The man who gave James Bond movies their distinctive sound and one of the greatest film composers ever, John Barry suffered a heart attack and passed away Sunday at the age of 77.
John Barry Prendergast was born in Yorkshire, England in 1933. His mother played piano and his father owned a chain of movie houses. Both music and cinema fascinated him. Barry trained classically on piano, but also learned the trumpet later on. Following a stint in the military, Barry formed The John Barry Seven. Initially, the group's sound was based on the big brass-heavy sounds in rock music at the time (as with Bill Haley & The Comets). But Barry had a keen ear and believed pop tastes were about to change. Soon the band adopted the guitar and strings sound that would be the hallmark of Barry's career.
While the early instrumental records by The John Barry Seven were not exactly storming up the charts, they were drawing notice from industry insiders. Barry's biggest break came when one of England's biggest pop stars of the time, Adam Faith, hired Barry and his band to arrange and play his musical accompaniment. Together, they took "What Do You Want" to #1 on the British charts.
John Barry Prendergast was born in Yorkshire, England in 1933. His mother played piano and his father owned a chain of movie houses. Both music and cinema fascinated him. Barry trained classically on piano, but also learned the trumpet later on. Following a stint in the military, Barry formed The John Barry Seven. Initially, the group's sound was based on the big brass-heavy sounds in rock music at the time (as with Bill Haley & The Comets). But Barry had a keen ear and believed pop tastes were about to change. Soon the band adopted the guitar and strings sound that would be the hallmark of Barry's career.
While the early instrumental records by The John Barry Seven were not exactly storming up the charts, they were drawing notice from industry insiders. Barry's biggest break came when one of England's biggest pop stars of the time, Adam Faith, hired Barry and his band to arrange and play his musical accompaniment. Together, they took "What Do You Want" to #1 on the British charts.
Barry travelled to the United States, about this time, to learn why American records, to his ear, had a richer sound than those in the UK. He spent time with both Phil Spector and Lee Hazlewood, discovering (among other things) that American producers used 4 microphones on the drums, rather than just one as was the UK standard. Returning to Britain, Barry continued arranging and backing Adam Faith through a series of his biggest hits. Writer Nik Cohn later described them as "the best, most inventive British records of that time". Barry's group scored their own top ten hit in 1960, another perfect example of the John Barry Sound where surf guitar meets pizzicato strings, "Hit And Miss". He became the House Arranger for EMI for a time and recorded soundtracks for a pair of Adam Faith teen exploitation movies, "Beat Girl" and "Never Let Go." The movies were crap, but the soundtracks were exquisite.
Barry's work impressed the producers of an ongoing film project, "Dr. No". Monty Norman had written most of the score for the movie, much of which is performed on the soundtrack by reggae greats Byron Lee & The Dragonaires. But the producers of the film wanted a distinctive sound and brought in John Barry to arrange the "James Bond Theme". Although two courts have ruled that Monty Norman was the composer (and the one entitled to royalties), there's no doubt that the arrangement of the "James Bond Theme" is typical of John Barry's style. Barry went on to score 11 Bond movies, giving the films their distinctive sound. In a recent BBC interview, quoted in The Guardian's obituary, current Bond composer David Arnold had this to say: "It's impossible to separate James Bond from John Barry's music. They went hand in hand. He was able to show you the menace and the sexiness and the aggression and the emotion. Everything that is cool and fabulous about James Bond is in the music. You could be stuck in a traffic jam on the M25 in a Ford Fiesta, but if you're playing a John Barry score, you're in an Aston Martin."
Counting the Bond films, Barry scored some 70 motion pictures during his lifetime including "Born Free", "Midnight Cowboy", "Somewhere In Time", "The Lion In Winter", "Out Of Africa", "Dances With Wolves" and "The Golden Child". The winner of 5 Oscars and several Grammys, Emmys and Golden Globes, John Barry was inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 1998. He was an innovator, even using moog music in his compositions long before it was fashionable. And he was known to be quite the ladies man, married 4 times (divorced 3). All in all, John Barry enjoyed his life tremendously as he was happy to tell anyone who asked.
Aside from the occasional vaguely winter titled track (e.g. "Get Lost Jack Frost"), John Barry has given us two solid contributions to the holiday cannon. His own composition, "Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown", was a part of the soundtrack for "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", a 1969 Bond film. The best known version is likely Jackie Deshannon's, though her 1969 Imperial single failed to chart. 9 years earlier, while still in his association with Adam Faith, Barry arranged and provided the instrumental backing for the 1960 novelty "Lonely Pup (In A Christmas Shop)".
Perhaps the best epitaph came via Twitter from comedian Sue Perkins, again included in The Guardian's obituary: "R.I.P. John Barry--a man who made the world sound sexy for a while."
Counting the Bond films, Barry scored some 70 motion pictures during his lifetime including "Born Free", "Midnight Cowboy", "Somewhere In Time", "The Lion In Winter", "Out Of Africa", "Dances With Wolves" and "The Golden Child". The winner of 5 Oscars and several Grammys, Emmys and Golden Globes, John Barry was inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 1998. He was an innovator, even using moog music in his compositions long before it was fashionable. And he was known to be quite the ladies man, married 4 times (divorced 3). All in all, John Barry enjoyed his life tremendously as he was happy to tell anyone who asked.
Aside from the occasional vaguely winter titled track (e.g. "Get Lost Jack Frost"), John Barry has given us two solid contributions to the holiday cannon. His own composition, "Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown", was a part of the soundtrack for "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", a 1969 Bond film. The best known version is likely Jackie Deshannon's, though her 1969 Imperial single failed to chart. 9 years earlier, while still in his association with Adam Faith, Barry arranged and provided the instrumental backing for the 1960 novelty "Lonely Pup (In A Christmas Shop)".
Perhaps the best epitaph came via Twitter from comedian Sue Perkins, again included in The Guardian's obituary: "R.I.P. John Barry--a man who made the world sound sexy for a while."
RSS Feed
