That’s before we get into what they were from a business perspective as well. The music industry is as much about making good financial decisions as it is about the music, and with these greats in their corner, the group developed a situation where they practically couldn’t lose in any scenario that came their way.

Although The Beatles faced some of the worst setbacks any band has ever faced, these people were always there to guide them and make sure everything was going well in the background. They weren’t meant to be beyond the 1960s, but a few background characters were instrumental in turning these simple songs into anthems of the golden age of rock and roll.

So who was the fifth Beatle?

5. Pete Best

There will always be sour grapes when someone gets kicked out of a band. For all the band of brothers mentality one has for their fellow musicians, sometimes, for the greater good, certain people need to be set free. Although Pete Best clearly wasn’t meant to go the distance in the same way that Ringo Starr was, his way of keeping the group anchored at the start is why they became such a fan favorite in Liverpool.

Aside from his mother owning the Cavern club, Best kept the group stable behind the kit. While John Lennon and Paul McCartney might have had over-the-top personalities, Best was the quiet one in the back with the curly tousled hair. As it turns out, that silence might have been a bit of a problem going forward.

Besides not looking the part, Best was clear the weakest of the group when it came time to record, which led to Starr taking his place next. It’s not the legacy any musician wants for themselves, but at the end of the day, how many people can accurately say they were part of one of the biggest bands in the world?

4. Geoff Emerick

A band has always had a symbiotic relationship with its producer. If the musicians come up with song ideas, the producer is the captain of the team, overseeing everything and making sure everyone knows their parts well. That leaves a bit of room for the engineer, but what Geoff Emerick has done to the group’s sound is something that’s felt more than heard half the time.

Despite not appearing until the group’s middle period, it’s Emerick’s quirky choices that have made their music stand out in contrast to the weaker production of their early records. Even though it was against studio policy, his choice to place the microphones a little closer to the drums than usual is what made “Paperback Writer” sound so magical, and no one could ever forget the kind of psychedelic flourishes that -collected when it does something like “Tomorrow you never know‘.

While Emerick eventually quit in protest halfway through the white album reconciled with them to a degree, even reuniting with McCartney in the 1970s for Band on the Run. There are more shady people in the studio that we’ll get to later, but Emerick is the kind of person who made those records sound way more interesting than any other group at the time.

3. Billy Preston

The Beatles were never snobby about who they could play with. Many people would have given their left arm for a jam session with them, but it was all about who served the song best. Although many people would include someone like Eric Clapton in this spot, Billy Preston is one of the few people who provided the glue during the darkest days of their careers in the late 1960s.

Since come back The project not coming together, Preston stopped by the studio to play a few songs, after which the whole band lit up. Even though he’s only credited on a handful of songs, many of his arrangement choices are key parts of their songs, like the little piano lis between the verses on “I’ve Got a Feeling” or hearing him round out the mix on “Don’t let me down.”

Of all the potential fifth members, Preston was one of the few Lennon talked about entering the group, noting in come back documentary that liked the idea of ​​bringing Preston on as a member. The band may have imploded instead, but it’s worth imagining what version of the Fab Five it would have been if Preston had been able to put some of his soulful delivery on more songs.

2. Brian Epstein

One of the biggest headaches of the music industry is dealing with the business side of things. It only takes one listen to “You Never Give Me Your Money” to realize how much it bothered McCartney, and usually a manager is the person who ends up dealing with it. And if they’d only had Brian Epstein there for the second half of the 1960s, maybe the group could have stayed the course a little longer.

Although Epstein was seen as a pseudo-father figure to the group when they first started, he was instrumental in guiding them through the PR side of their career. It was he who helped define their image as a lovable group of mop-top lads, and when Lennon was criticized for his infamous ‘bigger than Jesus” remarks Epstein did a fantastic job of getting the audience back on their side by handling Lennon’s apology.

And to illustrate just how much Epstein has meant to the group, their relationship with their new manager and completely shitty Allen Klein over the past few years should tell you all you need to know. Epstein might be seen as the one dealing with the boring stuff, but if the docs and agents weren’t happy, then The Beatles would have been in hot water a lot more often.

1. George Martin

Most people on this list are usually concerned with operating on some aspect of The Beatles’ music. While Epstein was about choreographing the band’s image for children, Preston and Best could be considered the life rafts for the group at the beginning and end of their careers. From the moment they entered the studio, however, George Martin was the definition of what a true “Fifth Beatle” should look like.

From day one, Martin saw the boys’ charm and potential when no one else could, when he brought them to Abbey Road Studios. Since the group had no knowledge of music theory, half of what Martin has done both in arranging and transcribing their music is enough to give them some long overdue royalties, should his fortune be interested in pursuing any legal dispute over their songs.

But Martin’s greatest strength was his inability to say no to any wacky idea they had, whether that meant turning “Strawberry Fields Forever” into one of their greatest records or to be given the minimum necessary. “I am the walrus” and turning it into a rock art extravaganza. Many people have been called the “Fifth Beatle” over the years, but in terms of what the group sounded like from start to finish, no one even comes close to what Martin did for the group.

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