10 Greatest Unsung Heroes In Rock And Roll

There have been many people throughout history who have earned the title of the Fifth Beatle. Some may nominate Brian Epstein for his genius way of promoting the Beatles throughout their career, and others might consider Billy Preston for his friendship with the band and giving them a lift during the Get Back sessions. Then again, if there's anyone who truly deserves that title, it would have to be George Martin.

After seeing the scrappy bar band that the Fab Four started out as, Martin saw potential in them and helped them grow as musicians throughout their tenure. While the Beatles never had any formal music training, Martin was the one who was able to translate their ideas into fully fleshed out pop classics, being the arranger of any orchestral sections they would need and even performing piano on songs like Rock and Roll Music and the lovely sped up solo on In My Life.

Given his sophisticated background though, Martin was never a snob and was more than willing to experiment on the songs whenever he got the chance, whether it was trying out backwards music on tracks like Rain, featuring Eastern instruments like George Harrison's sitar on Norwegian Wood or even linking songs together on the back half of Abbey Road. While nearly half of the Beatles catalog could be called legendary to some degree, calling George Martin a legendary producer almost feels like an understatement.