John Barry | Artist

John Barry Prendergast OBE was an English composer and conductor of film music born 1933 in York, UK. He composed the scores for 11 of the James Bond films between 1963-1987, and also arranged and performed the "James Bond Theme" to the first film in the series, 1962's Dr. No. Barry's mother was a classical pianist and his father was a projectionist during the silent film era, who later owned a chain of cinemas across northern England. After serving in the Army, Barry formed The John Barry Seven group, which had some success with TV commissions for the BBC. His breakthrough came when he composed, arranged and conducted music for two Adam Faith films, Beat Girl and Never Let Go, both in 1960. This caught the attention of the producers of a new film called Dr. No (1962) who were dissatisfied with a theme for James Bond given to them by Monty Norman. Barry was hired and created one of the most famous signature tunes in film history, the "James Bond Theme". Barry went on to write more than one hundred soundtracks to many of the greatest movies of that era, including The Ipcress File, Out Of Africa, Born Free, Walkabout, Midnight Cowboy, and the James Bond movies. Throughout his career, Barry won 5 Academy Awards, 2 BAFTA's, and 1 Golden Globe Award, for best original score. Between 1965-68 Barry was married to English songstress Jane Birkin who, after separating from Barry, became the long term partner of Serge Gainsbourg. In 1999 Barry was appointed with an OBE for services to music.

Artist Website: wikipedia/John_Barry

Featured Albums: John Barry

Related Artists: Bob Downes, Alan Bown

Video Clips: 10 of the Best, Born Free, Music of James Bond