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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
The Best Of The EMI Years showcases the endlessly inventive melodies John Barry scattered with fruitful abandon across arguably the most creative period of his career, the 1960s to early 70s. There are 25 tracks, from early John Barry Seven singles to TV and film themes and album cuts, including a good selection of the most famous: "The James Bond Theme", Goldfinger, Born Free, Midnight Cowboy and Diamonds Are Forever. Fortunately, given that there are numerous other collections available, including Themeology: The Best of John Barry, Moviola and The Classic John Barry, this set concentrates on lesser-known gems. Here is a sensuously jazzy "Human Jungle", late night "Satin Smooth", a groovy Beat Girl, kitsch yet haunting "Tears", and cues such as "Beat For Beatniks" and "The Challenge" which play like proto-007 suspense themes.
Considering the age of the earliest tracks, the sound is exceptionally good, bringing to life every detail of Barry's eclectic fusion of jazz, rhythm and blues, MOR pop and orchestral scoring. Barry fans who enjoy this collection should also thrill to the blisteringly dynamic Bond Back In Action, featuring suites from the first seven 007 adventures and 20 minutes of never before available music. --Gary S. Dalkin
Product Description
CD
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Born John Barry Prendergast to a father who owned a cinema and a mother who played piano, all the elements were in place for John to develop his career as he did. Even when he had to do national service, he managed to secure a job as an army bandsman, so he managed to use that period to hone his craft. John first came to prominence via his recording of Hit and miss, which became the theme to the TV show Jukebox jury. Famous as his TV theme became, John's most famous hit is the James Bond theme.
This particular compilation, as its title suggests, focuses on John's recordings for EMI. Many of these recordings date from the early to mid sixties, but there are a few from the nineties too. Most of the tracks are instrumentals, but there are also three Shirley Bassey tracks (Goldfinger, Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Diamonds are forever) and a Matt Monro track (Born free) in which John was involved. Two of the Shirley Bassey tracks are famous, but I'd not heard the other one before buying this CD. It was apparently intended as the theme for Thunderball but was dropped in favor of the Tom Jones song Thunderball.
There are 25 tracks altogether and the CD comes with a nice booklet. By no means a definitive John Barry compilation, this does at least contain all those early sixties tracks that I particularly wanted and showcases John's versatility as a composer and arranger. Sadly, John died early in 2011 but his legacy in the history of cinematic music is assured.
This particular compilation, as its title suggests, focuses on John's recordings for EMI. Many of these recordings date from the early to mid sixties, but there are a few from the nineties too. Most of the tracks are instrumentals, but there are also three Shirley Bassey tracks (Goldfinger, Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Diamonds are forever) and a Matt Monro track (Born free) in which John was involved. Two of the Shirley Bassey tracks are famous, but I'd not heard the other one before buying this CD. It was apparently intended as the theme for Thunderball but was dropped in favor of the Tom Jones song Thunderball.
There are 25 tracks altogether and the CD comes with a nice booklet. By no means a definitive John Barry compilation, this does at least contain all those early sixties tracks that I particularly wanted and showcases John's versatility as a composer and arranger. Sadly, John died early in 2011 but his legacy in the history of cinematic music is assured.
By M. Carre
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I wasn't sure about some of the less familiar tracks to begin with, but there is something so distinctive about John Barry's music that before too long, I was enjoying all of the tracks equally well. I'm not at all sorry I bought it!
By DMAS
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this for my wife as she is a Barry fan. This is exactly what it says and contains early John Barry tracks, some of which were a surprise. John Barry is a most prolific composer of very enjoyable music.
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