George Martin's 100th birthday celebrated with new release of Beatles covers albums

25 September 2026, 10:25

Off the Beatle Track, Help! and ..and I Love Her are being re-released.

This year marked what would have been the 100th birthday of George Martin.

Martin, who died in 2016 aged 90, was the man who signed The Beatles and also the producer for the vast majority of their music during their remarkable eight years together.

• Who is the Fifth Beatle? George Martin, Brian Epstein, Pete Best and more
• Watch a touching video of George Martin telling his young granddaughter why he signed The Beatles
• Listen to the Gold 60s Live Playlist on Global Player, the official Gold app

In the wake of the wave of Beatlemania, Martin also helmed a number of orchestral covers albums featuring Beatles hits.

These have long remained out of print, never being available on CD or streaming, but three of these records are finally being released next month on new formats and vinyl too.

All of them have been recut from the original tapes by Giles Martin, George's son who has inherited his role when it comes to the remastering and remixing of Beatles releases in recent years.

The albums are Off the Beatle Track (1964) and Help! (1965), in addition to ..and I Love Her (1966), which includes Beatles numbers alongside hits by The Rolling Stones, Petula Clark and other stars of the moment.

The albums will be released on November 6, and are trailed by 'Can't By Me Love' from Off the Beatle Track.

"These records came at a time when orchestral music had begun to embrace the sound of beat music - something it had initially dismissed as a 'noisy' genre, dismissing its integrity entirely," reads the blurb.

Can’t Buy Me Love

"As Beatlemania grabbed hold of the world in the early 60s, and with respected 'high-brow' newspapers such as The Times of London giving serious analysis of Lennon and McCartney's song writing, attitudes began to shift.

"Soon, orchestral bands started performing and releasing their versions of The Beatles' music, bridging a gap between the music past and present."

Naturally George Martin got in on the act, with his orchestra's performances of his band's songs being an obvious idea.

The full tracklistings of the three albums is as follows:

Off The Beatle Track

1. All My Loving
2. Don't Bother Me
3. Can't Buy Me Love
4. All I've Got To Do
5. I Saw Her Standing There
6. She Loves You
7. From Me To You
8. There's A Place
9. This Boy
10. Please Please Me
11. Little Child
12. I Want To Hold Your Hand

Help!

1. Help!
2. Another Girl
3. You're Going To Lose That Girl
4. I Need You
5. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
6. The Night Before
7. Ticket To Ride
8. Bahama Sound
9. I've Just Seen A Face
10. It's Only Love
11. Tell Me What You See
12. Yesterday

...And I Love Her

1. Time Is On My Side
2. If I Fell
3. You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling
4. All Quiet On The Mersey Front
5. Downtown
6. And I Love Her
7. Goin' Out Of My Head
8. No Reply
9. A Hard Day's Night
10. I'm Happy Just To Dance With You
11. Cast Your Fate To The Wind
12. I'll Cry Instead