A Las Vegas labor of ‘Love’ for George Martin and son

This interview was originally published on Nov. 21, 2006, when George Martin and Cirque du Soleil were about to premiere the Beatles “LOVE” production in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS — Who could have imagined that what began as a friendship between the late George Harrison and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte more than a decade ago would end up as the Beatles’ “Love” — Cirque’s musical mega-production in permanent residence at the Mirage Resort?

Apparently, everyone associated with the Beatles.

Negotiations among Harrison (and later his estate), the estate of John Lennon (and wife Yoko Ono), Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr and the Montreal-based Cirque eventually led to London’s Abbey Road Studios and, not too surprisingly, to George Martin , producer of the Fab Four from 1962-69 and often referred to as “The Fifth Beatle.”

Martin and his son Giles were eager to discuss the music of “Love” during its opening weekend here in June. While the show is not the story of the Beatles, it is the story of their music’s impact on pop culture. With 6,000 speakers in the theater (including three in each seat), it’s fair to say the Beatles have never sounded quite like this.

Q. What convinced you this was how you wanted the Beatles’ music to be represented in a stage show?

George Martin: When I was told that Cirque would be involved, I thought it was an interesting idea. At the onset I was asked to create a musical soundtrack, a continuous soundscape of Beatles music. And I could use any sound I’d recorded with the Beatles in the years since 1962. I could take any sound and turn it upside down or stretch it or put it in different keys. I could take a rhythm section from one point in a song and put it onto another and so forth.

Giles Martin: We set out combining tracks and moving tracks around and such. When Paul and Ringo heard our demo, they loved the idea of doing something completely new and different with the music, not going down the same well-worn route they’d been through.

Q. So is it just a matter of using their original vocals and setting down new tracks?

Giles: My father and I listened to every song, took notes and wrote down keys and tempos and then approached each song in a new way. Certain songs such as “A Day in the Life” and “Come Together” are exactly the same [as the original version], although “Come Together” has “Dear Prudence” tacked on at the end so it doesn’t fade. “Yesterday” is exactly the same as you know it, except that it’s in surround sound. [Laughing.] You can’t change “Yesterday” now, could you?

George: No, you can’t change “Yesterday.” [“Being for the] Benefit of Mr. Kite!” has four different songs go on with it. “Octopus’ Garden” has about six songs going on with it. “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” has music from “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” “Strawberry Fields [Forever]” ends with something like 15 songs. From the very opening of the show [and the album] through the first three minutes, you’ll hear excerpts from 30 different songs. You may not notice them, but they’re there. So the idea was to try and push the boundaries as far as we could to make people listen again. They [the Beatles] were an incredible band.

Q. What’s the biggest difference people will notice about the Beatles’ music hearing it for the first time in true surround sound?

George: They’ll be struck by the immediacy of the voices and the clarity of the sound. They’ll be listening to stuff they’re familiar with, but then it’s not so. It’s something a little bit more interesting. A lot of people no longer really listen to music, they just hear it. This will hopefully change that.

Q. Two of the guys who really brought in so many of those unique sounds, George and John, are no longer with us. Do you think they would have been on board with this project and what you’ve done with their music?

Giles: I think George more so than John. John was a rocker, really. Paul was actually instrumentally trying to push the boundaries more than John. John was more into singing, playing the guitar and piano.

Q. Did it feel like old times, like working with the four of them together again on some level?

George: It’s like coming home again.