John Barry Revisited [Soundtrack, Import]

John Barry (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 1, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 4
• Format: Soundtrack, Import
• Label: Fantastic Voyage
• ASIN: B002OM628Q
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #391,909 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Elizabeth

2. London at Dawn

3. The London Theme

4. Lovers and Browning

5. Pitt's Speech

See all 19 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Zulu (Main Title Theme)/Isandhlwana, 1879

2. News of the Massacre/Rorke's Drift Threatened

3. Wagons Over

4. First Zulu Appearance and Assault

5. Durnford's Horse Arrive and Depart/The Third Assault

See all 13 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Four in the Morning

2. River Walk

3. Coffee Talk

4. Lover's Clasp

5. Norman's Return

See all 26 tracks on this disc

Disc: 4

1. Christine

2. S-E-X

3. Kinky

4. Fancy Dance

5. James Bond 007 Theme

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

UK four CD collection of tracks from the late British composer. Born 1933, John Barry is one of the best known composers of film music in the world. He commenced his pop music career leading The John Barry Seven, most notably backing Adam Faith. Barry made his name with his scores for the James Bond movies, for which he was awarded the GoldenEye award in 2002, courtesy of the Ian Fleming Foundation. He went on to score many notable soundtracks, including the following award-winners: Born Free (1966, two Oscars), The Lion In Winter (1968, Oscar), Midnight Cowboy (1969, Grammy), The Cotton Club (1984, Grammy), Out Of Africa (1985, Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe) and Dances With Wolves (1990, Oscar and Grammy). In 1999 he was awarded an OBE for services to music. This set contains 75 classic recordings from the early part of his career.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars THE NAME'S BARRY, JOHN BARRY, April 15, 2011

By 

Barry McCanna (Normandy, France) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: John Barry Revisited (Audio CD)

John Barry wrote the music for the 1963 US TV documentary "Elizabeth Taylor in London" and it was arranged and conducted by Johnnie Spence. The music is full-bodied, but at times sounds derivative, and for me the best track is the Jazz Waltz. The six music-only tracks are reprised in stereo after the mono recordings of all twelve. Hearing the disembodied voice of Liz Taylor on six tracks is a somewhat disconcerting experience. That is because the pieces she recites should move the listener emotionally, but she adopted a mid-Atlantic accent for her delivery, which she failed to project. That detracts from the effectiveness of Wordsworth's "Westminster Bridge", Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "Portugese Sonnets", and "Queen Victoria", and fatally undermines the remaining three. "Queen Elizabeth at Tilbury", "Pitt's Speech", and the "Churchill Speech" were all proclamations, and need to be decaimed boldly, preferably by men in the latter two cases. I suspect that the music and spoken word worked better as an integral part of the television programme.

The second CD is the original soundtrack of the 1964 epic film "Zulu", the opening and closing tracks of which incorporate narration by Richard Burton. The remaining six tracks comprise a selection of Zulu stamps performed by the John Barry Seven. The complete album is in stereo, and it seems to me the most successful CD of the set.

The 1965 feature film "Four in the Morning" is not so well-remembered, but the score is dark and atmospheric. It comprises fifteen tracks, four of which are excerpts of dialogue only by the actors involved, namely Judi Dench, Ann Lynn, Norman Rodway, Brian Phelan and Joe Melia. The eleven music-only tracks are reprised in stereo after the mono recordings of all fifteen. The music incorporates a recurring theme, which would have proved a unifying factor on-screen, but may become repetitive heard in isolation.

Despite its title "John Barry Plays 007", the fourth CD is the most disjointed, because it is made up of the Ember singles, only four of which are connected with James Bond films. The first two tracks came out in 1963 and were a best-forgotten attempt to cash in on the Profumo affair ("Christine", for those who don't remember, was Christine Keeler). Tracks 7 & 8 are commercial recordings of two of the numbers from the first CD, and tracks 9 & 10 duplicate tracks 10 & 13 of the second CD.

If you can ignore these drawbacks, you'll find this a well-produced and presented boxed set which should appeal not just to John Barry enthusiasts, but also to collectors of esoterica, particularly relating to the Swinging Sixties (as it came to be known).

5.0 out of 5 stars JB Revisited - John Barry, February 19, 2011

By 

D.L.J.Mann "Dom1" (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: John Barry Revisited (Audio CD)

Here we go again round John Barry's Ember period which seems to have been comped year in year out by various no name labels hoping to make a fast buck on material that was/is presumably cheap to licence and contains a couple of all important Bond items. I say all important not because the Bond material is rare or in deed essential but because it allowed these various labels to place 007 or Bond in the title thus making the unsuspecting buyer believe they were getting a Best Of Bond or collection of Bond styled tracks. This might be the reason why the mention of Barry & Ember can immediately elicit a negative response.

I should perhaps mention that JB himself ran the Ember label for a time and was responsible for the production, design and many of the label's releases.

Now to the item: this release (by Future Noise) should be the last word on JB's Ember period. Sure, the cover is decidedly naff: gun,(here we go again) topless blonde (she's actually nude when you pull out the sleeve) and a picture of JB in the mid seventies. But the box is well made and the card sleeves (which reproduce the original sleeves) are stiff and glossy. The sleeve notes are basic so much of what follows is from my own research and if I'm wrong please correct me.

Now to the music:

'Elizabeth Taylor In London' (1963) contains the original mono album in full as well as including the music only tracks in stereo. The sound is much improved over the El release. The grammy nominated soundtrack is pretty much how you would expect C.B.S. made documentary about London to sound in 1963. Liz Taylor reciting various speeches over music that is arch, stately, reverential, gloomy and melancholic. London in the fog. Of all the JB soundtracks, 'ETIL' sounds least like him and that might have to do with the fact that he did not conduct or arrange his own material.

'Zulu' (1964) contains the full soundtrack in stereo. Tracks 8-13 were beat versions of the Zulu stamps heard in the film. I, myself, like 'em but each to his own. Although the 7 tracks proper from 'Zulu' are a mite repetitive, it's a classic JB score that combines Bond like action cues with a stirring, heroic main theme. Soundwise it's fairly decent but a better version was recorded by The City Of Prague Orchestra. N.B. The Zulu Stamps are listed under different titles depending on which comp you buy. Stamp & Shake for instance is aka Tetha Leyanto.

'Four In The Morning' (1966) contains the original mono soundtrack and the music only tracks in stereo. It's gloomy, downbeat, beautifully bleak and haunting - reminiscent of 'The Whisperers' soundtrack. The dialogue cues make it hard to sit through but there is no denying the power of JB's music. This score is a great example of the maxim: less is more.

'The Ember Singles Plus' (1963-66) contains most of what appears on those aforementioned Ember comps. It does however feature 2 songs (trcks 1 & 2) which cashed in on the profumo affair and were sung by Joyce Blair (Lionel's sister) under the pseudonym of Miss X. These kitsch time snaps were apparently produced by JB.

The Bond material '007' & 'From Russia With Love' (Lionel Bart) were obviously not the versions released on the original soundtracks. There is also another version of FRWL featuring an organ. 'Fancy Dance' was the theme to the TV series 'The Newcomers' and is probably the grooviest track in the collection. Another Barry original is 'Troubadour' which has a folksy thing going on and ends in my opinion before it gets started.

Of the Barry tracks chose to cover - 'Aliki' was composed by Manos Hadjidakis for the movie 'Aliki My Love' starring Aliki Vouyouklaki. 'The Loneliness Of Autumn' was composed by Pino Calvi and a version of it was released by vocalist Ray Singer also signed to The Ember label. File both under Easy. Kinky by Johnny Scott on the other hand is fairly groovy.

Not included are any of the Chad & Jeremy or Annie Ross material that JB produced. You can pick them up very cheaply if you so wish.

In short: if you're looking for a comp that covers the 'Barry sound' i.e. Persuaders, mid period Bond, 'The Knack' etc you won't find it here. If however you'd like a reasonably priced and well presented collection of JB's Ember period this is a must buy!