They called him the fifth Beatle. And, while Sir George Martin was hardly the only person associated with The Fab Four to be given that title – and it was one he certainly never sought for himself – he was surely the one who deserved it the most.

Because Martin was the man who shaped the band who shaped everything. He was the man who stood at John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr’s elbows, facilitating their every ...