0:06:47 > 0:06:52and I think that that in itself was tremendous help to me in later years
0:06:52 > 0:06:55because I was comfortable with actors,
0:06:55 > 0:06:59as well as being comfortable with musicians.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02And, you know, when it came to working with Sellers
0:07:02 > 0:07:05or the Beyond The Fringe crowd, or whoever,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08it was OK, we were partners.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21I got this letter out of the blue, saying would I be interested
0:07:21 > 0:07:26in coming to an interview at EMI Studios, Abbey Road, St John's Wood.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29Never heard of the place, never heard of EMI
0:07:29 > 0:07:34and I got the job, at 7 pounds 4 shillings and thruppence a week.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38THE GOONS: # Oh, my love, my darling
0:07:38 > 0:07:40# I hunger for your touch... #
0:07:42 > 0:07:46Going back to the fact that you are competitive and ambitious, did you think when you...?
0:07:46 > 0:07:49- I wish you wouldn't keep saying that.- I know.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51I'm sure that's the case.
0:07:51 > 0:07:56- Did you think at that stage, "Right, I'm finally getting somewhere?"- No.
0:07:56 > 0:08:03- Then what did you want at that stage?- Still wanted to be Rachmaninoff II!- Right, OK!
0:08:03 > 0:08:06So, it hadn't moved on, then?
0:08:09 > 0:08:13Gradually, I got hooked. Gradually, I didn't want to leave it.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16It enabled me to be creative, I could manipulate things
0:08:16 > 0:08:20and I could do things, and that I found very enjoyable.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29MUSIC: Romanza (Choro) by Roberto Inglez
0:08:39 > 0:08:41Roberto Inglez.
0:08:41 > 0:08:42He played at the Savoy.
0:08:42 > 0:08:48Roberto Inglez, everybody thought was French, or South American.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52In fact, his name was Bob Ingles from Scotland,
0:08:52 > 0:08:54but he specialised in South American music.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03OPENING BARS OF SONG
0:09:03 > 0:09:06# Nellie the elephant packed her trunk
0:09:06 > 0:09:09# And said goodbye to the circus
0:09:09 > 0:09:11# Off she went with a trumpety trump
0:09:11 > 0:09:13# Trump! Trump! Trump!
0:09:13 > 0:09:16# Nellie the elephant packed her trunk
0:09:16 > 0:09:18# And trundled back to the jungle
0:09:18 > 0:09:20# Off she went with a trumpety trump
0:09:20 > 0:09:21# Trump! Trump! Trump! #
0:09:21 > 0:09:25- Bob Harvey.- Yeah, Bob Harvey used to play in a nightclub.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28Fairey Aviation Brass Band,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31Sidney Torch and his Orchestra, the Five Smith Brothers...
0:09:31 > 0:09:34Oh, they were Geordies.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36And Jimmy Shand.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04This wonderful man, Karl Haas with the London Baroque Ensemble.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08- He was always completely broke. - He had no money at all.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14He was a sweet man, really.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23The Archers, is it?
0:10:25 > 0:10:29That's a recording I made with Sidney Torch and his Orchestra.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32I can't remember who wrote it.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35It was part and parcel of what we used to do with Sidney.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38I remember recording Coronation Scot,
0:10:38 > 0:10:41which became the theme tune of the Paul Temple series.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48Those were the days where orchestral records sold well.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01When the session started,
0:11:01 > 0:11:04I walked through the orchestra to Sidney Torch
0:11:04 > 0:11:09and I said, "Good morning, Mr Torch, my name is George Martin
0:11:09 > 0:11:12"and I'm Oscar's assistant.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14"He's asked me to take the session this morning.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16"So, it's nice to see you."
0:11:16 > 0:11:21He said, "Oh, all right. Don't get in the way, will you?"
0:11:33 > 0:11:37Did any part of you think, I'm going to be in line for this job?
0:11:37 > 0:11:41No, because I was young, I was still in my 20s,
0:11:41 > 0:11:46and all the people who ran the labels were older.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49The youngest was about 50.
0:11:49 > 0:11:53- Did you think George would get the job?- No, I didn't really.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55I didn't know what was going to happen.
0:11:57 > 0:12:03I suppose I did think he might get the job, but it wasn't sure.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06Oh, dear.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09They said, "We've been wondering what to do with Parlophone
0:12:09 > 0:12:13"now that Oscar's gone, and eventually we've decided that
0:12:13 > 0:12:18"we should give the stewardship of Parlophone to George Martin."
0:12:18 > 0:12:21APPLAUSE
0:12:24 > 0:12:28You could've knocked me down with a feather, you know? Oh, blimey!
0:12:28 > 0:12:31Suddenly, I was head of Parlophone and I had to make it work.
0:12:31 > 0:12:36- And this meant choosing the artists and...?- Yeah, oh, yeah, everything.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40- ..the repertoire?- I wasn't paid much, but I was given a free run.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49'Do you have any preference for whom you hit?
0:12:49 > 0:12:53'No, sir, I'm not a snob. Rich or poor alike,
0:12:53 > 0:12:56'I hit any of them.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59But don't you ever get hit back?
0:12:59 > 0:13:02'Well, no, sir. It's against the rules, that.'
0:13:02 > 0:13:05# When you are lost in London And you don't know where you are
0:13:05 > 0:13:09# You'll hear my voice a-calling "Pass further down the car!"
0:13:09 > 0:13:11# And very soon you'll find yourself
0:13:11 > 0:13:13# Inside the terminus
0:13:13 > 0:13:17# In a London Transport, diesel engine, 97 horsepower omnibus! #
0:13:17 > 0:13:20'Good evening. Have a picture of Queen Victoria.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24'No, thanks, I'm trying to give them up!
0:13:24 > 0:13:27'I don't think you'll ever do it. I've tried and failed.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30- 'May I come in?- But I'm outside. - Well, you come in, then.'
0:13:30 > 0:13:33# Boom boody-boom boody-boom boody-boom
0:13:33 > 0:13:36- # Goodness gracious - How audacious
0:13:36 > 0:13:38- # Goodness gracious - How flirtatious
0:13:38 > 0:13:40- # Goodness gracious - It is me
0:13:40 > 0:13:42- # It is you? - I'm sorry, it is us.- Ah. #
0:13:44 > 0:13:47That was the comedy soundtrack of my youth
0:13:47 > 0:13:51and I was going to ask you, you know, how it was that you,
0:13:51 > 0:13:56best known for your music, became a comedy producer in the first place?
0:13:56 > 0:13:58- Desperation, really.- Oh. Well...
0:13:58 > 0:14:02How desperate were you, then? Tell us! Confess.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05At EMI at that time, there were four labels -
0:14:05 > 0:14:07actually only three active ones -
0:14:07 > 0:14:12HMV, Columbia and Parlophone, and Parlophone was the poor relation.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14HMV and Columbia were the big boys,
0:14:14 > 0:14:19they had people like Elvis Presley. Columbia had Doris Day
0:14:19 > 0:14:23- and all sorts of great American artists.- Yeah.- Little Parlophone
0:14:23 > 0:14:26had Humphrey Lyttleton when he was a young man,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29John Dankworth when he was a young man,
0:14:29 > 0:14:32and the Scottish Country Dance Association.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56There's a quote here by Degas where he says,
0:14:56 > 0:14:59"Drawing is not what one sees,
0:14:59 > 0:15:03"but what one must make others see."
0:15:03 > 0:15:06And in a way, that's what we do in sound.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09The recording is not what one hears,
0:15:09 > 0:15:11but what one must make others hear.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18They were designed to...
0:15:18 > 0:15:20Not be a photograph,
0:15:20 > 0:15:25but to be an impression of what life was really about.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29So, they actually will give more depth in their painting
0:15:29 > 0:15:32than a photograph could ever do.
0:15:32 > 0:15:38And when I came to working as a producer, up to that time,
0:15:38 > 0:15:42people had been making records as faithfully as they could,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45reproducing the original sound,
0:15:45 > 0:15:49and what they were doing was making photographs.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51And I said, "Well, you don't need to do that.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55"Let's paint, instead of having photographs."
0:15:55 > 0:16:01- BIRDSONG - 'Hello. I've been watching you feeding the birds
0:16:01 > 0:16:03'I think you're marvellous!
0:16:03 > 0:16:06'Aren't they sweet?
0:16:06 > 0:16:10'I don't know how anyone can be cruel to dumb animals, do you?'
0:16:10 > 0:16:14Irene Handl was absolutely wonderful, I mean, perfect with Sellers.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18It was her idea. Oh, really? She said, "I've got something I might suggest to Peter."
0:16:18 > 0:16:21I said, "Have you written it?" She said, "No, it's all here."
0:16:21 > 0:16:25- Mmm.- I'd quite forgotten, it's virtually a monologue on her part.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29Yes, I was going to say, Sellers... Very unselfish performance, really.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33- It still holds up. - Yes, it holds up very well, I think.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37- 'You come here often, do you?- Well, I come here often, as I said,
0:16:37 > 0:16:41'to feed these birds, because I love the open air.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45'It's private without being insulated, if you know what I mean.
0:16:45 > 0:16:51'I can see you're like me. I will not go into a public park and mingle with the hoi polloi.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54'I quite agree. I like to keep myself to myself.'
0:16:54 > 0:16:59It was such a different time. It was a time before television,
0:16:59 > 0:17:05you only had radio and records, so you dealt purely with the ears.
0:17:05 > 0:17:11So, you had to build up little sound pictures and make people imagine that they were there.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16- 'Do you know Dalston at all? - No, I don't.- Oh, well.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20'They call it the Frinton of East 8, so that'll give you some idea.
0:17:20 > 0:17:25- 'I was just going to ask you back to din-dins with me.- I would love to come, please ask me.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29'They keep a smashing table at the Roylston, you know. We nearly always have a second vegetable
0:17:29 > 0:17:31'and always croutons with the soup.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35'If you ever feel like having half a bottle of Borjolais,
0:17:35 > 0:17:39'they practically fall over themselves bringing it in for you.'
0:17:39 > 0:17:44I loved doing that kind of work, because you can lose yourself in it
0:17:44 > 0:17:48and you don't follow any rules except your own hunch, what you think is right.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52An album that I remember very well was Milligan Preserved.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55I remember playing that at Oxford
0:17:55 > 0:17:58and it was about a year later I started doing cabaret -
0:17:58 > 0:18:02it was the first time I'd ever done any comic performing of any kind -
0:18:02 > 0:18:04and that was a sort of inspirational album,
0:18:04 > 0:18:07because it was so free and different.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09I don't know what it felt like to make it,
0:18:09 > 0:18:13or whether it was complicated with Spike's good or bad days,
0:18:13 > 0:18:16but it had some wonderful things in, very different from Sellers.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19Well, it was really your kind of style.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21# From Jan to December
0:18:21 > 0:18:26# Remember that fun, fun, fun... #
0:18:28 > 0:18:33'Oh, song divine, sung by a beautiful, tall, willowy creature
0:18:33 > 0:18:35'called Miss Patricia Ridgway.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38'Despite her fair face, fair figure and fair voice,
0:18:38 > 0:18:42'she only had one small piece of toast for breakfast.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45'But when you consider what this young girl has eaten in her lifetime -
0:18:45 > 0:18:48'43 whole bullocks,
0:18:48 > 0:18:50'81 prime Hereford cows,
0:18:50 > 0:18:56'1,000 acres of potatoes, 207 sacks of Spanish onions
0:18:56 > 0:18:58'8 warehouses of brown bread... #
0:18:58 > 0:19:01I don't know if you've ever looked at the back of that LP,
0:19:01 > 0:19:03all the sleeve notes were in Arabic.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06I don't remember that! That's very Python.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08You couldn't get away with it now.
0:19:08 > 0:19:12- 'Let me put the microphone to her tum-tum so you can hear.' - CRASHING
0:19:12 > 0:19:14SWISHING
0:19:14 > 0:19:16BUBBLING
0:19:16 > 0:19:18REVVING
0:19:18 > 0:19:21BELCH
0:19:21 > 0:19:23BEEPING
0:19:25 > 0:19:28# Tried to shift it Couldn't even lift it
0:19:28 > 0:19:30# We was getting nowhere
0:19:30 > 0:19:32# And so we had a cuppa tea and
0:19:32 > 0:19:35# "Right", said Fred "Give a shout to Charlie"
0:19:35 > 0:19:39# Up comes Charlie from the floor below... #
0:19:39 > 0:19:41He was very tall.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43Yes, I thought he was a very tall person.
0:19:43 > 0:19:48He had a great air of serenity and authority about him.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51Excuse me, it's not emotion, it's hay fever.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53# ..We was getting nowhere
0:19:53 > 0:19:56# And so we had a cup of tea
0:19:56 > 0:20:00# And Charlie had a think Take off all the handles
0:20:00 > 0:20:02# And the things what held the candles... #
0:20:02 > 0:20:07It was almost a music hall record. It's a sketch with music, isn't it?
0:20:07 > 0:20:10You just imagine all this going on.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19You were sort of born a Cockney.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22- Yeah.- "All right, Governor."
0:20:22 > 0:20:25And you're now... True, true. LAUGHTER
0:20:25 > 0:20:28I don't think I spoke quite like that.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30All right, cor blimey, apple and pears.
0:20:30 > 0:20:35You went from that to being the gentleman of the music industry.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38- That's a bit of an exaggeration. - But your voice changed.
0:20:38 > 0:20:43I was very conscious of the voice change, because when I was about 16,
0:20:43 > 0:20:47I composed a piece on piano and I wanted to record it.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51So, I found there was a little studio in Cavendish Square
0:20:51 > 0:20:54and I went there and recorded my Fantasie.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59And at the end of it I said,
0:20:59 > 0:21:03"You have been listening to Fantasie in C Sharp Minor by George Martin."
0:21:04 > 0:21:07Pompous little prick, really.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11But when I heard it back, all I heard was...
0:21:11 > 0:21:15- COCKNEY ACCENT: - "You 'ave been listening to Fantasie in C...
0:21:15 > 0:21:18- You were telling me- I- was getting it wrong!- "..by George Mar'in."
0:21:18 > 0:21:20No, that's an exaggeration too.
0:21:20 > 0:21:25But I decided that I spoke appallingly.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27You don't know, until you hear yourself.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30And because I was in a dramatic society,
0:21:30 > 0:21:35I consciously tried to speak like the BBC people did,
0:21:35 > 0:21:38- and I think I pulled it off. - I think you have done.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42# Oh, any old iron Any, any, any old iron
0:21:42 > 0:21:46# You look neat Talk about a treat... #
0:21:46 > 0:21:49This is Drayton Park
0:21:49 > 0:21:53and my house was actually over there
0:21:53 > 0:21:55but it's long since been demolished,
0:21:55 > 0:21:57and these are new buildings.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01But my house looked very similar to these.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05They were... they look pretty good now,
0:22:05 > 0:22:08but I can assure you that, when we lived in them,
0:22:08 > 0:22:12they were very run down. You can see they're on four floors,
0:22:12 > 0:22:15and there was a family on each floor.
0:22:16 > 0:22:21I remember looking down and a little ice cream van came past,
0:22:21 > 0:22:23and I said, "Mummy, I'd love an ice cream,"
0:22:23 > 0:22:27and I turned round and she was crying.
0:22:27 > 0:22:28And I said, "What's the matter?"
0:22:28 > 0:22:33She said, "Darling I haven't got tuppence for ice cream."
0:22:33 > 0:22:37And then I gathered that we weren't very well off.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40# You look nice dressed in ice Your father's old green tie on
0:22:40 > 0:22:43# But I wouldn't give you tuppence for your old watch chain
0:22:43 > 0:22:44# Old iron
0:22:44 > 0:22:47# Old iron... #
0:22:47 > 0:22:50I also have a vivid memory of a very, very cold winter
0:22:50 > 0:22:54and my feet were freezing,
0:22:54 > 0:22:57and he knew this, and we didn't have a hot water bottle.
0:22:57 > 0:23:03So he got an old can, which used to hold petrol or oil,
0:23:03 > 0:23:06and cleaned it out and filled it with hot water,
0:23:06 > 0:23:10wrapped it in towels and put it by my feet at the bottom of my bed
0:23:10 > 0:23:15to give me warm feet. That's one of the memories I have of my dad.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17# You look neat Talk about a treat
0:23:17 > 0:23:19# You look dapper from your napper to your feet
0:23:19 > 0:23:22# You got an old green tie that hits you in the eye... #
0:23:22 > 0:23:27- Were you driven to get away from that background?- I don't think so.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31I didn't say to myself, "I've got to get out of this hell hole,"
0:23:31 > 0:23:34because it was a very loving family.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36My mother and father were super people,
0:23:36 > 0:23:39and it was just that my father couldn't earn very much money
0:23:39 > 0:23:43and there was a big depression on when I was a small child -
0:23:43 > 0:23:45the 1930s.
0:23:45 > 0:23:50- 'I say, you down there.- Hello?
0:23:50 > 0:23:54- 'Do you want some old iron?- Yeah.'
0:23:54 > 0:23:56METAL CLANGING FROM A HEIGHT
0:23:56 > 0:23:59'Ooh, mate!'
0:23:59 > 0:24:02We moved to Muswell Hill,
0:24:02 > 0:24:05a great improvement on what we had before.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08We were obviously not too badly off, by this time.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11I liked the idea of moving here,
0:24:11 > 0:24:14cos the house looked much better than we lived in before,
0:24:14 > 0:24:20but when you're 11 or 12, you don't think too much about status.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23I never thought we were moving up in the world.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57I had a grandstand view of the dogfights
0:24:57 > 0:25:01that went on overhead. It was quite exciting for a 14-year-old boy.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07We heard that a Dornier had been downed quite near us
0:25:07 > 0:25:11so, being bloodthirsty boys, we were in there raiding the place,
0:25:11 > 0:25:15I got a bit of a German officer's uniform - bloodstained, you know.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18- Really, very charming stuff(!) - LAUGHTER
0:25:25 > 0:25:29As a kid, we would leave our house after the bombing
0:25:29 > 0:25:33and, you know, a big portion of the street had gone.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37- Just flat.- That's right.- But we were kids - another playground for us.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40We didn't think, "Oh, somebody's dead," you know - we were kids.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44Well, we lived in Bromley in Kent, which was on the path in,
0:25:44 > 0:25:46and I remember one day,
0:25:46 > 0:25:50- a house about five doors down wasn't there any more.- Yeah.
0:25:50 > 0:25:52And the house next door to it,
0:25:52 > 0:25:58on the first floor, the bathroom was exposed and the bath was dangling,
0:25:58 > 0:26:02- holding on...from its pipes.- Yeah.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06- And I thought, "Well, gosh, that could've been us."- Yeah.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10- But you accepted it, didn't you? - You did, it was part of life.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14It must've been a very posh area - it had a bath.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17- Well, I was posh. - Well, we never had a bath, you see.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19- Oh, come on.- No, we never did!
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Never did.
0:26:22 > 0:26:23- Yeah.- You must've been filthy then.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28No, we used to go to Steble Street, just to take a bath.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31- 'I want you to lay down your life, Perkins.- Yes, sir.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35'We need a futile gesture at this stage.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38- 'It will raise the whole tone of the war.- Sah!
0:26:38 > 0:26:41'Get up in a crate, Perkins, pop over to Bremen,
0:26:41 > 0:26:44- 'take a shufti, don't come back.- Ah.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51'Goodbye, Perkins. God, I wish I was going too.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56'Goodbye, sir. Or is it "au revoir"?
0:26:58 > 0:26:59'No, Perkins.'
0:27:05 > 0:27:10'Britain has dealt the Italian fleet a blow which its remains will remember for a long, long time.
0:27:10 > 0:27:15'At one fell swoop, three battleships, two cruisers and auxiliaries were put out of action.
0:27:15 > 0:27:21'Thus, Mussolini is forced to realise that his much-vaunted navy isn't safe, even in port.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25'This splendid job was executed - "executed" is the right word -
0:27:25 > 0:27:29'by the Fleet Air Arm. Such men as these went right in, or over,
0:27:29 > 0:27:33'the heel of Italy to Taranto and kicked the pants of the Wop good and hard!'
0:27:37 > 0:27:42When you heard the news on the radio about the success of the Fleet Air Arm
0:27:42 > 0:27:46at the Battle of Taranto, was that instrumental in your decision
0:27:46 > 0:27:48- to want to join the Fleet Air Arm? - Absolutely.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50I said, "I don't want to go into the Army,
0:27:50 > 0:27:53"I want to go into the Fleet Air Arm."
0:27:53 > 0:27:57So one day, I walked into a recruiting office and said,
0:27:57 > 0:28:01"I want to be a pilot, I want to have flying duties in the Fleet Air Arm. " So I signed on.
0:28:01 > 0:28:07And my mother broke down in tears and said, "You stupid boy, you'll get yourself killed."
0:28:07 > 0:28:10And the stupid boy replied equally stupidly,
0:28:10 > 0:28:15"Mother, I promise you, I won't get killed, I promise you that."
0:28:15 > 0:28:18Those who will come with me...
0:28:18 > 0:28:20take one step forward.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32Stupid children. I might have guessed.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37Well, you look about 30, but, mind you,
0:28:37 > 0:28:40- wartime might do that to you. - It was a tough business, you know?
0:28:40 > 0:28:43Where were you during the war, Daddy?
0:28:43 > 0:28:46BOTH CHUCKLE
0:28:46 > 0:28:49- You are rotten.- Come on, I want to... I know, come on.
0:28:49 > 0:28:54- Come on, I'm not going to talk about it.- OK, well, all right, OK,
0:28:54 > 0:28:57I'll tell you what interests me about this.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00You would tell us stories, cos we'd ask, you know,
0:29:00 > 0:29:06"What did you do?" And it came out that you were in the Fleet Air Arm and you were an observer.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09Well, this is where the observer would be,
0:29:09 > 0:29:11which is where I would have been.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13That's the observer's position.
0:29:13 > 0:29:16And you can see there's a wire at the bottom there
0:29:16 > 0:29:19which you could attach to yourself, in case you went inverted,
0:29:19 > 0:29:22and you wouldn't get thrown out of the aircraft.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25And we have instruments here which he could see,
0:29:25 > 0:29:30and he would communicate with the pilot, who's in a separate cockpit,
0:29:30 > 0:29:34purely and simply through a Gosport tube,
0:29:34 > 0:29:38which was a kind of tube that you, you know, you'd say,
0:29:38 > 0:29:42"Hello there," and you'd listen. There was no electronics involved.
0:29:42 > 0:29:46We'd say, "Well, what do you do?" He'd say, "Well, sort of observe,"
0:29:46 > 0:29:50- but you were in charge.- Yeah.- So it was a very important role, in fact,
0:29:50 > 0:29:52even above the pilot, which kind of amazed us.
0:29:52 > 0:29:57- But years later, "I thought, that's the producer."- Yes, it is. - It's the same job.
0:29:57 > 0:30:01- What uniform is that?- Flyer.- Flyer.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03Then what are you doing down here? Why aren't you up there,
0:30:03 > 0:30:06stopping them from murdering all these people,
0:30:06 > 0:30:08instead of just playing the piano?
0:30:08 > 0:30:13- I like playing the piano.- You could choose a better time for it.
0:30:13 > 0:30:18I went up in this - I don't know if it was this plane, I think it might have been another one -
0:30:18 > 0:30:21when I was 70 years old as a kind of anniversary,
0:30:21 > 0:30:2650 years after I'd flown before, and I'm now much older than that.
0:30:26 > 0:30:28I still would like to go up in one.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31We can't do it, cos the engine is not working.
0:30:31 > 0:30:33But one day, I will come back again.
0:30:57 > 0:31:01It's very disappointing, because I don't hear music as I used to,
0:31:01 > 0:31:04and I don't enjoy music now much. I mean,
0:31:04 > 0:31:09- if you take a piece like Vaughan Williams' Lark Ascending...- Mmm.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12- ..I might as well go home, because the violin...- Very high tones.
0:31:12 > 0:31:16It's in the upper reaches. I see this fellow doing this and I'm not hearing it.
0:31:16 > 0:31:18VIOLIN PLAYS
0:31:21 > 0:31:23MUFFLED VIOLIN
0:31:42 > 0:31:43Thank you very much.
0:31:45 > 0:31:47I'm not used to microphones, you know.
0:31:47 > 0:31:49CHUCKLING
0:31:49 > 0:31:55I first became aware of something wrong in the '70s.
0:31:55 > 0:31:59I was approaching my 50s,
0:31:59 > 0:32:02and I was in my control room in my studio in London
0:32:02 > 0:32:05and one of the engineers came in, said,
0:32:05 > 0:32:08"Do you mind if I just check these tape machines?"
0:32:08 > 0:32:10And I said, "Do that." They would put in
0:32:10 > 0:32:13different tones of different frequencies
0:32:13 > 0:32:17and adjust them, so that the machines were really accurate.
0:32:17 > 0:32:22I heard all the tones going through and I took no notice.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26And then I looked up and I saw that all the needles were going...
0:32:28 > 0:32:33I said, "Bill, what's that frequency you're putting through?"
0:32:35 > 0:32:38He said, "12 kilohertz."
0:32:38 > 0:32:40And I said, "Oh, shit."
0:32:42 > 0:32:44Every time you speak to someone,
0:32:44 > 0:32:47particularly in a cocktail environment,
0:32:47 > 0:32:51you are doing mental calculation, rather like filling in a crossword.
0:32:51 > 0:32:53You're getting only the vowels
0:32:53 > 0:32:56and you're putting in all the consonants as quickly as you can,
0:32:56 > 0:32:59- so as not to be stupid. - Hoping you get them right.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01Get them right, exactly.
0:33:01 > 0:33:03Yeah, well that's one of the issues with hearing loss,
0:33:03 > 0:33:06the respect of social isolation.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09People feel socially isolated when they start losing their hearing,
0:33:09 > 0:33:14- because the cocktail party hearing that you had...- Yeah. - ..starts to degrade.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17- Is that something that's impacted on you?- Yeah, that's quite true,
0:33:17 > 0:33:20because if you can't join in the conversation
0:33:20 > 0:33:22with everybody going round,
0:33:22 > 0:33:25you get isolated, you become invisible,
0:33:25 > 0:33:27they talk past you.
0:33:27 > 0:33:32You get to the point, as I have now, where age has taken over as well,
0:33:32 > 0:33:35and when that happens...
0:33:35 > 0:33:39My hearing's taken a nosedive in the past few years.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42Now, I think what she's doing,
0:33:42 > 0:33:45what this lady is doing here, is fantastic.
0:33:45 > 0:33:49- And I think she's so accurate and so good. - LAUGHTER
0:33:49 > 0:33:53- Will you come home with me? - LAUGHTER
0:34:01 > 0:34:04There's been so many stories about Major Ralph,
0:34:04 > 0:34:06the colourful horse dealer who'd gone into the business
0:34:06 > 0:34:09of managing rock and roll stars.
0:34:09 > 0:34:13I mean, he personally discovered such disc names as Lennie Bronze,
0:34:13 > 0:34:16Clint Thigh, Matt Lust.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19Have you ever seen a rock and roll singer, Miss Lisbon?
0:34:19 > 0:34:22- Have you ever seen one up close? - Well, no.
0:34:22 > 0:34:24I'm mostly on book reviewing.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27Well, a good specimen, he's about 17 or 18 years old,
0:34:27 > 0:34:30about 5"10 fully extended,
0:34:30 > 0:34:33sagging to about 5"4 in the sitting position.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36Would you like to see one? We'll get one for you.
0:34:39 > 0:34:42Ah, Major, some rotten 'un
0:34:42 > 0:34:45has pinched the strings off my guitar, look!
0:34:45 > 0:34:48You've got the guitar on back-to-front.
0:34:48 > 0:34:52How many times must I tell you, the hole points away from you?!
0:34:52 > 0:34:57Ha! So much to learn, so little time.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00# Now me and my wife went to town
0:35:00 > 0:35:02# Sail away, lady, sail away
0:35:02 > 0:35:04# We went to buy a 10 gown
0:35:04 > 0:35:06# Sail away, lady, sail away
0:35:06 > 0:35:08# Oh, don't you rock me, Daddy-O
0:35:08 > 0:35:10# Oh, don't you rock me, Daddy-O
0:35:10 > 0:35:12# Don't you rock me, Daddy-O
0:35:12 > 0:35:14# Don't you rock me, Daddy-O
0:35:14 > 0:35:16# Oh, don't you rock me, Daddy-O
0:35:16 > 0:35:19# Oh, don't you rock me, Daddy-O... #
0:35:19 > 0:35:22'But I did envy Norrie Paramor enormously,
0:35:22 > 0:35:24'because he had a young man
0:35:24 > 0:35:26'who was originally called Harry Webb, I think.
0:35:26 > 0:35:27'Cliff Richard, this is.
0:35:27 > 0:35:31'It didn't matter what he recorded, it could've been God Save The Queen,
0:35:31 > 0:35:32'it became number one.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35'It was just automatic. And I envied that
0:35:35 > 0:35:38'and I wanted to have something that would be easy to make,'
0:35:38 > 0:35:42instead of the difficulty of making comedy records.
0:35:42 > 0:35:44- Comedy records are hard work.- Mmm.
0:35:44 > 0:35:46You had to get the right material,
0:35:46 > 0:35:50right script, right artist, and so on.
0:35:50 > 0:35:52Did you want to beat Norrie Paramor?
0:35:52 > 0:35:56- Yes.- You've said it now!
0:35:56 > 0:36:00- Well, he drove a E-Type Jag. - I see. There we are!
0:36:02 > 0:36:07I think a Paul McCartney record made you the most successful producer of all time, with 36 number ones.
0:36:07 > 0:36:11It was in the papers and you said, "I've had more number ones than anyone else,"
0:36:11 > 0:36:14I said, "That's amazing, Dad. Who did you beat?"
0:36:14 > 0:36:16"Norrie Paramor," is what you said.
0:36:16 > 0:36:18- Nice.- No, that's true,
0:36:18 > 0:36:21because he did have the largest amount of number ones
0:36:21 > 0:36:26in Britain at that time, and I managed to get in front of him.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28And I remember you saying to me,
0:36:28 > 0:36:31"I don't think he's going to beat me now,"
0:36:31 > 0:36:33because I think he'd been dead a couple of years by that stage.
0:36:33 > 0:36:37- Exactly!- Anyway... BOTH CHUCKLE
0:36:43 > 0:36:48- Yes, it was the 21st that I met Brian Epstein.- Yes.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50And I'd put down "Bernard".
0:36:50 > 0:36:53I know, you silly girl.
0:36:53 > 0:36:55Yes, I didn't know him at all.
0:37:02 > 0:37:06What I said to Brian was, "If you want me to judge them on what you're playing me,
0:37:06 > 0:37:09"I'm sorry, I have to turn you down."
0:37:09 > 0:37:12And he was so disappointed, I felt really sorry for him actually,
0:37:12 > 0:37:15- cos he was an earnest young man. - And you must've liked him, then?
0:37:15 > 0:37:19I did like him. And I said, "But I'll tell you what..."
0:37:19 > 0:37:23I gave him a lifeline. I said, "If you want to bring them down from Liverpool,
0:37:23 > 0:37:26"I'll give them an hour in the studio, OK?"
0:37:29 > 0:37:33Begin as soon as you like, please, would you?
0:37:33 > 0:37:35- I beg your pardon? - Would you start as soon as you can?
0:37:35 > 0:37:38We're in a hurry, we have a lot of people to see.
0:37:38 > 0:37:40Right. I've prepared...
0:37:40 > 0:37:44- Can you hear me?- Yes. - I've prepared a short extract...
0:37:45 > 0:37:48# Each time I bring you a kiss
0:37:48 > 0:37:51# I hear music divine
0:37:51 > 0:37:54# So besame
0:37:54 > 0:37:57# Besame mucho
0:37:57 > 0:38:03# I love you forever, say that you'll always be mine. #
0:38:03 > 0:38:05They had this wonderful charisma.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08- They made you feel good to be with them.- Mmm.
0:38:08 > 0:38:13And I thought their music was rubbish.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15# Besame
0:38:15 > 0:38:18# Besame mucho
0:38:18 > 0:38:20# And I love you forever
0:38:20 > 0:38:24# Make all my dreams come true
0:38:24 > 0:38:27# Oooh, love you forever
0:38:27 > 0:38:30# Make all my dreams come true
0:38:30 > 0:38:33# Oooh, love you forever
0:38:33 > 0:38:35# Make all my dreams come true... #
0:38:35 > 0:38:37That first occasion with him
0:38:37 > 0:38:39was all really Brian's fault,
0:38:39 > 0:38:44cos nobody told me that, you know, when they walked in...
0:38:44 > 0:38:46This fellow came in, this little chap,
0:38:46 > 0:38:49and they said, "This is our drummer."
0:38:49 > 0:38:52And I said, "No, he's not, that's your drummer, we're paying good money for that fellow. "
0:38:52 > 0:38:55And, you know, we had the best drummer that you could get.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58- Andy White.- Yeah. - Who will never live it down.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01I didn't realise until quite late on
0:39:01 > 0:39:04how much I hurt him by that, and I didn't mean to.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08I know. Well, he's a sensitive soul, Ringo, he is a sensitive kind of guy,
0:39:08 > 0:39:12you know, and I don't think we realised how much that hurt him.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15- Yeah.- But he got over it.
0:39:15 > 0:39:19No, no, you know, he was not precise and so you...
0:39:19 > 0:39:22I think you were used to working with session drummers who were...
0:39:22 > 0:39:24- Yeah.- ..on the ball.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28And what happened in The Beatles, you know, when we played live,
0:39:28 > 0:39:32even Ringo sped up a tiny bit, we all just went with him -
0:39:32 > 0:39:34nobody really noticed it.
0:39:34 > 0:39:36One thing about your drumming
0:39:36 > 0:39:40- is that it cannot be mistaken for anybody else.- Yeah.
0:39:40 > 0:39:42You have a signature.
0:39:42 > 0:39:45- Yeah.- And as soon as you hear it, "That's Ringo."- Oh, yeah.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48- No doubt about it at all. - I think it's an emotional thing
0:39:48 > 0:39:51where I actually put...
0:39:51 > 0:39:56We only have that much room to hit and I hit on the back of that.
0:39:56 > 0:40:01- Yeah.- A lot of other drummers hit on the front, but we still only have that - it's where you put it.
0:40:01 > 0:40:06# I told that girl that my prospects were good
0:40:06 > 0:40:10# She said, baby, it's understood
0:40:10 > 0:40:13# Working for peanuts is all very fine
0:40:13 > 0:40:17# But I can show you a better time
0:40:17 > 0:40:21# Baby, you can drive my car
0:40:21 > 0:40:24# Yes, I'm going to be a star
0:40:25 > 0:40:28# Baby, you can drive my car
0:40:28 > 0:40:30# And maybe I'll love you
0:40:31 > 0:40:34# Beep-beep, beep-beep, yeah. #
0:40:42 > 0:40:47# Last night I said these words to my girl... #
0:40:47 > 0:40:51We took the harmonica that was used on Love Me Do, put that on as well,
0:40:51 > 0:40:54and I was thrilled to bits with it.
0:40:59 > 0:41:01I thought it was wonderful, and I told them,
0:41:01 > 0:41:04I said, "I think you might have a number one."
0:41:04 > 0:41:05In fact, I think I actually said,
0:41:05 > 0:41:07"Gentlemen, you have your first number one,"
0:41:07 > 0:41:11which was bravado, really.
0:41:11 > 0:41:12- # Come on - Come on
0:41:12 > 0:41:14- # Come on - Come on
0:41:14 > 0:41:16- # Come on- Come on - come on
0:41:16 > 0:41:19- # Come on - Please, please me
0:41:19 > 0:41:22# Oh, yeah, like I please you. #
0:41:22 > 0:41:26It's amazing, really, how creative we could be in those circumstances.
0:41:26 > 0:41:32I say to people now, "10:30 till 1:30, two songs, " you know?
0:41:32 > 0:41:34And you would just sort of remind us
0:41:34 > 0:41:37about halfway through the three-hour period,
0:41:37 > 0:41:41"Well, that's just about enough on that one, chaps, let's wrap it up."
0:41:41 > 0:41:43We'd go, "Five minutes, yeah, OK."
0:41:43 > 0:41:47And so, you learned to be brilliant -
0:41:47 > 0:41:50he said modestly - in one and a half hours.
0:41:50 > 0:41:52But I was under pressure,
0:41:52 > 0:41:56because I got such little time with you.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59- Mmm.- And you were running all over the world.- Yeah.
0:41:59 > 0:42:03And I would say to Brian, you know, "I need more time in the studio."
0:42:03 > 0:42:08And he said, "Well, I can give you Friday afternoon,
0:42:08 > 0:42:11- "or Saturday evening," whatever it is.- Mmm.
0:42:11 > 0:42:16And he would dole out time to me, like giving scraps to a mouse.
0:42:16 > 0:42:18# I'll buy you a diamond ring, my friend
0:42:18 > 0:42:21# If it makes you feel all right
0:42:21 > 0:42:24# I'll get you anything my friend
0:42:24 > 0:42:26# If it makes you feel all right... #
0:42:26 > 0:42:27When we did Can't Buy Me Love,
0:42:27 > 0:42:31Paul started off the whole record by...
0:42:31 > 0:42:35HUMS THE START OF "Can't Buy Me Love"
0:42:35 > 0:42:38That was the beginning of the record.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41And I said, "Paul, we need to have a...
0:42:41 > 0:42:45"a hit tag to start this, kick it off."
0:42:45 > 0:42:48He said, "Well, what do you think? I said, "Take a bit of the chorus."
0:42:48 > 0:42:51# Can't buy me love... #
0:42:51 > 0:42:56So, that was the contributions I made in those days, as I say,
0:42:56 > 0:42:58kind of streamlining their work,
0:42:58 > 0:43:02but it was their genius that made the songs work.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05# I'll get you anything, my friend
0:43:05 > 0:43:08# If it makes you feel all right
0:43:08 > 0:43:11# Cos I don't care too much for money
0:43:11 > 0:43:14# Money can't buy me love. #
0:43:25 > 0:43:27# That was the week that was
0:43:27 > 0:43:30# It's over, let it go
0:43:30 > 0:43:32# That was the week that was
0:43:32 > 0:43:35# It started way above par
0:43:35 > 0:43:37# Finished way below... #
0:43:37 > 0:43:39You had to wait for a studio,
0:43:39 > 0:43:41It was like one of the top restaurants -
0:43:41 > 0:43:43"We can see you in a month," type of thing,
0:43:43 > 0:43:49and I lived right next door in Abbey Road, right next door to the studio,
0:43:49 > 0:43:54and it was like the red carpet people going in and out, which was fun.
0:43:54 > 0:43:58Every now and then, you would hear his voice very calmly saying,
0:43:58 > 0:44:01"That was nice, I'd like to maybe change the tempo,
0:44:01 > 0:44:03"I thought it was rushed. Could you do this?"
0:44:03 > 0:44:06He got the best out of people - he didn't frighten them.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09# That was the week that was
0:44:09 > 0:44:11# It's over, let it go
0:44:11 > 0:44:13# Oooh, what a week that was
0:44:13 > 0:44:16# That was the week
0:44:16 > 0:44:21# That was. #
0:44:23 > 0:44:27# The birds in the sky would be sad and lonely
0:44:27 > 0:44:31# If they knew that I lost my one and only
0:44:31 > 0:44:33# They'd be sad... #
0:44:33 > 0:44:35Of course, Brian, flush with all their success,
0:44:35 > 0:44:38kept bringing me more artists.
0:44:38 > 0:44:42This was the year in which I had 37 weeks at number one,
0:44:42 > 0:44:44which has never been done,
0:44:44 > 0:44:48- not even by Norrie Paramor. - So, would you say you were the Simon Cowell of the '60s?
0:44:48 > 0:44:51- HE LAUGHS - I do hope not.
0:44:51 > 0:44:55# How do you do what you do to me?
0:44:55 > 0:44:57# I wish I knew
0:44:57 > 0:45:00# If I knew how you do it to me
0:45:00 > 0:45:02# I'd do it to you... #
0:45:02 > 0:45:04Gerry And The Pacemakers,
0:45:04 > 0:45:08- Billy J Kramer.- And Cilla.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11And Cilla. It was a busy day, wasn't it?
0:45:12 > 0:45:15# Anyone who ever loved
0:45:15 > 0:45:16# Could look at me
0:45:18 > 0:45:21# And know that I love you... #
0:45:22 > 0:45:27I just remember him being so suave and sophisticated.
0:45:27 > 0:45:28Little did I know,
0:45:28 > 0:45:33he turned out to be a Cockney that talked dead posh.
0:45:33 > 0:45:37# Knowing I love you so... #
0:45:37 > 0:45:41The way he dressed, you know, he wore a tie and a shirt.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44The only concession to relaxation
0:45:44 > 0:45:47was that he took his suit jacket off,
0:45:47 > 0:45:50but the tie stayed on.
0:45:50 > 0:45:53The tie was always there.
0:45:53 > 0:45:56# Don't let the sun
0:45:56 > 0:45:59# Catch you crying... #
0:45:59 > 0:46:01My workload was enormous -
0:46:01 > 0:46:03so that I was spending more time in the studio
0:46:03 > 0:46:05than I was anywhere else -
0:46:05 > 0:46:11and I found myself completely and utterly wrapped up in my work.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14# Your heart may be broken tonight... #
0:46:14 > 0:46:18Patience and being really very honest as well,
0:46:18 > 0:46:23but in a nice way. He could be really honest in a nice way.
0:46:23 > 0:46:26# What's it all about, Alfie?
0:46:28 > 0:46:32# Is it just for the moment
0:46:32 > 0:46:35# We live?
0:46:35 > 0:46:38# What's it all about
0:46:38 > 0:46:42# When you sort it out, Alfie?
0:46:42 > 0:46:45# Are we meant to take
0:46:45 > 0:46:48# More than we give?
0:46:48 > 0:46:53# Or are we meant to be kind?
0:46:53 > 0:46:57# And if
0:46:57 > 0:47:01# Only fools are kind
0:47:01 > 0:47:04# Alfie... #
0:47:04 > 0:47:05I used to say to him,
0:47:05 > 0:47:08"You know, I'm a little bit flat there at the end, George,"
0:47:08 > 0:47:10and he would say,
0:47:10 > 0:47:12"It's soul."
0:47:14 > 0:47:17- Oh, I remember that, yeah, in Paris.- There's Brian.
0:47:17 > 0:47:20- I was just talking about that. - Chamber pot on his head.- Yeah.
0:47:20 > 0:47:25- Judy's there.- Uh-huh.- And if you remember, and it was very naughty...
0:47:25 > 0:47:28It was all... All the food was in phallic or...
0:47:28 > 0:47:32Yeah, the rolls were a particular shape, weren't they?
0:47:32 > 0:47:34It was a hoot. It was great, you know.
0:47:34 > 0:47:38We'd never seen anything like that. I suspect Brian might have.
0:47:38 > 0:47:42- Yes, well, he chose it all right. - Yeah, that's what I mean, yeah.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45But they also got Judy standing on the table
0:47:45 > 0:47:48- putting a garter round her leg. Do you remember that?- Yeah.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51She didn't need much persuading.
0:47:51 > 0:47:55The Beatles loved her.
0:47:55 > 0:47:59Even though she was dead posh, she had an incredible sense of humour.
0:47:59 > 0:48:05And so we... I think a few of The Beatles fancied her, as well, on the quiet.
0:48:05 > 0:48:08We don't really want to hang out with him,
0:48:08 > 0:48:10it's Mrs Martin we all love.
0:48:10 > 0:48:12BOTH LAUGH
0:48:14 > 0:48:19The great Judy. Who we thought, when we started, was the Queen,
0:48:19 > 0:48:22- she was so posh. - POSH ACCENT:- "Oh, hello!"
0:48:22 > 0:48:25He was a bit posh, but she was over the top.
0:48:25 > 0:48:28Do you remember Judy reciting John's poem?
0:48:28 > 0:48:32Yeah, Deaf Ted, Danoota (and me).
0:48:32 > 0:48:36- POSH ACCENT:- "Oh, Deaf Ted, Danoota (and Me)," yeah.
0:48:36 > 0:48:41"With faithful frog beside us, Big mighty club are we
0:48:41 > 0:48:43"The battle scab and frisky dyke
0:48:43 > 0:48:45"Deaf Ted, Danoota, and me.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47"We fight the baddy baddies,
0:48:47 > 0:48:49"For colour, race and cree
0:48:49 > 0:48:51"For Negro, Jew and Bernie
0:48:51 > 0:48:54"Deaf Ted, Danoota, and me.
0:48:54 > 0:48:59"Thorg Billy grows and Burnley ten, And Aston Villa three
0:48:59 > 0:49:01"We clobber ever gallup
0:49:01 > 0:49:03"Deaf Ted, Danoota, and me.
0:49:03 > 0:49:07"So if you hear a wondrous sight, Am blutter or at sea,
0:49:07 > 0:49:10"Remember whom the mighty say
0:49:10 > 0:49:12"Deaf Ted, Danoota, and me."
0:49:13 > 0:49:16'You see, she didn't have to work on her accent, like I did.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20- SHE LAUGHS - I didn't think I had a different accent to anybody else.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23- The boys accepted you as part of the team.- Yes.
0:49:23 > 0:49:25You were their first major groupie.
0:49:25 > 0:49:27- Yes, quite! - BOTH CHUCKLE
0:49:29 > 0:49:32'Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to now have a few words
0:49:32 > 0:49:37- 'from our recording manager, Mr George Martin.- Martin.
0:49:37 > 0:49:41'George Martin. Here he is. Come here, George.
0:49:41 > 0:49:45'Say a few swinging new fab words for the Christmas market.
0:49:45 > 0:49:50'It's been a switched-on year for George, too, fab Beatle-people and we all hope you appreciate it.
0:49:50 > 0:49:53'Here he is.
0:49:53 > 0:49:56'He won't talk, Beatle-people.
0:49:56 > 0:49:58He won't!
0:49:58 > 0:50:00ALL: 'One, two, three...
0:50:00 > 0:50:04# Should auld acquaintance be forgot
0:50:04 > 0:50:08# And never brought to mind? #
0:50:10 > 0:50:14- Where on earth did that come from? - A load of lunatics, if you ask me.
0:50:14 > 0:50:18- That's a Beatles fan club record, it's got to be.- Oh.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21- Remember the fan club records? - Right, well done, you.
0:50:21 > 0:50:25- Every year, we'd take ten minutes of the session time...- And we used to...
0:50:25 > 0:50:27..and do nonsense like this.
0:50:27 > 0:50:29Well, I'm blessed, I'd quite forgotten about that.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32But we couldn't get you to speak.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34So professional.
0:50:34 > 0:50:37- But EMI was such a sort of funny place in those days.- Yeah.
0:50:37 > 0:50:40We thought of it in the same terms as the BBC,
0:50:40 > 0:50:46a huge monolithic corporation, but groovy with it, kind of thing.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48And I always remember,
0:50:48 > 0:50:52when we went to the toilets, there was this old-fashioned bog roll,
0:50:52 > 0:50:56and on every sheet, it had, "Property of EMI."
0:50:56 > 0:50:59- "Ltd."- We thought,
0:50:59 > 0:51:03"What, do they think someone's going to nick it?"
0:51:03 > 0:51:06It was worth nicking, actually. I wish I had one of those rolls.
0:51:06 > 0:51:10You've got to remember, when you are in there and using the thing, who it belongs to.
0:51:13 > 0:51:16It was a treadmill, but it was a very nice one -
0:51:16 > 0:51:18a golden treadmill, they might say.
0:51:18 > 0:51:20Ten number ones in a row.
0:51:20 > 0:51:21Which is extraordinary.
0:51:21 > 0:51:25- And you weren't getting any extra money for this from EMI?- No, no.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28- Did that make you feel bitter? - Yes.- It's the right answer.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31- It didn't make me feel better, it made me feel bitter. - Bitter or better?
0:51:31 > 0:51:36The appalling thing was that in 1963,
0:51:36 > 0:51:39after working my butt off all year,
0:51:39 > 0:51:42and I was on a very... quite a low salary -
0:51:42 > 0:51:462,000 a year at the most, I should think -
0:51:46 > 0:51:50and, um... I didn't get my Christmas bonus, if you remember.
0:51:50 > 0:51:51You got yours.
0:51:51 > 0:51:54Well, I was on £10 a week, yes.
0:51:54 > 0:51:57Well, and I rang through and asked why, and they said,
0:51:57 > 0:52:00"But you're now an executive getting over 2,000 a year...
0:52:00 > 0:52:05"and we don't give bonuses to people like that."
0:52:05 > 0:52:08So, I got nothing for the work I'd done in that year
0:52:08 > 0:52:11and yet, all the sale staff got huge bonuses
0:52:11 > 0:52:15for the amount of records they sold to the dealers.
0:52:15 > 0:52:18So, I naturally had a chip on my shoulder,
0:52:18 > 0:52:21which hasn't fallen off, even now.
0:52:22 > 0:52:25- What's all this, John? - It's Peter Sellers.
0:52:27 > 0:52:29APPLAUSE
0:52:42 > 0:52:46It has been a hard day's night.
0:52:48 > 0:52:50And I have been working like a dog.
0:52:50 > 0:52:53It's been a hard day's night.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56I should be sleeping like a log.
0:52:56 > 0:52:58But when I get home to you,
0:52:58 > 0:53:01I find the things that you do
0:53:01 > 0:53:05Will make me feel all right.
0:53:05 > 0:53:08The thing about this record for me is,
0:53:08 > 0:53:11we had this in Liverpool before we knew you,
0:53:11 > 0:53:14and I wore this record out.
0:53:14 > 0:53:17- Did you really?- Yeah, I mean,
0:53:17 > 0:53:19- we would play this forever. - But didn't you...?
0:53:19 > 0:53:22When Brian told you you'd got a deal with George Martin,
0:53:22 > 0:53:24who made all the comedy records,
0:53:24 > 0:53:28Didn't you feel he was scraping the bottom of the barrel?
0:53:28 > 0:53:31No. Not really. I think we probably wondered
0:53:31 > 0:53:35why we'd got the comedy guy and not the music guy,
0:53:35 > 0:53:37but I think we loved this so much,
0:53:37 > 0:53:41- and the other thing about this is, it wasn't just comedy.- Yeah.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44- There was good music in it.- Yeah.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47And things like Right Said Fred, Goodness Gracious Me, it was...
0:53:47 > 0:53:50- Oh, yeah.- It was a groovy...
0:53:50 > 0:53:53- Yeah.- You know, you did good music at those times.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57Those recordings with Peter and Spike
0:53:57 > 0:54:00and Irene Handl helped me in two ways with The Beatles.
0:54:00 > 0:54:04First of all, I didn't know them from Adam,
0:54:04 > 0:54:05but they knew me,
0:54:05 > 0:54:09because they were Goon fans and they knew all the stuff I'd made,
0:54:09 > 0:54:13Peter Sellers stuff and so on. That was the first help.
0:54:13 > 0:54:17Once the boys decided they would not perform any more,
0:54:17 > 0:54:22they wanted just to work in the studio, building up Sgt Pepper
0:54:22 > 0:54:24- became a bit like working on a Peter Sellers record.- Mmm.
0:54:24 > 0:54:28Because you were building a picture in sound.
0:54:28 > 0:54:31# Let me take you down
0:54:31 > 0:54:33# Cos I'm going to
0:54:33 > 0:54:36# Strawberry Fields
0:54:39 > 0:54:42# Nothing is real
0:54:43 > 0:54:45# And nothing to get hung about
0:54:47 > 0:54:50# Strawberry Fields forever... #
0:54:52 > 0:54:57# Living is easy with eyes closed
0:54:57 > 0:55:00# Misunderstanding all you see
0:55:02 > 0:55:08# It's getting hard to be someone but it all works out
0:55:08 > 0:55:11# It doesn't matter much to me... #
0:55:11 > 0:55:13Were you to some extent tickled by the fact
0:55:13 > 0:55:15that they were playing with music
0:55:15 > 0:55:19in a way that perhaps other rock 'n roll bands didn't dare do?
0:55:19 > 0:55:22Oh, yeah, they were becoming quite original,
0:55:22 > 0:55:25and the thing is, they were eternally curious.
0:55:25 > 0:55:29- Mmm.- They wanted to find new ways of doing what they were doing,
0:55:29 > 0:55:34and new harmonies, new endings for songs, and that kind of thing.
0:55:34 > 0:55:38- They always wanted to look beyond the horizon, not just at it.- Yes.
0:55:38 > 0:55:41# If the rain comes
0:55:41 > 0:55:44# They run and hide their heads... #
0:55:44 > 0:55:47There was one time on Rain,
0:55:47 > 0:55:50- when I decided to play around with tapes...- Yeah.
0:55:50 > 0:55:55..and I took John's voice off as a separate item
0:55:55 > 0:55:58and put it on a quarter-inch tape,
0:55:58 > 0:56:00and turned it back-to-front
0:56:00 > 0:56:02and so, I slid it around a bit,
0:56:02 > 0:56:04and then put it in on the end of the song.
0:56:05 > 0:56:10# Sdaeh rieht edih dna nur yeht semoc niar eht if...
0:56:10 > 0:56:11# Nair... #
0:56:11 > 0:56:16And I played it to John when he came back, and he said, "That's gear.
0:56:17 > 0:56:21"What is it?" And I said, "It's you."
0:56:21 > 0:56:23And I explained to him what I'd done.
0:56:23 > 0:56:26- And from that moment, he wanted everything backwards.- Yes.
0:56:26 > 0:56:27- You know, they all did.- Yeah.
0:56:38 > 0:56:40# Turn off your mind
0:56:40 > 0:56:43# Relax and float downstream. #
0:56:43 > 0:56:48This place, Abbey Road Studios, was a wonderful musical toyshop,
0:56:48 > 0:56:50and I'd never got much money,
0:56:50 > 0:56:53- but I did get the ability to play in that toyshop.- Yeah.
0:56:53 > 0:56:57So, I was able to experiment and I treated pianos,
0:56:57 > 0:57:00putting newspapers through the strings and all that kind of thing.
0:57:00 > 0:57:04- Yeah.- And backwards music, I was doing,
0:57:04 > 0:57:08and different speed music, and I found that interesting.
0:57:08 > 0:57:13# You may see the meaning of within... #
0:57:13 > 0:57:15Shoulder!
0:57:15 > 0:57:18# It is being
0:57:18 > 0:57:22# It is being... #
0:57:22 > 0:57:26- We got...- Great.- ..All these tape loops.- Yeah.- We got the sitar.
0:57:26 > 0:57:29- I know.- And the tambura. - And the cymbal!
0:57:29 > 0:57:34- Yeah.- It's all the way through. - Yeah.- No, it was far out, THEN.
0:57:34 > 0:57:39- Yeah.- You know, cos everything was so pulled back and a bit neat.
0:57:39 > 0:57:40This is when we started to change,
0:57:40 > 0:57:44this is the good reason we stopped touring and came into the studio.
0:57:47 > 0:57:50It was funny, actually, you know that time, if you remember,
0:57:50 > 0:57:54we all came in rose-coloured or funny-coloured specs.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57And, where I was living, there was a little optician's round the corner,
0:57:57 > 0:58:02and I sort of popped in, said, "Do you do different coloured lenses and everything?"
0:58:02 > 0:58:04He said, "Yeah, I do anything." So I ordered up
0:58:04 > 0:58:07like half a dozen different colours -
0:58:07 > 0:58:12you know, rose, green, blue, and took them to the sessions.
0:58:12 > 0:58:14That was to give you a bit of atmosphere in the studio
0:58:14 > 0:58:16and I remember all of you saying,
0:58:16 > 0:58:19"This is a sterile place, it's just white walls and...bloody awful.
0:58:19 > 0:58:22"Can't you do something to liven it up?".
0:58:22 > 0:58:27- Mmm.- And so they put in three fluorescent stands.
0:58:27 > 0:58:30- I know.- With red, blue and white.
0:58:30 > 0:58:33No, it's red, and green.
0:58:33 > 0:58:35- Was it green?- I know, cos I've got them!
0:58:35 > 0:58:38- Oh, right!- They're in my studio. Yeah, fluorescent poles.
0:58:38 > 0:58:41- That was to give you inspiration. - And boy, did it ever!
0:58:41 > 0:58:43We grooved after that!
0:58:45 > 0:58:50# ..Of the beginning. #
0:58:57 > 0:58:59Well, one of the reasons I'm deaf...
0:58:59 > 0:59:02- Yeah.- Is that I used to sit in front of a desk...
0:59:02 > 0:59:05- Yeah.- Because I would then get right inside the triangle...
0:59:05 > 0:59:08- Yeah.- And I could hear in stereo.
0:59:08 > 0:59:11I used to shut my eyes and hear this arc of sound,
0:59:11 > 0:59:14- and I could hear everything... - Yeah.- ..from right to left,
0:59:14 > 0:59:16and it seemed to go up as well.
0:59:16 > 0:59:20- Yeah.- Not just straight in front of me.- That's cos you were on drugs!
0:59:20 > 0:59:24- Well, it was in a way, wasn't it? - Yeah.- It was a kind of drug.
0:59:29 > 0:59:32You'd do an experiment in the studio and take an oscillator,
0:59:32 > 0:59:35so you'd go..."Can you hear it?"
0:59:35 > 0:59:38and us, with young ears at the time, we would go,
0:59:38 > 0:59:43"Yeah, yeah, can still hear it," and you'd take it up and up and then we'd go, "No, we just lost it,"
0:59:43 > 0:59:47and you'd say, "Pretty good hearing, you know, you just went up to mmm decibels."
0:59:47 > 0:59:50And you'd say, "Now, let's do it the other way,"
0:59:50 > 0:59:52You'd take it down and we'd go,
0:59:52 > 0:59:55"Yeah, I can hear it. Ooh, got a funny feeling though,"
0:59:55 > 0:59:56as you take it down low.
0:59:56 > 1:00:00And you told a story that Hitler...
1:00:00 > 1:00:03Hitler's people, his media people,
1:00:03 > 1:00:05knew this effect and, before a rally,
1:00:05 > 1:00:08they would play a low frequency that nobody could hear,
1:00:08 > 1:00:11they'd put that out and everybody would be sitting there going,
1:00:11 > 1:00:12"I'm not feeling too great."
1:00:12 > 1:00:15And the minute before Hitler got there they'd switch it off
1:00:15 > 1:00:17and everyone would go, "Yeah!"
1:00:17 > 1:00:21and, you know, loving it all. I loved those little stories
1:00:21 > 1:00:25that would be mixed in with our sort of recording career.
1:00:35 > 1:00:37You must've known,
1:00:37 > 1:00:41given your background and the context that you knew of music,
1:00:41 > 1:00:45you must've known what an extraordinarily different song it was for a pop song.
1:00:45 > 1:00:48Yeah, oh, yeah, terrific, wonderful.
1:00:48 > 1:00:53- The syncopation of it...- Yes. - ..was marvellous, you know,
1:00:53 > 1:00:56the, "Ta-ta-ta, ta, ta, ta, ta-ta-ta, ta-ta-ta."
1:00:59 > 1:01:03That was Paul's work. All I had to do was just do the strings.
1:01:03 > 1:01:05But you're being very modest,
1:01:05 > 1:01:10because guitar and vocals, that song is a pretty remarkable song,
1:01:10 > 1:01:14it's unusual modally, it has an English folk song feel to it...
1:01:14 > 1:01:16- Yeah, yeah.- Its lyrics are unusual,
1:01:16 > 1:01:18everything about it is unusual.
1:01:18 > 1:01:22But the decision to use strings in that particular way
1:01:22 > 1:01:25and with the rhythmic energy of those strings,
1:01:25 > 1:01:28is what turned it, I think, from a singer/songwriter song
1:01:28 > 1:01:29into something quite extraordinary.
1:01:29 > 1:01:33Paul did want to use strings by this time,
1:01:33 > 1:01:36and when I heard the song, I thought of Bernard Herrmann
1:01:36 > 1:01:40- and all the stuff they did from the Hitchcock films.- Yes.
1:01:40 > 1:01:43MUSIC: Shower Scene by Bernard Hermann
1:01:43 > 1:01:48And I thought of the strings being very short-playing and very spiky and very...
1:01:48 > 1:01:50HE STRIKES PERCUSSIVE NOTES
1:01:50 > 1:01:53- ..hitting, hitting like a piano.- Yes.
1:01:53 > 1:01:59And, um... Which would emphasise the syncopated nature of the song.
1:01:59 > 1:02:04So, it's half Paul McCartney, half Bernard Herrmann.
1:02:04 > 1:02:07Nil score to George Martin!
1:02:11 > 1:02:15Paul was always much more interested in music per se,
1:02:15 > 1:02:20whereas John was always more interested in words per se.
1:02:20 > 1:02:25And I think this relationship
1:02:25 > 1:02:28benefited from the ping-pong of those things.
1:02:28 > 1:02:30I mean, I think Paul always wanted
1:02:30 > 1:02:34to be able to write lyrics like John could do,
1:02:34 > 1:02:38and John really envied Paul's gift for melody.
1:02:38 > 1:02:40John once said to me,
1:02:40 > 1:02:43"Let's face it, George, I don't expect to walk into a bar in Spain
1:02:43 > 1:02:46"and hear people whistling I Am The Walrus."
1:02:46 > 1:02:50# I am he as you are he As you are me
1:02:50 > 1:02:53# And we are all together... #
1:02:53 > 1:02:57- And I knew what he meant.- Yes.- But it was that difference between them
1:02:57 > 1:03:00which also spurred each other on.
1:03:00 > 1:03:04- Did they both trust you equally? - I think they trusted me, yes.
1:03:04 > 1:03:10I think Paul probably wanted me more because of the ideas he would have
1:03:10 > 1:03:13- to use orchestras or orchestral instruments.- Mmm.
1:03:13 > 1:03:17John would not need me as much,
1:03:17 > 1:03:20but he did need me sometimes.
1:03:20 > 1:03:25# Something in the way she moves... #
1:03:25 > 1:03:28It must've been very daunting for George in the beginning,
1:03:28 > 1:03:30because he wanted to be a songwriter
1:03:30 > 1:03:35and the other two, because they worked so closely together,
1:03:35 > 1:03:38they wrote better songs. Well, I was encouraging,
1:03:38 > 1:03:42cos I always insisted that we had one of his songs on the album.
1:03:42 > 1:03:46So, he came through by writing some fantastic stuff.
1:03:46 > 1:03:51# Somewhere in her smile, she knows... #
1:03:53 > 1:03:55Something In the Way She Moves,
1:03:55 > 1:03:59Something is one of the best love songs ever.
1:04:01 > 1:04:06# Something in her style that shows me
1:04:08 > 1:04:12# Don't want to leave her now
1:04:12 > 1:04:14# You know I believe and how... #
1:04:22 > 1:04:23There's you doing your mixing.
1:04:23 > 1:04:26There's me producing all the Beatle records, as I did.
1:04:26 > 1:04:28Not really, just kidding!
1:04:28 > 1:04:29And a wry smile on his face.
1:04:29 > 1:04:33Wry smile, as he sees me do it completely wrong.
1:04:33 > 1:04:37- No, no!- He said, "I'll leave him, he's screwing it up, I'll leave him."
1:04:37 > 1:04:40But this is interesting, because, in the very first sessions,
1:04:40 > 1:04:42I always say we came in the tradesman's entrance,
1:04:42 > 1:04:44if you remember.
1:04:44 > 1:04:46- We didn't come in through the control room.- That's right.
1:04:46 > 1:04:51- But, by this time, we'd got in that control room, mate!- Oh, yeah, I know.
1:04:51 > 1:04:52We're getting up there!
1:04:52 > 1:04:56Never mind taking over the asylum, look at us!
1:04:56 > 1:04:57Working it!
1:05:04 > 1:05:07Oh, you fool! Easy shot!
1:05:08 > 1:05:10- You had it all!- I hate you.
1:05:11 > 1:05:14Do you mean that?
1:05:14 > 1:05:16During the Let It Be stuff,
1:05:16 > 1:05:21John came to me and said, "We don't want your crap on this record."
1:05:21 > 1:05:23I said, "What do you mean?" He said,
1:05:23 > 1:05:28"We don't want all this production crap where you overdub voices
1:05:28 > 1:05:32"and you edit, and you manipulate."
1:05:32 > 1:05:35I said, "OK, what do you want to do?"
1:05:35 > 1:05:39"We're going to make an honest record of this, we're going to perform and you record us,
1:05:39 > 1:05:41"that's what it's going to be."
1:05:41 > 1:05:47So Let It Be became torture, because John's premise
1:05:47 > 1:05:50was to take a song, rehearse it,
1:05:50 > 1:05:52get it right, and record it,
1:05:52 > 1:05:54but they never got it right!
1:05:54 > 1:05:58And when I heard that John AND George
1:05:58 > 1:06:02had taken the tapes out of Abbey Road
1:06:02 > 1:06:05and given them to Phil Spector to make them work,
1:06:05 > 1:06:07I felt a betrayal, really.
1:06:10 > 1:06:13When the record came to be issued, EMI rang me up and said,
1:06:13 > 1:06:18"They don't want your name on the record. It will be 'Produced by Phil Spector'."
1:06:18 > 1:06:22I said, "But I've produced all the original stuff that they worked on."
1:06:22 > 1:06:26"Yes." I said, "I'm not having that.
1:06:26 > 1:06:28"Why don't you put on it,
1:06:28 > 1:06:32'produced by George Martin, overproduced by Phil Spector'?"
1:06:32 > 1:06:34But they didn't seem to go for that.
1:06:42 > 1:06:45I didn't think we'd work again after Let It Be,
1:06:45 > 1:06:47and I didn't really want to.
1:06:47 > 1:06:49And when Paul rang me up and said,
1:06:49 > 1:06:52"We want you to come in and produce another record,"
1:06:52 > 1:06:55I said, "I've been there, Paul, I don't like it,
1:06:55 > 1:06:57"I don't think I want to do this."
1:06:57 > 1:07:02And he said, "Yes, you do, we all want to get together."
1:07:02 > 1:07:06I said, "What about John?" "John wants to, too."
1:07:06 > 1:07:11And we all got back into the studio again and John was honey pie.
1:07:11 > 1:07:15# Mean Mr Mustard sleeps in the park
1:07:15 > 1:07:19# Shaves in the dark Trying to save paper
1:07:22 > 1:07:24I knew it was the end and they knew it was the end,
1:07:24 > 1:07:27and they were coming back for one final stab
1:07:27 > 1:07:30at doing something really worthwhile together,
1:07:30 > 1:07:33before they went off into the sunset
1:07:33 > 1:07:35in their own particular ways.
1:07:35 > 1:07:37# Such a mean old man
1:07:40 > 1:07:42# Such a mean old man... #
1:07:42 > 1:07:46As people, we weren't that close,
1:07:46 > 1:07:49- but musically, we were still very close.- Yeah.
1:07:49 > 1:07:51We were just having our argy-bargy, you know?
1:07:51 > 1:07:54MUSIC: Drum solo from The End by The Beatles
1:08:05 > 1:08:11It was like an eight-year gig for me and I still feel that, any band, eight years - it's got to end.
1:08:11 > 1:08:12Yeah.
1:08:12 > 1:08:15# Love you! Love you!... #
1:08:15 > 1:08:18It was tough, I think, for everyone when you parted.
1:08:18 > 1:08:20You'd been together so long,
1:08:20 > 1:08:23- everybody had to find their own thing to do.- Yeah.
1:08:23 > 1:08:26I, on the other hand, was kind of liberated, I...
1:08:26 > 1:08:27RINGO LAUGHS
1:08:27 > 1:08:29"Thank God that's over!"
1:08:31 > 1:08:34# And in the end
1:08:35 > 1:08:38# The love you take
1:08:39 > 1:08:44# Is equal to the love
1:08:44 > 1:08:46# You make. #
1:08:46 > 1:08:49MUSIC CRESCENDOS
1:09:27 > 1:09:28For the first time in my life -
1:09:28 > 1:09:31well, in eight years anyway - I was a free man,
1:09:31 > 1:09:34and I wasn't bound by worrying
1:09:34 > 1:09:36whether the next record would be in the charts or not.
1:09:36 > 1:09:38And I was in demand.
1:09:38 > 1:09:40And for the first time,
1:09:40 > 1:09:44I got paid well on it, cos I never got paid well on Beatle songs!
1:09:44 > 1:09:45So I was quite happy.
1:09:45 > 1:09:49- We weren't looking for number ones. - Right.- I didn't NEED number ones.
1:09:49 > 1:09:53- Yeah.- I'd had them.- Right.
1:09:53 > 1:09:57I just wanted to do stuff that I enjoyed doing.
1:09:57 > 1:10:00# I follow your smile
1:10:04 > 1:10:07# And try as I might
1:10:07 > 1:10:10# I can't get it... #
1:10:10 > 1:10:13I wanted to try to get George in on this,
1:10:13 > 1:10:18because it was clear to me that the experience and work
1:10:18 > 1:10:20that he'd done with The Beatles
1:10:20 > 1:10:24with symphonic musicians, classical musicians,
1:10:24 > 1:10:27he was really the clear leader in this world,
1:10:27 > 1:10:29and I wanted the leader.
1:10:29 > 1:10:33Oh, gosh. One of my favourite tracks of all,
1:10:33 > 1:10:34Smile Of The Beyond
1:10:34 > 1:10:39from Apocalypse, with the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
1:10:40 > 1:10:44And, every time I hear it, it still sends...
1:10:44 > 1:10:47My hairs stand up on the back of my neck. I think it's fantastic.
1:10:47 > 1:10:51# Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man
1:10:52 > 1:10:57# That he didn't, didn't already have
1:10:59 > 1:11:02# And cause never was the reason for the evening... #
1:11:02 > 1:11:07I always was comfortable with George. He didn't just sit behind the glass,
1:11:07 > 1:11:10you know, he was down there in the studio with us playing piano,
1:11:10 > 1:11:13he plays piano on Tin Man, that's actually George playing,
1:11:13 > 1:11:15"De-de-de de-de-de, dee, de-de-de."
1:11:15 > 1:11:16# ..Like bubbles
1:11:16 > 1:11:20# Ooh, ooh-ooh.
1:11:20 > 1:11:24# Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh. #
1:11:39 > 1:11:41He's letting me make stuff up on the hoof,
1:11:41 > 1:11:44and that's where I saw him get excited, and he'd go,
1:11:44 > 1:11:48"OK, we've burnt that one out, let's start and do something else."
1:11:48 > 1:11:51And we'd go, "No, we really love where you're going with this."
1:11:51 > 1:11:54He said, "No, I know you're going to overdo it,
1:11:54 > 1:11:57"you're going to get sick of it, we're going to move on now."
1:11:58 > 1:12:00I gave it the title of Blow By Blow,
1:12:00 > 1:12:02because when you do an extemporary bit,
1:12:02 > 1:12:04you are giving it a blow, you know,
1:12:04 > 1:12:08combine that with the effect of punching, you know, blow by blow.
1:12:08 > 1:12:11And everybody sees in this a great title,
1:12:11 > 1:12:13and I'm sure it had something to do with the success,
1:12:13 > 1:12:17because, of course, it also meant something else.
1:12:17 > 1:12:21He could've been a very suave actor, I think, and a fantastic, um...
1:12:24 > 1:12:25..almost a James Bond.
1:12:27 > 1:12:32# When you were young And your heart was an open book
1:12:35 > 1:12:38# You used to say, "Live and let live"
1:12:39 > 1:12:44# You know you did, you know you did You know you did
1:12:44 > 1:12:49# But if this ever-changing world in which we live in
1:12:49 > 1:12:51# Makes you give in and cry... #
1:12:51 > 1:12:56I suppose most people think of a martini when they see a Bond film.
1:12:56 > 1:12:59# Say, "Live and let die"... #
1:13:01 > 1:13:06In fact, the martini was the most elegant cocktail ever devised, I reckon,
1:13:06 > 1:13:10and it was the favourite drink of the Algonquin set,
1:13:10 > 1:13:13in New York, in the '30s.
1:13:13 > 1:13:15So, all we need is a decent bottle of gin -
1:13:15 > 1:13:20I happen to like this particular one, which is Tanqueray gin -
1:13:20 > 1:13:24plenty of ice, and a bit of dry martini vermouth,
1:13:24 > 1:13:26and that's it, really.
1:13:26 > 1:13:31The purists will say you shouldn't shake it because it bruises the gin.
1:13:31 > 1:13:33Nonsense, it makes it colder.
1:13:39 > 1:13:42And, voila! Your martini is made.
1:13:47 > 1:13:50And there we are. Couldn't be simpler.
1:13:50 > 1:13:53Of course, it's a pretty strong drink.
1:13:53 > 1:13:55Like Dorothy Parker said,
1:13:55 > 1:14:00"I like to have a martini, two at the very most,
1:14:00 > 1:14:04"after three, I'm under the table,
1:14:04 > 1:14:07"after four, I'll be under my host."
1:14:08 > 1:14:09Cheers.
1:14:09 > 1:14:11# Live and let die
1:14:13 > 1:14:15# Live and let die
1:14:17 > 1:14:20# Live and let die. #
1:14:21 > 1:14:24Do you remember where that was taken and who took it?
1:14:24 > 1:14:29- It could be Linda... - It is Linda.- ..Taking it. Is it? Cos it looks like her work.
1:14:31 > 1:14:34- Now, it could be Montserrat. - It is Montserrat. Well done.- Yeah.
1:14:34 > 1:14:37Montserrat is so alive and kicking.
1:14:37 > 1:14:41- Gorgeous. Well, that's a beautiful picture.- My favourite shot, that is.
1:14:52 > 1:14:55I saw an in-flight magazine
1:14:55 > 1:14:59which talked about the emerald isle of the Caribbean,
1:14:59 > 1:15:02an island called Montserrat.
1:15:03 > 1:15:05The thing that struck me about Montserrat
1:15:05 > 1:15:10was that everybody was so friendly, and it's still like that.
1:15:10 > 1:15:14I think that was the chief reason why I decided to buy that property
1:15:14 > 1:15:18and start a hi-tech studio on a remote island.
1:15:20 > 1:15:24Went back to England and everyone said how crazy I was,
1:15:24 > 1:15:25and, of course, I WAS crazy.
1:15:38 > 1:15:43It's painful, because it used to be such a fantastic place,
1:15:43 > 1:15:47so full of activity, with great people.
1:15:47 > 1:15:50We used to work in the studio,
1:15:50 > 1:15:53in the evening we would sit down to dinner
1:15:53 > 1:15:59and as many as 24 people would be sitting down and having a nice meal.
1:15:59 > 1:16:03And we worked hard and we played hard.
1:16:03 > 1:16:06We made some great records here.
1:16:06 > 1:16:08# Every little thing she does is magic
1:16:08 > 1:16:10# Everything she do just turns me on
1:16:10 > 1:16:13# Even though my life before was tragic
1:16:13 > 1:16:15# Now I know my love for her
1:16:15 > 1:16:18# Goes on. #
1:16:24 > 1:16:26# Do I have to tell the story
1:16:26 > 1:16:31# Of a thousand rainy days Since we first met
1:16:35 > 1:16:37# It's a big enough umbrella
1:16:37 > 1:16:40# But it's always me that ends up
1:16:40 > 1:16:44# Getting wet
1:16:46 > 1:16:48# Every little thing she does is magic
1:16:48 > 1:16:51# Everything she do just turns me on
1:16:51 > 1:16:54# Even though my life before was tragic
1:16:54 > 1:16:56# Now I know my love for her
1:16:56 > 1:17:00# Goes on. #
1:17:00 > 1:17:02THUNDERCLAP
1:17:10 > 1:17:14I wasn't able to get to Montserrat after the hurricane
1:17:14 > 1:17:16until after about six weeks,
1:17:16 > 1:17:19so I got a flash lamp and I went into the studio
1:17:19 > 1:17:21to see how that had faired,
1:17:21 > 1:17:24whether there'd been any leaks in there.
1:17:24 > 1:17:28Went over to the piano and opened the keyboard,
1:17:28 > 1:17:33and all the ivory keys were covered in green mould,
1:17:33 > 1:17:36looked like a baize of a snooker table,
1:17:36 > 1:17:40and I realised then we were done, you know,
1:17:40 > 1:17:43because I knew, "If the piano's like that,
1:17:43 > 1:17:46"what's the inside of all our electronics like?"
1:17:49 > 1:17:55It's like seeing something you've created falling into disrepair.
1:17:55 > 1:18:00But it's like everything in life, isn't it? Everything has a period.
1:18:00 > 1:18:03You know, you bring something out of nothing,
1:18:03 > 1:18:06but it always goes back to nothing again, whatever.
1:18:19 > 1:18:21# Though I've tried before to tell her
1:18:21 > 1:18:24# Of the feelings I have for her
1:18:24 > 1:18:27# In my heart... #
1:18:29 > 1:18:32The old place hasn't changed a bit.
1:18:32 > 1:18:33Looks very good.
1:18:35 > 1:18:37I like that they've got the names on the seats now.
1:18:40 > 1:18:41- Yeah.- Yeah.
1:18:41 > 1:18:44It all looks in pretty good nick, really.
1:18:45 > 1:18:49And how long has it been running now?
1:18:49 > 1:18:50Two years? Maybe more?
1:18:50 > 1:18:53- Yeah, three years. - Three years?- Must be, yeah.
1:18:53 > 1:18:58It's been a godsend, really and truly. Where would we have gone?
1:18:58 > 1:19:02All those weddings, the plays, the performances...
1:19:02 > 1:19:07It has been used for church services, it's been used for funerals,
1:19:07 > 1:19:10it's used for dinners, in fact.
1:19:10 > 1:19:13I heard one person refer to it as the national dining room.
1:19:14 > 1:19:18Cultural Centre is very important to the Montserrat community.
1:19:18 > 1:19:20It's used practically for everything.
1:19:20 > 1:19:23All in all, it becomes a central focus
1:19:23 > 1:19:25for cultural life in Montserrat.
1:19:25 > 1:19:28- Are you very proud of it? - I am proud of it, aren't you?
1:19:28 > 1:19:30Yeah, very proud of it.
1:19:30 > 1:19:31We did it!
1:19:32 > 1:19:34Yeah, it's been successful.
1:19:34 > 1:19:37- And they've kept it very well, haven't they?- Yeah.
1:19:37 > 1:19:39It looks very nice.
1:20:00 > 1:20:03# Summertime
1:20:06 > 1:20:12# And the living is easy
1:20:15 > 1:20:19# Fish are jumping
1:20:20 > 1:20:24# And the cotton is high
1:20:29 > 1:20:31# Your daddy's rich
1:20:35 > 1:20:39# And your mother is good-looking
1:20:45 > 1:20:49# So hush, little baby
1:20:49 > 1:20:54# Don't you cry. #
1:21:04 > 1:21:05Very nice.
1:21:05 > 1:21:07'I've worked with so many great people,
1:21:07 > 1:21:11'I've been given all sorts of rewards and accolades,'
1:21:11 > 1:21:15and I say, "Well, is this really me that's getting it, you know?
1:21:15 > 1:21:17"Who are YOU to get all this stuff?
1:21:17 > 1:21:20# I look from the wings
1:21:20 > 1:21:24# At the play you are staging
1:21:25 > 1:21:30# While my guitar gently weeps
1:21:33 > 1:21:36# As I'm sitting here
1:21:36 > 1:21:39# Doing nothing but ageing
1:21:41 > 1:21:43# Still my guitar gently weeps... #
1:21:43 > 1:21:46I was worried about working with Giles.
1:21:46 > 1:21:48He'd been working as my assistant on and off
1:21:48 > 1:21:50on various projects I'd done,
1:21:50 > 1:21:53but when it came to the Cirque du Soleil show
1:21:53 > 1:21:57I knew that I needed him, mainly because of my hearing,
1:21:57 > 1:22:00but also because of the magnitude of the task.
1:22:00 > 1:22:04And so I said, "Look, do you want to work with me on this?"
1:22:04 > 1:22:06He said, "Yes, I'd love to, Dad."
1:22:06 > 1:22:10I said, "If you do, we'll do it as partners, you won't be my assistant.
1:22:10 > 1:22:14"We'll be equal, 50/50."
1:22:14 > 1:22:17How did you settle any differences you had?
1:22:17 > 1:22:20Oh, I generally hit him over the head with a hammer.
1:22:20 > 1:22:22HE CHUCKLES
1:22:22 > 1:22:26# While my guitar gently weeps
1:22:29 > 1:22:35# As I'm sitting here Doing nothing but ageing
1:22:37 > 1:22:40# Still my guitar
1:22:40 > 1:22:46# Gently weeps. #
1:23:01 > 1:23:04As we speak, it's just a few months away
1:23:04 > 1:23:08from the fifth anniversary of the Cirque du Soleil show
1:23:08 > 1:23:12and I promised I'd go along and join in the celebrations,
1:23:12 > 1:23:14and, with a great air of bravado,
1:23:14 > 1:23:17I said I'd come to the tenth one as well.
1:23:17 > 1:23:21Whether the show will last for ten years,
1:23:21 > 1:23:24whether I will last for ten years, let's see.
1:23:31 > 1:23:33Thank you. Cheers, thank you.
1:23:33 > 1:23:35Now, I'm just counting my money.
1:23:38 > 1:23:43'I've had a wonderful life, can't complain, got a fantastic family
1:23:43 > 1:23:46'and I had a great deal of love in my life.'
1:23:46 > 1:23:49- Had many mulberries? - That's not a mulberry, that one.
1:23:49 > 1:23:53- Oh, I thought it was.- That's a catalpa.- Catalsa.- Catalpa, yes.
1:23:53 > 1:23:56'Getting old's not fun. It's not for sissies.
1:23:56 > 1:24:00'Dylan Thomas raged against the dying light.'
1:24:00 > 1:24:04The truth of the matter is, you can do damn all about it, you know?
1:24:04 > 1:24:07If you're lucky, you get to be old.
1:24:07 > 1:24:13'I do live each day as though I won't see tomorrow, because...'
1:24:13 > 1:24:15You know, that's the way to look at it,
1:24:15 > 1:24:18and so what in hell am I doing wasting time talking to you now?
1:24:18 > 1:24:21HE LAUGHS
1:24:25 > 1:24:29LASCIVIOUS OLD MAN: I'll get you anything...my friend,
1:24:29 > 1:24:32if it makes you...feel...all right.
1:24:32 > 1:24:35- OLD WOMAN: - Ah, but I don't care too much for money.
1:24:35 > 1:24:37Money can't buy ME love.
1:24:37 > 1:24:42Oh. Well, I'll give you all I've got to give,
1:24:42 > 1:24:45if you'll say you love me true.
1:24:45 > 1:24:47Oh!
1:24:47 > 1:24:50I may not have a lot to give...
1:24:50 > 1:24:53- Oh!- But, uh, what I've got...
1:24:53 > 1:24:55I'll give to you.
1:24:55 > 1:24:59Ooh! But I don't CARE too much for money.
1:24:59 > 1:25:01Money cannot buy ME love.
1:25:01 > 1:25:04- Can't buy me love?!- No.
1:25:04 > 1:25:08- Everybody TELLS me so.- Naughty!
1:25:08 > 1:25:10- Can't buy me love?!- No!
1:25:10 > 1:25:14- HYSTERICAL CHUCKLING - No, no, no, no. Oh! Oh, stop it!
1:25:14 > 1:25:19Oh, you say you don't need no diamond ring,
1:25:19 > 1:25:22I'll be satisfied.
1:25:22 > 1:25:28Tell me that you want the kind of thing that money just can't buy.
1:25:28 > 1:25:32But, you see, I just don't care too much for money.
1:25:32 > 1:25:34Money cannot buy ME love.
1:25:34 > 1:25:37I see. Hmm.
1:25:37 > 1:25:39- Well, goodnight.- Balls.