The Hidden Connection Between Paul McCartney and George Martin

Paul McCartney played a huge role in The Beatles’ success. As one of the group’s main songwriters (along with John Lennon), Macca created some of the band’s biggest hits. Producer George Martin was also a key player. He was responsible for making the songs sound great. Paul and Martin worked together on Beatles songs for years, but there’s a connection between the producer and the self-professed instigator of The Beatles.

Paul McCartney and George Martin had a hidden connection besides The Beatles — Jane Asher’s mother

The influx of money that came with being pop stars meant The Beatles could afford to live almost anywhere. His bandmates settled in the London suburbs, but Paul remained in the city. 

He moved in with his girlfriend, Jane Asher, and her family: Parents Richard and Margaret, and her older brother Peter. 

Paul and Martin both had a connection to Margaret Asher. As Peter Ames Carlin writes in Paul McCartney: A Life, the bass-playing Beatle lived with her for several years, and Martin had her as a music teacher at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama years before he became a renowned producer of the most famous band in the world.

Paul lived separately from Jane when he moved into the home. He took a room in the attic near Peter. When Beatles fans tracked him down there and stalked the front door, he made secretive and dangerous escapes out the attic window to avoid attracting attention. 

Paul and Martin continued their working relationship when the Fab Four fractured

Paul and Martin’s hidden connection via Jane Asher’s mother could never outshine their working relationship. Martin fine-tuned The Beatles’ songs heard worldwide, and the pair continued working together even after the band broke up.

Martin provided orchestration on Paul’s second solo record, Ram. He produced and arranged orchestration on Wings’ first album, Red Rose Speedway, in 1973. 

Paul turned to Martin to produce several of his solo albums in the 1980s and beyond. They worked together on Tug of War, Pipes of Peace, Give My Regards to Broad Street, Press to Play, and Flowers in the Dirt in the 80s. They paired again to work on Off the Ground, Beautiful Night, Flaming Pie, and In the World Tonight in the 1990s, per AllMusic.

Martin and Paul shared a connection to the Asher family, but the producer didn’t work professionally with the family. Peter Asher’s folk duo, Peter and Gordon, recorded songs for EMI, but Martin didn’t produce those tunes, according to Martin’s AllMusic profile. 

Paul and Asher remained a couple for several years

Paul’s relationship with Jane Asher was a match of near-equals. 

She was a child actor with several film and TV roles to her name before she and Paul met in 1963. They remained together for several years and got engaged in late 1967. He inspired several Beatles songs, including “I’m Looking Through You” and “I Love Her.” She went with him to India when The Beatles visited Rishikesh for their spiritual retreat in early 1968.

Asher dumped Paul on live TV after discovering his affair a few months after returning from India. 

Paul found himself single in the summer of 1968, but not for long. He rebounded with Linda Eastman, and they married in March 1969. They worked together as husband and wife in Wings and beyond. Paul McCartney and George Martin had a secret connection via the Jane Asher and the Asher family, but the producer was more solidly tethered to Macca’s next partner.

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