Martin first worked for EMI in 1950, becoming manager of the Parlophone label in 1955. He first auditioned the Beatles in 1962, and this marked the beginning of a long relationship, in which Martin's musical expertise helped plug the gap between their raw talent and the sound they wanted to achieve. Most of the arrangements for orchestral instruments were done by Martin, in collaboration with members of the Beatles - a good example of this was on Penny Lane, where Martin worked with McCartney on a piccolo trumpet solo.

Not wanting to leave the last record he would ever produce to chance, Martin published the CD In My Life in 1998. There, he assembled all the performers he had always admired apart from the Beatles. The outcome of that project was a number of unusual and entertaining cover versions. The tracks: