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| John Barry's love for movies was nurtured from a young age, as his father owned several local cinemas in their home town of York in England. As a teenager, Barry helped out in the projection booth. He had decided to become a film composer even before leaving school. After music lessons from a variety of teachers, including Dr. Francis Jackson of York Minster and Bill Russo of the Stan Kenton Orchestra, Barry began his musical career playing in a big band. In 1957 he formed his own jazz outfit -- The John Barry Seven -- which soon achieved prominence through a succession of tours and TV appearances. Barry and his group collaborated with singer Adam Faith on his first major hit, "What Do you Want?" and on several subsequent hits. When Faith was offered the leading role in Beat Girl (1959) Barry, as Faith's arranger, was asked to write the score.
After several minor film assignments, Barry was approached to arrange Monty Norman's James Bond theme for the first film in the series, Dr. No (1962). He returned to James Bond as arranger and composer for the next instalments, From Russia with Love (1963), and continued to be associated with the Bond movies until The Living Daylights (1987), scoring ten out of the 17 movies to date.
Barry's songwriting talents were called upon for the opening credit sequences of his Bond assignments. The song "We have all the Time in the World" from On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), sung by Louis Armstrong, was an unexpected UK hit a quarter of a century later when it was used in a Guinness advertisement.
During the 1960's, Barry won three Academy Awards: two for Born Free (1965 - song and score) and one for The Lion in Winter (1968). He received other Oscars for Out of Africa (1985) and Dances With Wolves (1990).
Biography courtesy of Alan Warner |
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