John Barry - R.I.P.

by Doug Payne
The film world lost one of its greatest composers with the death of John Barry , who died yesterday in New York at age 77. Barry, who had long lived in New York, is said to have died of a heart attack. But official details have not yet been released.

John Barry, born November 3, 1933, in York, England, composed the scores to dozens of films and TV shows over the past half century, a period known as film music's “silver age," but became best known as the man who underscored the best of James Bond's film adventures. He was first invited in to fix Monty Norman's music to Dr. No in 1962, crafting the famed James Bond theme (the authorship of which has always been in dispute), giving it an eternally cool edge with the addition of Vic Flick's famed guitar.

Barry went on to score another 11 Bond films through 1987's The Living Daylights, even suggesting replacements (George Martin, Bill Conti) when he was unable to score a Bond picture. It was Barry who suggested the Bond producers bring in composer/producer David Arnold (b. 1962), who has scored all five of the James Bond films since 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies.

But John Barry's music, which has influenced many film and pop music composers and is appreciated by many who don't know or care much for film music, was well known and respected outside of the James Bond franchise, scores he once derisively referred to as “million dollar Mickey Mouse music."

He garnered early hits from his themes to “Beat Girl," “Born Free" and “Midnight Cowboy" and earned five well-deserved Academy Awards for the theme and score to Born Free (1965) and the scores for The Lion in Winter (1968), Out of Africa (1985—which also won a Golden Globe Award) and Dancing with Wolves (1990—which also won a Grammy Award).

Barry's Bond themes were also some of the series' best-known songs, from the definitive “Goldfinger," featuring Shirley Bassey, “Thunderball," featuring Tom Jones, and “You Only Live Twice," featuring Nancy Sinatra, to “We Have All The Time In The World," featuring Louis Armstrong , “Diamonds are Forever," again featuring Shirley Bassey, and “A View to a Kill," featuring Duran Duran.

John Barry, who became Sir John Barry when he was awarded the O.B.E. in 1999, was instrumental in introducing me and many people of my generation to the concept of film music. Film and TV music was something that you weren't meant to pay attention to and, early in my years, I certainly paid no attention to it.

Complete on: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=75055