Noted film composer John Barry, best known for his work on the James Bond series, has died at age 77.
I’m not qualified to write a really full analysis of his non-Bond work. Jaime Weinman has a nice little appreciation here.
Because of his association with the Bond series, Barry is sometimes assumed to have written the James Bond theme. That was the work of Monty Norman, although its authorship has literally been the subject of litigation: a defamation case a few years back was fought around the suggestion that Barry (who arranged the composition and whose orchestra played it) deserved more credit for the theme than Norman. While it seems clear that the basic melody was Norman’s work, there is also no doubt that even if Barry contributed no more than the arrangement, that was a mighty contribution. That work certainly crystallised the Bond sound.
The sound John Barry brought to those early Bonds combined a strident, almost lurid quality (most evident in the title themes), with a sweeping sense of epic adventure. The latter quality is very evident in Barry’s “007” theme, which he wrote for From Russia With Love and which became effectively the alternate Bond theme (no doubt preferred by Barry since he was 100% responsible for it).
My all time favourite Barry theme is his slightly eccentric instrumental for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. It helps, of course, that this is the best of all the Bond films.
Here’s a curio: the un-used song “Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” originally written as the theme song for Thunderball. They got as far as recording it with Shirley Bassey, but ended up going for an alternate song that used the film’s title in the lyrics.
Here’s a sampler of his non-Bond work, demonstrating his versatility.
The theme from The Persuaders:
The Ipcress File:
Midnight Cowboy:
As many others have noted, there were many films for which Barry’s work was the best thing about the film. The Black Hole might be the definitive example:
Somewhere in Time:
Dances With Wolves (don’t ask me what is with the visuals on this clip):
And, finally, Born Free: