George Martin

George Martin, the record producer whose work with the Beatles earned him knighthood in Britain, is caught off guard when asked to name the second greatest rock band of all time. Though various people have been called the Fifth Beatle over the years, few have better claim to the title than Martin.

David Mason, a classical musician best known for his distinctive piccolo trumpet solo on the Beatles' recording of "Penny Lane," has died. He was 85. Mason died April 29 after a brief battle with leukemia, according to the All Music online database . The Beatles' Paul McCartney was looking to embellish "Penny Lane" when he saw Mason on television playing the trumpet on Bach's "Brandenburg" Concerto No. 2 in F Major , Mason often...

Robert Hilburn talks to George Martin, who will be conducting at the Hollywood Bowl, about his magical pop odyssey with the Beatles.

Nearly 2,000 people attended a memorial service at Anderson Air Force Base for the six crew members of a B-52 bomber that plunged into the Pacific on Monday. The six officers killed were: Maj. Christopher M. Cooper, 33; Maj. Brent D. Williams, 37; Capt. Michael K. Dodson, 31; 1st Lt. Joshua D. Shepherd, 25; 1st Lt. Robert D. Gerren, 32; and Col. George Martin, 51. They were based at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

THE article on George Martin reaffirmed my belief in what music journalism can achieve: a harmonious array of fact and emotion toward the project, making it clear how passionate Randy Lewis and the people involved are on this topic ["The Pop Producers," Nov. 19]. CHRISTINE HODINH Long Beach I am a Beatles fan from their early days. My first concert was the Beatles at Dodger Stadium. My wife and I saw and heard "Love" during the rehearsal month. It was the best sound I had ever heard.

Mike Kenn, five-time All-Pro tackle of the Atlanta Falcons, has replaced George Martin as president of the National Football League Players Assn. Gene Upshaw also was reelected to a three-year term as executive director at the meeting of the association's board of reps Sunday in Chicago, the group said today. Kenn is an 11-year NFL veteran. Martin, of the New York Giants, retired at the end of the 1988 season.

Former Beatle George Harrison has admitted that he expects to die soon from cancer, a British newspaper quoted the group's former producer as saying. The musician has been treated for a brain tumor and lung cancer. The Mail on Sunday said Harrison, 58, told producer George Martin that he does not have long to live. Martin told the paper: "He is taking it easy and hoping that the thing will go away. . . . But he knows that he is going to die soon."

Nearly 2,000 people attended a memorial service at Anderson Air Force Base for the six crew members of a B-52 bomber that plunged into the Pacific on Monday. The six officers killed were: Maj. Christopher M. Cooper, 33; Maj. Brent D. Williams, 37; Capt. Michael K. Dodson, 31; 1st Lt. Joshua D. Shepherd, 25; 1st Lt. Robert D. Gerren, 32; and Col. George Martin, 51. They were based at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

Pop impresario George Martin said Wednesday that the Beatles might not have become superstars had they started out in the 1990s. He was speaking after presenting the John Lennon songwriting awards to three students at Salford College of Technology near Manchester, the day after what would have been Lennon's 50th birthday. "John was not all that keen on education," said Martin, Lennon's and the group's producer. "If he had been around now, I don't think the Beatles would have broken through."

Geoff Emerick leaned his head back and squinted, remembering. "It was a great time," he said. "I feel privileged to have lived through it--not just being a part of 'Sgt. Pepper.' To me, it will never happen again. Everything changed. " Emerick was the 21-year-old kid who engineered every minute of all 700 hours of the four months it took to record the Beatles' "Sgt.

THERE ARE "once-in-a-lifetime" tribute and trophy shows most every weekend in Los Angeles, but Saturday night had been circled on the calendar for weeks by fans of the British Invasion as an evening of amazing confluence. Crosstown events promised to bring the surviving members of the Beatles to USC at the same time that the Who was plugging in to play at UCLA.

The Grammy Foundation's annual Starry Night benefit dinner will honor longtime Beatles producer George Martin on July 12 at USC. Slated to perform are Burt Bacharach, Jeff Beck, Natalie Cole, Dave Grusin, Tom Jones and Michael McDonald, among others. The dinner and concert will benefit the Grammy Foundation, which provides programs for future generations of music professionals and helps preserve the nation's musical heritage. In addition, Martin will lead a multimedia presentation on "The Making of Sgt. Pepper" at the campus on July 11. For ticket information on both events, go to www. grammyfoundation.

THE article on George Martin reaffirmed my belief in what music journalism can achieve: a harmonious array of fact and emotion toward the project, making it clear how passionate Randy Lewis and the people involved are on this topic ["The Pop Producers," Nov. 19]. CHRISTINE HODINH Long Beach I am a Beatles fan from their early days. My first concert was the Beatles at Dodger Stadium. My wife and I saw and heard "Love" during the rehearsal month. It was the best sound I had ever heard.

IMAGINE, for a moment, that you're Maurice Koechlin or Emile Nouguier, the engineers Gustave Eiffel hired in the 1880s to assemble the magnificent Parisian tower he pictured in his mind rising to heights previously unachieved by mankind.

Olivia Harrison likes to quip that were she to write a book about her 27 years with "the quiet Beatle," she'd call it "Never a Dull Moment." George Harrison mixed his well-known passion for music and his quest for spiritual truth with utterly worldly penchants for auto racing, gardening and socializing with a zeal that seemed to run counter to the public image of a shy, inward-looking musician and family man who rarely made a splash in public after the Beatles broke up.

Former Beatle George Harrison has admitted that he expects to die soon from cancer, a British newspaper quoted the group's former producer as saying. The musician has been treated for a brain tumor and lung cancer. The Mail on Sunday said Harrison, 58, told producer George Martin that he does not have long to live. Martin told the paper: "He is taking it easy and hoping that the thing will go away. . . . But he knows that he is going to die soon."

The scene in Hermosa Beach was redolent of an epochal moment in music: The band was cooking, the dance floor was jammed and Sir George Martin was standing in the corner, taking it all in. It was reminiscent of the Cavern, the steamy and chaotically joyful teen hotspot in Liverpool where the Beatles were playing one night in 1962 when Martin first laid his piercing blue eyes on them.

IMAGINE, for a moment, that you're Maurice Koechlin or Emile Nouguier, the engineers Gustave Eiffel hired in the 1880s to assemble the magnificent Parisian tower he pictured in his mind rising to heights previously unachieved by mankind.

George Martin, the record producer whose work with the Beatles earned him knighthood in Britain, is caught off guard when asked to name the second greatest rock band of all time. Though various people have been called the Fifth Beatle over the years, few have better claim to the title than Martin.

Robert Hilburn talks to George Martin, who will be conducting at the Hollywood Bowl, about his magical pop odyssey with the Beatles.