Beatles Without George Martin?

That's why he often called "the fifth Beatle".

Still, the lads could do some things for themselves. When Pete Best was dropped from the band, George Martin arranged a studio drummer for the recording of "Love Me Do", not knowing whether this Ringo guy that the group had lined up would be any good. That's why there are two versions of the song. They sound quite different with the different drummers. Turned out that Ringo wasn't so bad after all so George Martin went along with their choice.

The Beatles are so revered that it is almost sacrilege to criticize them. However, remember that the Beatles were turned down by other labels before George Martin stepped in. It is not unrealistic to speculate that they might never have been anything more than a local, cult band lost in the rest of the British invasion if George Martin had not "discovered" them and guided their development.

To say that the Beatles were the cause of the British invasion and that it would not have occurred without them is amazingly uninformed as to the extent and influence of musical talent coming from Britain at that time. Ever heard of The Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Yardbirds, The Dave Clark Five, Cliff Richard, etc. etc. etc. You were either not alive then or your Beatles idolatry has blinded you as to what was going on around you.