John Barry 1933-2011

[vincenzo]

The 45 of Nancy's You Only Live Twice that charted in 1967 featured the pop version, rather than the (far better) orchestral soundtrack recording. The flip side (Jackson) received more radio play.

As regards collections of John's music, I worked on a 4-CD box-set for Sony/BMG back in 2007. Themependium (strange name) was hardly promoted at all and soon disappeared off the shelves

I have this in my collection and excellent stuff it is too (bar for the title). Easily one of the best JB collections to be released.

I remember they also released a single CD, more-or-less simultaneously, containing all the "hits" and the Sony guy asked me, in all seriousness, which films the tracks, The Ipcress File, Somewhere in Time, The Knack & The Lion in Winter were from!

Wasn't The Knack from The Ipcress Memorandum In Winter?

[christoph404]

The radio/pop version of You Only Live Twice.....I much prefer the original soundtrack version, thankfully the pop version has more or less disappeared without trace but here it is for the curious.

[Geoffers]

Good morning, Geoffers. That's more than likely, I'm afraid. I would much rather it was a birthday tribute, like the one for Sir George Martin (worried about him now). I've just read Amazon's Customer Reviews of your Themependium and am sorry the first two are fairly scathing but the last one seems satisfied enough! The main gripe is the inclusion of hit versions by Matt Monro, Shirley Bassey, etc., that can be heard on other compilations. Ideally, I'd like to hear both the instrumental and vocal tracks, especially for The Quiller Memorandum. I hope you have better luck if and when the Themependium is re-released. Good to see Bryan Forbes' films represented

Condolences to his daughter.

Ooh, I see what you mean - I hadn't seen those up until now! Well, it's a perfect illustration of what I said earlier. I can see why they are complaining but there are explanations as to why we included a instead of b, etc.. In some cases no commercial recording existed at the time, such as Hanover Street, in others, High Road to China, we couldn't licence the track. Some of the vocals were quite rare at the time, especially on CD, including Donna Summer's Down Deep inside (The Deep) and Andy Williams' Are You In There? (King Kong). And in both cases we couldn't licence the original instrumental cuts. It's a fair point that Matt Monro's Born Free has been around a lot, but it didn't seem right to have a compilation of this size without including it!

I'm glad you spotted the themes from Bryan Forbes' films - there was no way I was going to miss that opportunity. Another frustration there was that we couldn't get clearance for "Romance for Guitar & Orchestra", which is John's shortened re-recorded version of his lengthy original album track from Deadfall. As I said to Sony at the time, how can you not clear something recorded for your own label? But they were adamant and they have all the paperwork.

Anyway, it's been interesting looking back. I've subsequently remembered that on the single CD they issued, The Very Best of John Barry, they included a re-recording of The James Bond Theme instead of the original, the "pop" version of You Only Live Twice by Nancy Sinatra, and a 9-minute suite from a re-recording of Somewhere in Time instead of the original theme with a Roger Williams solo! In all cases the CD credits correctly listed what *should* have been there, which must have puzzled a few buyers.

Finally, I should have said in reply to another post that John Barry's original choice for singer on You Only Live Twice was Aretha Franklin, but Cubby etc. wanted a "name"!

[TimR]

Out of Africa
The Lion in Winter
The Last Valley
Mary Queen of Scots

Those are only a few of the historical dramas Barry composed. So often when I thought "This score is a gem. Who is the composer?" it turned out to be John Barry. That was the case with both The Last Valley and Mary Queen of Scots

Is there another film composer with a comparable list of accomplishments?

...Finally, I should have said in reply to another post that John Barry's original choice for singer on You Only Live Twice was Aretha Franklin, but Cubby etc. wanted a "name"!

And one year later she was one of the biggest 'names' in the world.

[Mustard Pies]

What a talent this man was. Incredible.

RIP.

[Geoffers]

What a talent this man was. Incredible.

RIP.

Yes he was.

Back in 1999 he won the Music Industry Trust Award. There was a special dinner in his honour and before it started a tribute video was shown (even though some of those on it were also there in person). Our John Barry website has an account of one guest's experiences that evening, plus a link to the videos which someone has uploaded to youtube. The latter are particularly interesting as they include people sadly no longer with us like Adam Faith, John Schlesinger and Sydney Pollack.

Here's the link:

John Barry - The Man With The Midas Touch

[Mustard Pies]

Yes he was.

Back in 1999 he won the Music Industry Trust Award. There was a special dinner in his honour and before it started a tribute video was shown (even though some of those on it were also there in person). Our John Barry website has an account of one guest's experiences that evening, plus a link to the videos which someone has uploaded to youtube. The latter are particularly interesting as they include people sadly no longer with us like Adam Faith, John Schlesinger and Sydney Pollack.

Here's the link:

John Barry - The Man With The Midas Touch

Thanks for that. I just don't know how he thought up all those tunes. Truly amazing. :)

[mrs_emma_peel]

I very much hope John receives a wonderful tribute at tonight's BAFTA Film Awards.
Emma

[mrs_emma_peel]

John Barry's beautiful soaring theme from Out Of Africa
which was played in tribute at the BAFTA Awards last night.



John Barry's thrilling instrumental music from The Living Daylights.
Emma

[Rowdon]

This month (or last month ... I'm in Sain, so it's the current one here) nostalgirock magazine MOJO has a nice five-page article on John Barry and his legacy. Some nice photos and considered commentary. Interesting "7 best", the only Bond of which is OHMSS.
It's the one with The Smiths on the cover (lots of Britmovie photos and references throughout the Smiths article too).

[Rick C]

Detailed feature too in the April edition of 'The Gramophone'.

April 2011 | gramophone.co.uk

[Geoffers]

There's also a lengthy feature in the March edition of Keyboard Player, Keyboard Player Magazine

[Nick Dando]

From the Observer

John Barry remembered by David Arnold | From the Observer | The Observer

Nick

John Barry remembered by David Arnold
The veteran composer left millions of movie fans moved by his death in January at the age of 77, writes his friend and successor as Bond composer
David Arnold
The Observer, Sunday 11 December 2011


I was eight when I heard John Barry's music for the first time – at a children's birthday party in a British Legion hall when they showed You Only Live Twice. The opening just about took the top of my head off: a giant, alien-like spaceship consumed a smaller spaceship while John's music pounded underneath. It looked exotic and sounded incredible.

Then, in 1995, I was introduced to him by Sir George Martin. I was doing a cover record of some of John's Bond songs, for the album Shaken and Stirred. He was really friendly. We just yakked about the industry and about his experiences working with Cubby Broccoli (the Bond films producer), Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford among others.

He was an amazing storyteller and could be very cutting. He didn't take kindly to fools. When we went out for dinner, I was the eater and he was the drinker. He particularly liked champagne cocktails in those days. Shortly after that, I got my first Bond movie. I am sure somewhere along the line John had given me the thumbs-up.

Our conversations were about very ordinary things – work, family, mutual friends. Although he was effortlessly elegant and cool – he was "the man" in the 60s, after all, who lived in Cadogan Square and drove an E-Type Jag and courted glamorous women – he never succumbed to the Hollywood razzmatazz. He was always a Yorkshireman.

He was married several times, but I know he found great joy in his relationship with his fourth wife, Laurie, whom he married in 1978, and also with his children . But I think he was probably happiest when he was writing for films. His music was so distinctive. You could listen to a John Barry piece – "The Ipcress File", "Goldfinger", "Out of Africa" – for five seconds and know that it was his music, his voice, and yet know exactly what that film would be about.

His music was very elegant, beautiful, stylish and harmonically complex, particularly in the way he used jazz chords to accompany his lyrical melodies. The overall effect was very simple, however. You heard it once and you felt you had heard it a thousand times before.

[Rick C]

John Barry remembered this coming New Year's Day Bank Holiday Monday (January 2, 2012):-

BBC Radio 2, 7.00-9.00 pm.

[Richard_in_wales]

Wonderful stuff

[Nick Dando]

Screen Archives have announced the release of the soundtrack by John Barry to The Ipcress File.

THE IPCRESS FILE -- SCREEN ARCHIVES ENTERTAINMENT

Nick

[Arfur Teacake]

No pictures with this because its a BBC programme and of course they chucked the series in the skip.

[Geoffers]

Screen Archives have announced the release of the soundtrack by John Barry to The Ipcress File.

THE IPCRESS FILE -- SCREEN ARCHIVES ENTERTAINMENT

Nick

Yes, this is a slight misunderstanding. For some reason SAE have put this on their new releases email, but it was actually released by Silva Screen several years ago. However, a vinyl version was also released a couple of months ago ...

[Nick Dando]

Yes, I noticed after my posts about some of the other soundtracks listed in their latest email, that a number of them were already available. The exception is the new Ron Goodwin soundtrack to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Nick

[Big Figure]

Wonderful stuff

Only just seen this.
Thank you, Richard, for posting the link.
I agree with you completely ..... wonderful stuff.