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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does George Martin describe as one of his biggest hurts, during the Pepper era?
(a) Paul McCartney found someone else to score "She's Leaving Home", because of a minor scheduling conflict.
(b) He and his first wife divorced.
(c) He was not invited to be on the cover of the "Sergeant Pepper" album.
(d) John Lennon found someone else to score "Day in the Life", because of a minor scheduling conflict.

2. Which Beatles associate died from an accidental overdose in August 1967?
(a) Neil Aspinall.
(b) Magic Alex.
(c) Pete Best.
(d) Brian Epstein.

3. Why did George Martin ultimately agree, in 1976, to score the "Sergeant Pepper" film featuring the Bee Gees and Peter Frampton?
(a) The Bee Gees asked him to do it.
(b) He desperately needed money.
(c) His wife reminded him that if someone else did the job, he wouldn't be there to defend the music's integrity.
(d) The Beatles asked him to do it.

4. During the Beatles' first trip to America, why did Alan Livingston attempt to keep George Martin away from press conferences and the limelight?
(a) Alan Livingston had turned the Beatles down three separate times.
(b) Alan Livingston had turned the Beatles down four separate times.
(c) Alan Livingston thought George Martin's accent was too thick.
(d) Alan Livingston wanted to woo the Beatles away from George Martin.

5. In the recording studio, what is the function of the compressor?
(a) Lowering the volume of the loudest sounds and enhancing the quietest sounds.
(b) Allowing the use of a smaller studio.
(c) Protecting the hearing of musicians and engineers.
(d) Providing quiet heating and cooling to the studio.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does George Martin describe as a lifetime ambition in Chapter 12, unfulfilled when the book was written?

2. Who found a solution to the noise problem caused by extra tracks multiplying hiss and crackle?

3. Members of what group invented an instrument called a Gizmo?

4. What, for George Martin, was the main advantage of recording on two tracks instead of one?

5. In Chapter 8, in George Martin's layer cake metaphor, what was the fourth layer in a four-track recording?

Short Essay Questions

1. For the film, "The Family Way", what sort of tune did George Martin ask Paul McCartney to write, and what strategy did he employ when Paul McCartney was slow to comply?

2. What was the first film scored by George Martin, and why does he refer to the process as a nightmare?

3. How does George Martin compare multi-track recording to a four-layer cake, as described in Chapter 8?

4. What inspired the Beatles to present "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" as a concept album?

5. Why did the creators of the James Bond film, "Live and Let Die", want someone other than songwriter Paul McCartney to sing the title song?

6. What album does George Martin consider to be the classic example of what can be achieved by a talented amateur with multi-track equipment?

7. How did Capitol Records come to take on the Beatles' records, even though they resisted at first?

8. Why, as described in Chapter 10, did George Martin become increasingly frustrated with EMI?

9. What aspects of Dick Lester's direction does George Martin most admire, in the Beatles' film, "A Hard Day's Night"?

10. Briefly describe the controversy surrounding John Lennon's comparison of the Beatles and Jesus.

(see the answer keys)

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