Giles Martin talks The Beatles White Album with Pete Mitchell

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the White Album by the Beatles and as part of our Revolutions In Music: The Beatles White album. Pete Mitchell talks an exclusively with Giles Martin, Sir George Martin’s son who has remastered the original recordings.

Catch the full Revolutions In Music documentary here:

[javiergilvidal]

Giles obviously inherited the finesse and gentlemanship of his father. A lucky man indeed.

[SirHatchporch]

I like how Giles doesn't just regurgitate the stock party line analysis and endlessly rehashed accounts of the Beatles' legacy -- some of which, as he notes, just aren't factual -- and has his own opinions. He also has a lot of his father in him, which is quite haunting. As a lifelong Beatles fan, I love what Giles is doing with their music and heritage.

[rustytable]

I found it refreshing to hear Mr. Martin gently correcting what has been wrongly printed about that time in their recording lives. We all know Ringo took a holiday during that time, but his homecoming was beautifully done. What a great band they were.

[energeticenterprizes]

Giles clearly loves the boys in the same way, with the same passion of his dad. He's protective, and folds his wings around them., much the way George always did...his voice softens when speaking directly about them, and his pulse quickens with obvious pride. It's just so very right. Thank God for this beautiful continuation of admiration!

[Acujeremy]

Maybe Giles should remix this interview taking out Pete Mitchell's voice.

[JohnCee]

Congratulations to Giles Martin for making this interview interesting, despite the constant interruptions by an interviewer who is only half listening to the answers.

[GekoPish]

The Super deluxe remaster by Giles is just sublime. It has brought the White Album up to date and it sounds like it was recorded yesterday. Just terrific work. Kudos. He certainly is his Father's son.

[TheJayson]

Lol. I love how Giles sticks to his guns. What an absolute legend. Not afraid in the slightest to blatantly disagree and correct.

[Fontsman]

Mitchell just regurgitating mythology. Martin subtly correcting him with facts.

[mysongs]

It's nice to see how Giles has become such an important part of the beautiful experience that is the Beatles. His late father's musical knowledge and guidance helped channel the Fab Four's creativity to its heights. Two very talented, good men. A pleasure to watch. Thank you.

[mrfester]

What I love about this interview is that Mitchell says something as if it's a fact and Giles forthrightly responds, "NO. I don't think..." Mitchel is talking myth as if it's the same thing as fact. Everything that Giles is saying actually makes more sense AND is verified by what all four Beatles have said time and again I'm so happy to hear Giles speak out against all the nonsense but the power of myth is very strong and people want to hear that there was animosity and discord and fighting and unrest. Of course there was all that to a degree but not anything near what many people have come to believe.
Mitchell keeps trying to make blanket one dimensional statements about what the band was doing and what each of the four was like. He can't get it through his head that the four were, like most people, complex multidimensional personalities with contradictions and good and bad. At one point Mitchell says, "They were hippies..." He's struggling to make them one dimensional and to fit into the myth. He is a lousy interviewer and I'm so glad that Giles stands up to the one sided thinking of this guy.

[donstalos]

Giles' description is perfect: Right when you think you understand what the album is, it slaps you across the face by introducing a completely novel genre and style in the next song. While it lacks the cohesion of Sgt. Pepper, it somehow still feels like a concept album.

[jasongoddard]

Giles is a brilliant curator of The Beatles music. The music is in such good hands with him.

[strathman]

Small correction: John didn't say of "the movement you need is on your shoulder" that it was "the only good line in the song." Giles portrays this as John being snarky and critical. But in fact John loved and respected Hey Jude as a "masterpiece" and said "it's the best line in it" intending to encourage Paul to keep it in.

[johnnywires]

I grew up with the Beatles and read everything to do about them in those days.Collected all sorts of Beatle things and even joined the Beatle club where i used to get their monthly mags.Still have them.There is not much i dont know about them and one thing i do know is that you can never pick a best Beatle album.From a Hard Days Night onwards they were all great.I used to think it was Peppers and then The White album, then Revolve, then one day Help hits you and the great Rubber Soul.In short, they were all great.When you get Abbey Road number one again after 50 years, you know these 4 were unique.There will never be anything like them again.So glad i got to share my life with their music.Simply the best.

[themysterysuk]

The interviewer isn't listening, he has a narrative and he is sticking to it, bazaar.

[allenf.]

Giles is so wonderful to hear as always. with what the project is/was and how his dad was affected by it (classroom gone mad). Essentially it was THE businessmen Beatles now calling the shots and the creativity and musicality was able to grow and flow at any time until it was right. -Competitive nature indeed. We can learn so much from Giles Martin. Thanks for sharing.

[manjay]

Giles is a tough dude. The interviewer wants his received wisdom to be verified. But Giles is not having it. Great interview.

[teeniebeenie]

mr martin, u and ur dad are legends... congrats on ur work

[Noisehead]

dunno why the interviewer bothered getting Giles in, he obviously thinks he knows it all already