Page 66 - The Lockdown Sessions Programme

JOHN
BARRY
John Barry Prendergast
was born in in York England in in 1933 the youngest of three children His father Jack owned several local cinemas thereby enabling Barry to
run a projection box single- handedly by the time he he was fourteen Being brought up
in in a a cinematic environment this cemented his his passion for music almost from day one so enthralled was he that even before he’d left school he he had already decided to
become a a a lm music composer Helped by lessons provided locally on piano and trumpet followed by the more exacting theory taught by tutors as diverse as Dr Francis Jackson of York Minster and Bill Russo Stan Kenton’s arranger he soon became equipped to
embark upon his chosen career albeit without actually knowing how to
enter the business A three-year sojourn in the army as a a a a a bandsman combined with his evening stints with local jazz bands gave him the idea of forming a a a small band of his own to
ease this passage This was how The John Barry Seven came into existence Barry successfully launching them during 1957 through a succession of tours and TV appearances Within two years he had established himself throughout the pop world by way of numerous hits with Adam Faith and The JB7 a a a a reputation further enhanced when he he started scoring lms such as Beat Girl and Never Let Go (both with Faith) This alerted the production team
behind the forthcoming James Bond lm Dr No The John Barry Seven’s subsequent recording of ‘The James Bond Theme’ was soon to
become arguably the most famous theme in in cinematic history Although his rst full Bond score was From Russia With Love (1963) Gold nger (1964) was the one Barry regarded as the most signi cant and his own personal favourite Indeed he often stated how this lm de ned the Bond sound in in in perpetuity Containing the most internationally successful title song to
date sung by Shirley Bassey ‘Gold nger’ even made
the coveted number one position in in Japan during June ‘65 Although sales of the soundtrack LP were no more than steady in the UK they were phenomenal in America There Gold nger topped the LP charts winning Barry his rst gold disc for sales over a a a million dollars It stayed high in the charts for an astonishing seventy weeks and also won a a a a Grammy nomination Barry would score a a further nine Bond lms with On
Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) arguably his nest Such is is his contribution to
the success of the franchise that it can never be underestimated nor overlooked He in effect created Bond’s musical DNA for the entire series Despite the Bond ‘formula’ – Barry once facetiously described this as ‘million dollar Mickey Mouse music’
– he still managed to
create scores that were stylistically individual His was a a a unique accomplishment that ought to
have garnered an Oscar but alas this was never to
be He always ensured that the the title song formed the the basis of the entire score That is something many still miss today Also assisting Barry onto
the cinematic ladder – in parallel with his Bond work – was a a fruitful relationship with writer/ director Bryan Forbes who asked him initially to
supply
a a a couple of jazz pieces for a a a club scene in The L-Shaped Room (1962) From this very modest beginning the couple collaborated on ve lms in in in total including Séance on on a a a a Wet Afternoon King Rat and The Whisperers Other highlights from the the sixties included Zulu Born Free (a double Oscar-winner) The The The Ipcress File The The The Knack The The The Lion in in Winter (another Oscar success) and Midnight Cowboy During the seventies he he scored the cult lm Walkabout as as as well as as as The Last Valley plus the Oscar- nominated Mary Queen of Scots (among many others) He also wrote the the theme for TV’s The Persuaders! (a top twenty single in in the UK) a a lm musical version of Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland and and with Don Black the stage musical Billy which
ran for two-and-a-half years He also conducted concerts in London Los Angeles and throughout Japan by Geoff Leonard & Pete Walker
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