Snippets
Welcome to Snippets, a brand-new feature on this website. From time to time we will be including items, which, though not necessarily news, should still be of interest to John Barry fans. If you have anything you consider likely to be of interest please enter our submission form below.
Examples of this would be mentions of JB in the press, artists covering his music, TV programmes using his music, and anecdotes about recording sessions and concerts.
Click on the the links for the full articles.
- August 27, 2010
In The Guardian (26 Aug.), there was a report titled "To Russia with love: screenwriter suspected of bonding with enemy". Wolf Mankowitz, one of the men behind the early James Bond films, was suspected of being a communist agent, according to MI5 files at the National Archives released today. Apparently he introduced the Bond producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Salzman to one another and was involved in writing the script for Dr No. But also as Geoff says in The Man With The Midas Touch, he was also involved with John Barry in the original script for the musical of Graham Greene's Brighton Rock.
Keith Calnan
- August 7, 2010
ITV 1 are currently trailing 'The Unforgettable Bob Monkhouse' for viewing on Sunday, 8th August at 9.00pm using JB's Midnight Cowboy and what sounds like a snipppet from The Beyondness.
Keith Calnan
- August 3, 2010
A short interview with Jane Birkin reveals that she stripped off in Antonion's film Blow-Up as a dare. She was married to John Barry at the time and Barry never thought she would ever do it, 'because we turned the light out when we slept together.'
The Sunday Times magazine 1/8/10 ("Welcome to The Times and The Sunday Times websites.
Available exclusively by subscription.")
Keith Calnan
- July 30, 2010
John Barry at Royal Film Performance of "Born Free"
Here is fascinating footage of the stars and the royal party from the Royal Premiere of Born Free in 1966. More...
This will puzzle anybody who has read the Matt Monro biography since it is stated therein that of the Born Free song crew, only Matt turned up and had to alert Don & John that the song was omitted from that print!
Geoff Leonard
- July 23, 2010
The latest 007 magazine from Graham Rye features two pictures of John Barry: one has JB with Lionel Bart, Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli and in the other he is with Lionel Bart and Ian Fleming at a party at Pinewood celebrating From Russia With Love.
- Was the film "Promise Her Anything" (1965) a
rejected John Barry score?
19 July, 2010
Geoff Leonard
- Jon Burlingame's John Barry 75th birthday tribute reprint
19 July, 2010
Geoff Leonard
- Johnny Worth told them to stuff it
12 July, 2010
By Johnny Worth (added by Geoff Leonard)
I have an interesting story re John Barry. Adam Faith was doing a film with Jane Wyman and that awful British actor with the comic plummy voice.* The film was called Mix me a Person.
The producer was a a guy called Sergei Nolbandov and he worked for or ran a company called Vic Films.
I had written the title-song, which John had arranged - also an instrumental piece to be used during a car chase called "One double zero". I was producing these tracks in the studio and suffered constant interruption from a fellow in the control room who I didn't know from Adam (joke) - so I told him to please shut up or kindly leave the stage - which he did!
When I arrived home my wife said Vic Films have been on the phone. Apparently there was a guy in the studio in charge of their music department named Muir Mathieson and he was very impressed with the way you handled everything. They want you to write the score for the movie.
I said "how much?" and they said £150! I told them to stuff it so they asked John Barry to do it instead. That was virtually the start of his movie career.
* he means Anne Baxter & Donald Sinden.
It's an interesting anecdote though possibly not entirely accurate. JB receives only a "songs arranged by" credit for this film while Muir Mathieson is "musical advisor". Nobody is credited for writing the score, such as it is.
- Mr Moses LP lined up in '60s?
14 May, 2010
by Ian McDonald
"Tony Palmer, head of A&R at EMI UA in the mid 60's had this (a Mr. Moses LP, ed.) all lined up. It even got a listing in the 'Gramaphone' Catalogue (!!). I actually saw the front sleeve proof when I visited their offices in Manchester Square. Alas, it never saw light of day, but surely those tapes are somewhere in the EMI vaults. It was never listed for a US release... Probably around 40 mins or so."
- Dulux advert has Midnight Cowboy as backing track
April 15, 2010
Keith Calnan
New Dulux advert on ITV has Midnight Cowboy as backing track
- Paul McCartney in an interview with Paul Gambaccini, December 1978:
14 March, 2010
(transcribed by Gareth Bramley)
"
I was asked to write Diamonds Are Forever. Somebody I knew was connected with the Bond thing and said 'would you like to do a song' and I said 'Yeah!!!! (straight away, you know, YEAH!!!)
I couldn't do that one coz I think it was John Barry and they had it all sewn up anyway, so maybe (you can do) the next one. "
- A Man Alone
7 March, 2010
Pat Boone recorded a single called "A Man Alone" in 1966
- The Criminal
5 March, 2010
A report recently circulated that director Joseph Losey heard John Barry's brassy score for Beat Girl, and wanted him for The Criminal (1960), but Barry turned down the gig because he was working on the Peter Sellers Never Let Go movie at the time.
We cannot confirm or deny this but it is on record that Barry & Losey were to work together on the original aborted musical of Brighton Rock in 1964, and eventually did work together on Boom! (1968) so the story could well be true.
- Whispers about "The Horse Whisperer"
3 February , 2010
Ian Macdonald contributed a fascinating piece to the Barry Yahoo group:
"I have just been viewing the 'Filmnotgraphy' section of the website. I note with interest that it is thought that JB wrote and recorded a full score for this movie, so, for what it is worth, I thought I would contribute my knowledge of what actually happened and why Barry left the film."
- From Russia With Love - Matt Monro
January 30, 2010 / February 3, 2010
We are grateful to Richard Moore, who was responsible for the remastering on the new Matt Monro box-set, for providing the following definitive explanation to something which has puzzled Bond fans and others for years.
- John Barry's music used on TV
In this section we list the use of John Barry's music on TV.
January 30, 2010
- 1970s John Barry concerts
- MUSIC FROM THE MOVIES (1973)
presented by
BRYAN FORBES and ROGER MOORE
January 30, 2010
- Filmharmonic '72
January 30, 2010
- The Concert John Barry LP
"Being one of the lucky ones, I attended the 1972 Filmharmonic Concert at RAH that this album was based on.
January 29, 2010
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