JAMES BOND
FACT FILES

Composer John Barry arranged and performed Monty Norman's ‘The James Bond Theme’ for the film Dr. No (1962), but also released his own single version which reached number 13 in the UK chart. John Barry then went on to compose the orchestral score for a further 11 James Bond films, but would frequently re-record his own cover version of the main theme for release on his own label Ember Records. Later singles would be released by CBS and United Artists. Although John Barry had composed the scores for the James Bond films, his re-recordings are still cover versions of the original tracks, often with different arrangements. These cover versions were collected on several long playing albums in the 1960s and 1970s, and although contained some other non-Bond compositions, the album sleeves frequently tied into his James Bond connection.

Since its release in 1963, the original version of John Barry's main title theme for the second James Bond film From Russia With Love has never been commercially released. The film version featured an organ solo by Alan Haven, missing from John Barry's original soundtrack album recording. Barry's cover version reinstated the organ solo, but is still a different arrangement to that which plays over Robert Brownjohn's main titles in From Russia With Love (1963). This version then appeared on John Barry Plays 007 in 1965 along with a re-recording of ‘007’. The album was later reissued with the same catalogue number, but in a new sleeve with colour stills from the first three James Bond films.

A 1966 compilation album Great Movie Sounds Of John Barry featured six of John Barry's James Bond cover versions on Side A. The sleeve notes were by Bryan Forbes who had directed Seance On A Wet Afternoon (1966) [featured on the album]. The film was scored by John Barry but its soundtrack has never been commercially released. Barry's themes for The Chase (1966), King Rat (1965) [also directed by Bryan Forbes], The Ipcress File (1965), and his Oscar-winning Born Free (1966) were featured on Side B.

A further compilation album of John Barry's re-recordings was issued by CBS Records in 1967, now adding ‘You Only Live Twice’ to the selection of James Bond themes. As John Barry's output expanded, a new compilation Ready When You Are J.B. was issued by CBS Records in 1970, and now included ‘On Her Majesty's Secret Service’, ‘We Have All the Time In The World’, ‘Who Will Buy My Yesterdays’ and ‘Try’ as the four James Bond tracks on the album. In 1976 Columbia collected many the tracks from the earlier CBS albums onto a gatefold Double-LP The Music Of John Barry. This was followed a year later by another compilation album The Very Best Of John Barry, this time from Polydor Records, which featured five James Bond tracks and an eye-catching gun barrel style sleeve.

A second gatefold Double-LP was released in 1977 but only available in Japan, although once again copies were imported into the UK and USA by specialist record dealers. Japanese pressings were usually superior and sought out by collectors for their excellent sound quality and alternate artwork. An updated edition titled All About 007 was issued in 1979 adding the title track from Moonraker to the start of Side A; and a third version now titled All About 007: Super Hero - James Bond was issued in 1981, with Sheena Easton's title song from For Your Eyes Only added as the first track. The rest of the track listings remained the same on each disc.

At the height of ‘Bondmania’ in the mid-1960s many James Bond cover albums were issued throughout the world to cash in on the success of the films starring Sean Connery as 007. Issued in the UK and USA as James Bond Thrillers!! the 1965 album by ‘The Zero Zero Seven Band’ presented cover versions of some original John Barry tracks and others featuring new music inspired by the James Bond films. The album was actually recorded by the American easy listening orchestra ‘101 Strings’, who adopted the Zero Zero Seven Band alter ego for this one-off project. The big-band sound provided upbeat jazz versions of ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘The James Bond Theme’, with equally catchy new compositions with titles such as ‘Blues For Dr. No’ and ‘"M" Joins The Hunt’. The American edition added another exclamation mark to the title and featured a stylish sleeve illustration by Chic Laganella (1931-1985), best known for his album covers for Somerset Records. The same album was also issued in France under the title Musique Des Films De James Bond 007 with the performers now credited as ‘The 007 Big Band’.

Ray Martin [Raymond Stuart Martin (1918-1988) born Kurt Kohn and later anglicized his name] was an Austrian-British orchestra leader noted for his light music compositions. Martin was also a producer at EMI Records in the 1950s and during his long career composed over 2,000 pieces under a variety of pseudonyms. Two of his light music singles reached the top 10 in the UK in the early 1950s. In early 1965 he recorded Goldfinger And Other Music From James Bond Thrillers at Webster Hall in New York City, which was issued on vinyl record in the USA by RCA Camden. The album was not released in the UK, but was issued in Mexico and Italy. Goldfinger And Other Music From James Bond Thrillers featured covers of seven Monty Norman and John Barry tracks from the first three James Bond films, in addition to three original compositions inspired by the film Goldfinger. It has to be said that this is one of the most bizarre James Bond albums ever conceived, with a chorus of female backing singers wailing the theme in many instances, as there are no vocals as such! The three original tracks are credited to James Economides Jr., an American songwriter and sound engineer at Capitol Records. The record labels contain a number of inaccuracies, including the mis-spelling of Monty Norman as Monte [as it also was in the end credits of From Russia With Love (1963)] on the mono version. The track ‘007’ is credited to Norman-Roberts and not John Barry, and the track titled ‘Honey's Theme’ is credited as being from the film Goldfinger. Although Honey does briefly appear at the start of Ian Fleming's 1959 novel GOLDFINGER, she has no connection with the film version. The album was reissued in Italy by RCA in 1979, but now re-recorded by Ray Martin and his Orchestra to include covers of two tracks from Thunderball (1965). Copies were imported into the UK by specialist soundtrack dealers in London and the album became a popular collectible in the early days of James Bond fandom. The fact that its provocative sleeve illustration featured recognisable renditions of Sean Connery, Claudine Auger, Honor Blackman, Ursula Andress and Daniela Bianchi, and the inclusion of film stills on the rear, led many fans to believe it was an officially licenced soundtrack when this was far from the truth. The album was also reissued in several Latin American countries in the early 1980s, including a transparent green vinyl version in Ecuador!

Issued in 1965 by United Artists Records was Señor 007 - a covers album by American conga player, drummer, percussionist, bandleader, composer and producer Ray Baretto (1929-2006). In addition to cover versions of Monty Norman and John Barry tracks, Baretto also performed his version of ‘I Wanna Be A James Bond Girl’ by Leroy Holmes, which appeared on Music To Read James Bond By Volume Two - so this track was effectively a cover of a cover!

In the same year United Artists Records also issued another covers album, but this time by the man who had actually composed the soundtracks for two of the James Bond films, and arranged ‘The James Bond Theme’ for Dr. No (1962). John Barry Plays Goldfinger featured the composers own re-recordings of ‘Goldfinger’, ‘From Russia With Love’ and ‘The James Bond Theme’, along with other tracks from his pre-Bond recording career.

Sounds Orchestral Meets James Bond was another covers album released in 1965. Some tracks were covers of the Monty Norman and John Barry originals; whilst others were composed specifically for the album. Unusually, three of the tracks were inspired by Ian Fleming novels not yet made into films by EON Productions. ‘Solitaire’ was inspired by Ian Fleming's heroine from his second James Bond novel LIVE AND LET DIE; whilst ‘Moonshot’ is inspired by the characters in MOONRAKER, with ‘Kissy Suzuki’ named after the Japanese diving girl in YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE. Originally issued with a laminated cover featuring a black & white photograph of a Sunbeam Alpine car, the album was reissued [See ROLLOVER image] later in 1965 with the front sleeve now using a publicity still of Sean Connery in Thunderball (1965) as a tie-in to the film. The rear sleeve was updated to include the credit: “Issued with the consent of and by arrangement with Glidrose Productions Ltd. and EON Productions Ltd.” The second cover is also promoted in the Thunderball UK Exhibitors’ Campaign Book issued by the National Screen Service, alongside Ember Records’ John Barry Plays 007 as two of the albums issued to promote the release of the new James Bond film. The album was issued in the USA on the Parkway label under the title Impressions Of James Bond, and in France as James Bond 007 with another Thunderball tie-in sleeve.

One of the more unusual cover albums issued at the height of ‘Bondmania’ was James Bond Songbook by James Bond and His Sextet! James Edward Bond Jr. (1933-2012) was an American bassist and tuba player usually credited as Jimmy Bond. He was a prolific session musician who performed and recorded with many leading jazz, blues, folk and rock musicians between the 1950s and 1980s. His recordings, like the Sounds Orchestral album, featured several original tracks inspired by Ian Fleming's novels rather than the EON film series. The album was reissued on the Piccadilly label in 1980 as Jazz Impressions Of Movie Themes. James Bond Songbook was clearly originated as a cash-in on the artistes’ real name by an enterprising music executive and doesn't really succeed as an authentic James Bond covers album, being more of an accomplished jazz record in its own right.

Another Thunderball tie-in was The Theme From Thunderball And Other Themes credited to The “Sleepwalk” Guitars Of Dan And Dale. This was another pseudonym project, as Dan & Dale were actually blues guitarists Danny Kalb and Steve Katz (later of Blood, Sweat & Tears). The album features a cover version of ‘Thunderball’ with ten other tracks by Dan & Dale inspired by the underwater theme of the film. The music is in the then-popular surf music style which had begun in Southern California, with electric guitars and Hammond organ solos by Le Sony'r Ra [born Herman Poole Blount (1914-1993) better known as Sun Ra], which had little to do with the world of James Bond. Some editions of the 1965 album included the text “This is not the original sound track” on the sleeve; whilst others had a sticker attached to warn prospective buyers! In 1964 Dan & Dale had released the equally bizarre Themes From Goldfinger And Zorba The Greek.

Franck Pourcel (1913-2000) was a French composer, arranger and conductor of popular and classical music, who also released a James Bond covers album James Bond's Greatest Hits in 1973, following the success of Roger Moore's debut film as 007 in Live And Let Die (1973). Although not licenced by EON Productions, the album sleeve design was credited to Maurice Binder, and featured a colour still of Roger Moore in Binder's own familiar gun barrel motif which was repeated on the reverse. Variations of the gun barrel design in different colours appeared on the sleeves of the US and European releases (the German edition was titled James Bond Melodies); whilst Japan re-titled the album Live And Let Die and featured the Robert McGinnis poster artwork on the sleeve. Although the album was only one double-sided disc, the Japanese version was issued in a gatefold sleeve featuring black & white stills of Sean Connery, George Lazenby and Roger Moore from the EON Productions films.

Geoff Love was a prolific arranger and composer of easy listening and pop versions of classical and film themes. He became famous in the late 1950s, playing under the pseudonym of ‘Manuel and The Music of The Mountains’. In 1975 he recorded Big Bond Movie Themes for the Music For Pleasure label in the UK. Featuring re-recordings of the James Bond title themes from Dr. No (1962) to The Man With The Golden Gun (1974) [and including Burt Bacharach's ‘Casino Royale’], the album was originally issued with a sleeve painted by British artist Tom Chantrell (1916-2001), responsible for many memorable film posters including several for Hammer films. He also painted posters for many of the Carry On films including Carry On Spying (1964), the poster for which was very similar to the Renato Fratini artwork seen on the UK quad-crown poster for From Russia With Love (1963). EON Productions objected to the similarities and the poster was ultimately slightly amended. EON also objected to the album sleeve for Big Bond Movie Themes as it infringed their copyright of Roger Moore's image from posters painted by Robert McGinnis. The album was later reissued (with the same catalogue number) with amended artwork which also revised the pictorial representations of Ursula Andress, Sean Connery and Telly Savalas. Tom Chantrell is probably best-remembered as the artist who painted the iconic Style-C poster for Star Wars (1977) that was later adopted as the quad-crown poster for the UK release. This is the only Star Wars poster to feature the likeness of Peter Cushing.

FACT FILES INDEX

OFF THE RECORD - James Bond in vinyl

FACT FILES The James Bond Films