Sir George Martin didn't think much of the Beatles when he first heard their demo tape, the man now known as "The Fifth Beatle" told a packed Sanders Theatre crowd last night.

But then-Beatles manager Brian Epstein loved the group and convinced Martin to take them on.

"I eventually loved them too," Martin said.

The Beatles producer gave a multi-media presentation last night that focused largely on the Fab Four's watershed 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which Martin produced.

The 1,150 people in attendance were mostly middle-aged adults, including Aerosmith member Steve Tyler and Joe Perry, who came to see one of the creators of the music they grew up listening to.

"Sir George Martin is one of my heroes," said former Rolling Stone writer Kathleen Mackay '72, a Crimson editor. "His understated and brilliant style helped the Beatles become what they did."

While there were not many college students, largely because of the $35 student ticket price, second generation Beatles fans, like Brown sophomore Jeremy Adams, were easy to find.

"I'm a Beatlemaniac and being that close to The Fifth Beatle was exceptional," Adams said.