If I Fell: Three Solo Albums from Sir George Martin Reissued on CD, LP, Digital

George Martin Off the Beatle Track
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Sir George Martin would have turned 100 earlier this year, on January 3.  Before the year’s out, Warner Music UK will celebrate the legacy of the producer-arranger-composer-conductor with a trio of reissues.  On November 6, the label will revisit 1964’s Off the Beatle Track, 1965’s Help!, and 1966’s And I Love Her on vinyl and streaming everywhere, and on CD in the United Kingdom.  The first two albums feature Martin’s lush orchestral renditions of Beatles favorites, while the third blends Beatles songs (including the title track) with other hits of the day.  All three of these long out-of-print releases have been newly mastered under the supervision of Sir George’s son Giles Martin.

Off the Beatle Track, originally released on the Parlophone label, inaugurated a decade-spanning series of instrumental releases from The George Martin Orchestra designed for the light music/so-called “easy listening” market.  Many of these naturally drew on his work with the Fab Four, either in whole or in part, but Martin’s Guildhall-trained musicianship and impeccable ear for production and sound kept these albums from becoming mere retreads of familiar songs.  Off the Beatle Track featured such early Beatles hits as “All My Loving,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “I Saw Her Standing There,” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” and John Lennon penned the original liner notes.  Those are replicated on the new reissue.

George Martin Help
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Help! was released the following year in 1965 on EMI’s Columbia label to capitalize on The Beatles’ second big-screen romp.  (Martin’s U.S.-only United Artists album of selections from A Hard Day’s Night, which included his four cues on the original soundtrack album, is not part of this series.)  Help! was altered for its U.S. release on United Artists; the U.S. edition dropped the Martin original “Bahama Sound” and utilized early working titles for the songs, including “Yesterday” as “Scrambled Egg” (singular) and “I’ve Just Seen a Face” as “Auntie Gin’s Theme.”  This reissue again replicates the original, Martin-approved U.K. release.

George Martin And I Love Her
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The Columbia release of 1966’s …And I Love Her, like Help!, was issued in “Studio 2 Stereo” sound to bring a vivid sonic spread to home speakers.  This time around, the arranger-conductor supported The Beatles’ “If I Fell,” “And I Love Her,” “No Reply,” “I’m Happy Just to Dance with You,” and “I’ll Cry Instead” with orchestral reinventions of songs popularized by The Rolling Stones (“Time Is on My Side”), Petula Clark (“Downtown”), Little Anthony and The Imperials (“Goin’ Out of My Head”), The Righteous Brothers and Cilla Black (“You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”), and Vince Guaraldi (“Cast Your Fate to the Wind”).  His own composition “All Quiet on the Mersey Front” from the Ferry Cross the Mersey film was also featured.

While Off the Beatle Track had a brief CD release on the U.S. One Way label in 1994, both Help! and …And I Love Her are making their official debuts in the format.  CD reissues are due in the U.K. and vinyl reissues everywhere on November 6.  You’ll find the track listings and pre-order links below!  (Amazon U.S. links are not yet live.  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.)

George Martin and His Orchestra, Off The Beatle Track (Parlophone PCS 3057, 1964 – reissued Warner Music UK, 2026)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Side A:

  1. All My Loving
  2. Don’t Bother Me
  3. Can’t Buy Me Love
  4. All I’ve Got To Do
  5. I Saw Her Standing There
  6. She Loves You

Side B:

  1. From Me To You
  2. There’s A Place
  3. This Boy
  4. Please Please Me
  5. Little Child
  6. I Want To Hold Your Hand

George Martin and His Orchestra, Help! (Columbia TWO 102, 1965 – reissued Warner Music UK, 2026)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Side A:

  1. Help!
  2. Another Girl
  3. You’re Going To Lose That Girl
  4. I Need You
  5. You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away
  6. The Night Before

Side B:

  1. Ticket To Ride
  2. Bahama Sound
  3. I’ve Just Seen A Face
  4. It’s Only Love
  5. Tell Me What You See
  6. Yesterday

George Martin and His Orchestra, …And I Love Her (Columbia TWO 141, 1966 – reissued Warner Music UK, 2026)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 

Side A

  1. Time Is On My Side
  2. If I Fell
  3. You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling
  4. All Quiet On The Mersey Front
  5. Downtown
  6. And I Love Her

Side B:

  1. Goin’ Out Of My Head
  2. No Reply
  3. A Hard Day’s Night
  4. I’m Happy Just To Dance With You
  5. Cast Your Fate To The Wind
  6. I’ll Cry Instead
Joe Marchese
Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.

Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.

Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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