A couple years ago there was a thread on who we consider to be the fifth Beatle, so I thought I’d make a poll of it. I’ve gathered together some of the most commonly mentioned “fifth Beatles” from the thread and from various other sources, leaving off joke candidates and musicians who collaborated only on a single track (Brian Jones, Andy White, Eric Clapton, etc.). Vote for any and all of them you think deserve the title, even if you don’t consider their contributions to be equal.
Here’s a rundown of the choices; feel free to suggest your own in a post in case you felt I’ve left any off:
[ul]
[li]Neil Aspinall - road manager, personal assistant, and CEO of Apple Corps[/li][li]Pete Best - original drummer (until 1962)[/li][li]Brian Epstein - manager (until 1967)[/li][li]Mal Evans - road manager and assistant[/li][li]Jeff Lynne - producer of the Anthology reunion singles[/li][li]George Martin - producer and arranger of most string and horn parts[/li][li]Jimmie Nicol - 1964 tour drummer[/li][li]Yoko Ono - John’s love interest and musical collaborator[/li][li]Billy Preston - keyboardist for the Let It Be sessions[/li][li]Tony Sheridan - frontman for the My Bonnie album and various singles[/li][li]Phil Spector - producer and arranger for Let It Be[/li][li]Stuart Sutcliffe - original bassist (until 1961)[/li][li]Derek Taylor - press officer and Epstein’s personal assistant[/li][/ul]
John Lennon wanted Billy Preston in the band, so he gets in. The Beatles wouldn’t have been able to be half as inventive without George Martin. I don’t think any of the others is close, Epstein maybe. Yoko? Hell no.
Ditto on George Martin and Billy Preston, plus the two others who actually were genuine Beatles. Although no one would vote for him, the person who first coined the phrase “fifth Beatle”–in order to proclaim himself it–should have been included: Murray the K.
I can’t rightly say I appreciated it, but her participation with and influence on the Beatles (mostly through John) is undeniable. She was present at many recording sessions for the White Album onwards, contributing vocals to at least two released tracks (“The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill” and “Birthday”). She encouraged Lennon and Harrison to experiment with avant-garde music and actively collaborated with them to produce “Revolution 9” and “What’s the New Mary Jane”. Like it or not, Yoko Ono’s influence and contributions as a performer and composer are both present and evident in the Beatles canon.
Martin collaborated with them artistically and did it long before Yoko was on the scene. The others were either not involved with making music, or were of minor importance.
I would rule out Jeff Lynne, Tony Sheridan, Phil Spector and Derek Taylor. All of the rest have some role in the scene but George Martin is probably the best and most obvious choice.
This. Martin had a huge amount of creative influence on what the Beatles did. Without him they might still have been a great band, but a lot of their greatest songs would not sound the same, or might not exist at all.
You forgot Murray the K. I wouldn’t have voted for him in the poll, but he promoted the idea that he was the 5th Beatle, and may have originated the concept. When John died, the joke was that Murray was happy because he could call himself the 4th Beatle.
Another vote for Emerick. The Beatles’ use of *musique concrete *is probably their greatest lasting impact across all fields of music.
ETA: And George Martin, of course. Without him, the production details that made the Beatles’ post-*Help *work what it was would probably not have been possible.
I also went with Billy Preston, since his sound was a key ingredient for most of an entire album.
After giving it some thought, I geve Pete Best a nod, too. Early 1962 is awfully close to “real Beatle” times.
Finally, I was borderline about Mal Evans, but in the end I decided to give him a vote as well (barely). Besides being their constant roadie and confidant, he actually played some “musical” parts in some pretty important studio-recorded songs, like the countdown in Day in the Life and some of the big-band fun in Yellow Submarine.
Hey, how about Astrid Kirchherr, said to be responsible for the haircut, and much of the original look (before Epstein put them into suits)? Also Klaus Voormann, who designed, and is on, the cover of Revolver, and is sometimes said to have been the real bassist after Paul died.
In reality, I have to agree with the consensus. George Martin, who gave them their break and had a huge role in creating their late sound, is by far the most deserving of the title. The only other serious contenders are the actual erstwhile band members, Best and Sutcliffe(although their main contribution, especially Sutcliffe’s, to The Beatles’ success, came from their departure).
