The artistic spark that was created in 1962 between George Martin, then the 40-year-old producer of a major record company like Parlophone, and four brilliant 20-year-olds from Liverpool proletariat, the Beatles, is unique in the history of rock.
At first everything was under the control of Martin, who coordinated and guided the artistic choices of the band, but soon the producer realizes that he can not contain and bend to his will the inspiration and talent of Fab Four, carving out the role of fifth Beatles, the creator of the artistic insights of John and Paul, providing his wide musical culture in the magnificent arrangements of the songs, think of the strings of Yesterday.
Perhaps the biggest regret of Martin's career was to release Penny Lane as a single, with Strawberry Fields Forever on the B-side, leaving out of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band two extraordinary songs. One of the most famous anecdotes in the history of the Beatles is linked to Strawberry Fields Forever, a song that has no precise tonality.
Fab Four were unhappy with the arrangements, so they recorded different versions of the song. John said to Martin, "I like the first part of that version and the second part of another version".
Martin pointed out to him that they were recorded in different tonalities, so it was almost impossible to put them together. Lennon replied with a phrase that has now become a legend: "I'm sure you'll fix it".
Martin, after two sleepless nights, actually solved the problem, accelerating one version and slowing down the other, until he coordinated them.
That's why Strawberry Fields Forever has a unique sound: it's halfway between two tonal values, so it doesn't have an exact tonality. That's why the Beatles' success is closely linked to the genius of George Martin, the man who translated the Beatles' dreams into songs that still make you dream.
The secret of the Beatles' success
Beyond individual artists, why are the Beatles still considered the most important pop-rock group of all time?
First of all, it's impossible to imagine rock, pop, beat, psychedelia and most of the music we listen to today without Fab Four, who, by the way, were also among the forerunners of heavy metal in the adrenaline-pumping Helter Skelter.
According to a ranking of the magazine 'Rolling Stone' the best album in the history of pop music is Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts club band, while 4 of the first 10 records out of 500 reviewed belong to the Beatles.
None, however, even their natural heirs Oasis and Blur, has managed to repeat the magic of their songs, real classics that are not affected by the wear and tear of time.
By eliminating the figure of the unique frontman, the Beatles have unconsciously become the icons of an epoch-making revolution, not only in the field of music.
George Martin, struck by the Cameroonian spirit, the energy and irony of the four young artists from Liverpool, understood that there was no need to call into question that solid union, cemented during the period of the concerts in Hamburg, with the choice of a single singer, to the detriment of the collective, their strength.
Starting with Revolver, released on August 5, 1966, Fab Four began a Copernican revolution in the way they recorded their albums.
Before the album was a collection of singles, identical in every way to the songs that the group offered in live concerts.
The Beatles recorded 211 tracks, 186 of which were composed directly by Fab Four, most of them signed by the Lennon-McCartney couple.
What is impressive is that more than half of them are extraordinary songs, so that no collection of 20-30 tracks can be considered sufficient to represent the magic of the Beatles' music.
The records were no longer a random collection of singles, but a work in itself, with a common thread and an overall inspiration that permeated each song, as if they were parts of a single symphony.
But perhaps the most important revolution of Liverpool was to be the first group of guys who sang specifically for the guys.
Before them, the pop music was entrusted to stiff singers, who interpreted faint songs with the enthusiasm and emotional participation of a mannequin.
There was no music written and composed especially for young people, who made do with the 45 most "digestible" laps borrowed from their parents.
Since October 5, 1962, the release date of Love me do, everything has changed in the world of pop music.
If no band in the last 56 years has ever managed to overthrow the Beatles from their throne, there's a reason, and it's the same reason why we never stop feeling when we listen to their songs.