John Barry is a man of mystery to most people outside England. Barry scored perhaps the top movies and TV shows ever known to the human ear in the 60s and 70s. You knew there was magic when the theme song for Beat Girl screamed from the screen in 1960. There was more magic to follow. Ace Records collects some of his best works from 1968-to 1973 with a new offering called The More Things Change – Film, TV & Studio Work 1968-1973. Nobody was doing it better than him at the time. You might also want to buy, Music By John Barry”, a 500-page book covering his greatest scores by Redcliffe Press.
In the late 1960s and early 70s, John Barry was at his creative peak, writing both his greatest Bond music for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and the score for the Oscar-winning Midnight Cowboy within a few months of each other. As one decade melted into the next, Barry would provide a host of haunting, highly atmospheric scores: The Appointment, Deadfall, Mary Queen Of Scots, Follow Follow, with possibly his finest ever saved for Nicolas Roeg’s masterpiece Walkabout. He also found time to write the deathless theme for the TV series The Persuaders.
“The More Things Change” collects Barry’s finest work from this period, including the whole of 1970’s classic “Ready When You Are, J.B.” album, released on CD for the very first time. In addition, it collects loose ends from the period (including selections from 1968’s lost Richard Lester classic Petulia), then follows Barry into the early 70s.
Track list:
- Midnight Cowboy
- We Have All the Time in the World
- Theme from ‘Romance for
- Guitar and Orchestra’
- Who Will Buy My Yesterdays
- Fun City
- The Lion in Winter
- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
- Theme from ‘The Appointment’
- Try
- The More Things Change
- Afternoon
- A Little Old-Fashioned Nostalgia
- Theme from ‘The Persuaders’
- Main Title – Petulia
- Theme from ‘Walkabout’
- Follow Follow
- Diamonds Are Forever (Single Version)
- Highway 101
- The Adventurer
- This Way Mary
- The Children
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Suite
It has been compiled by music writer and John Barry superfan Bob Stanley, with extensive sleeve notes and a gorgeous selection of ephemera.
Britain’s greatest soundtrack composer, with few rivals around the world, “The More Things Change” is John Barry at his absolute best.
Music by John Barry: A Chronology of Selected Works by Jon Burlingame
- A first-ever detailed account of John Barry’s film work that spans his entire career.
- An essential reference work for his legion of admirers and for any student of cinema or music.
- Packed with over 200 images; many rare, some previously unpublished
- Includes separate chapters devoted to seven James Bond films.
A nearly five-hundred-page, fully-illustrated book, Music by John Barry is a chronological exploration of key landmarks underpinning Barry’s illustrious career. Written in the form of extensively researched essays concentrating on one specific score, over forty are represented from the first, Beat Girl, to the last, Enigma.
Whether highly acclaimed or more low-key films, each chapter sets out, clearly and accurately, the circumstances surrounding the inception and completion of the score under scrutiny and in doing so, provides fresh insights into John Barry’s remarkable legacy.
Authors: Jon Burlingame, Geoff Leonard, and Peter Walker