JAMES BOND
FACT FILES

Every James Bond film from Dr. No (1962) to Licence To Kill (1989) had its original soundtrack recording issued as a 33rpm 12" Long Playing vinyl record. Beginning with the release of GoldenEye (1995) the soundtracks were only issued on Compact Disc. The resurgence in the popularity of vinyl records in recent years has resulted in the re-release of several classic James Bond soundtracks in this format, with the track listings identical to the original version.

Although the title song for each film had been issued as a 45rpm 7" single by the artistes own recording label, contractually their performance was also included on the soundtrack LP as the opening track. All James Bond soundtracks up to and including Moonraker (1979) were released by United Artists Records. Subsequent soundtracks have been issued by the title artistes own record label. The double-sided LP format also dictated the track listing of the album, with side two usually opening with an instrumental version of the main theme, or another song featured in the film. Some tracks were also edited or created from two or more separate cues featured in the film. LPs were also restricted to a playing time of around 45-minutes over the two sides and the inclusion/omission of some tracks from some scores became a source of debate among fans for many years. It was only in the 40th anniversary year of James Bond in the cinema that remastered extended Compact Disc versions of the soundtracks were released. Lukas Kendall's groundbreaking 2002 series of James Bond soundtracks issued by Capitol-EMI restored many of the missing tracks, and in some cases doubled the length of the original album. Contractually the track listings for the original part of the album remained the same, with bonus tracks appearing at the end of the programme. Some album tracks were also expanded or adapted from their original release but retained their relative place in the listing. Until the release of the expanded CDs the James Bond soundtracks available on vinyl record were the closest thing to owning the film in the days before VHS videotape and DVDs. For many fans the soundtrack albums remain an integral part of the James Bond experience and collectible items in their own right.

The soundtrack LPs for the first five James Bond films were issued in both mono and stereo versions, but the only changes to the record sleeve were a different catalogue number and revised lettering. Dr. No did not have a vinyl LP release in the UK until July 1965. Collectors should note that the US LP releases of Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice originally had a different track listing to their UK counterparts. The UK LP of Goldfinger omitted John Barry's jazz instrumental version of the main theme, although this did appear on the 7" EP. The US LP of Goldfinger included the jazz instrumental but omitted the tracks ‘Golden Girl’, ‘Death of Tilly’, ‘The Laser Beam’ and ‘Pussy Galore's Flying Circus’. The US LP of You Only Live Twice featured Nancy Sinatra's reprise of the title song as the last track of the album, whereas the UK version replaced this with John Barry's ‘Twice Is The Only Way To Live’. The 2002 Capitol-EMI remastered CDs restored all these missing tracks.

Licence To Kill (1989) marked the last time a James Bond soundtrack would have its first release issued on vinyl until the long-awaited No Time To Die (2021). Subsequent films have had their albums released exclusively on compact disc with the title song artistes releasing their own CD singles, padded out with remixes and redundant extended versions of the title song. Although all James Bond title themes have been released as a 7" singles since 1989; these were not all commercially available, and frequently only supplied as promotional copies.

Dr. No did not have its soundtrack album released when the film originally played in UK cinemas in late 1962. At this time it was unusual for films to have their orchestral score released as a standalone album unless they were based on a stage musical, or a high-profile biblical epic. It was not until after Dr. No had been released in the USA and become a substantial commercial hit, that United Artists hastily issued a soundtrack album in June 1963. The album would not be available in the UK for another two years. Compiled by UA executives, the resulting record was an odd mixture of songs featured in the film; John Barry's arrangement of the ‘James Bond Theme’ heard over the main titles and throughout the film (although never in its entirety), and just two pieces of incidental music. The tracks entitled ‘The Island Speaks’ and ‘Love at Last’ are actually featured in Dr. No, with the rest of the album made up of Jamaican music and curious unrelated tracks such as ‘Audio Bongo’ and ‘Twisting with James’, which have no connection to the finished film. With the choice of music, and naming of tracks done by people not connected to the film, the resulting album was as odd then as it is now. Whilst it was not uncommon for tracks (or indeed complete albums) to feature music inspired by a particular film, the Dr. No soundtrack stands alone as it does not really represent the music or style of the film. John Barry's own score to Zulu (1964) was only featured on the A-side of the album, with the B-side made up of upbeat jazz/pop versions of his themes. As the original Dr. No recording sessions no longer survive, any expanded release could only come from what exists on the music & effects tracks that were used to create the final sound mix for the film in 1962. Several bootleg versions purporting to be ‘expanded editions’ of the soundtrack album feature a few short pieces of music composed by Monty Norman and actually heard in the film, but these have all been sourced from the M&E track that was available on the US laserdisc of Dr. No issued by Criterion in 1991, and subsequently withdrawn after EON Productions and MGM took exception to some of the comments made on the separate commentary track by several of the filmmakers (including director Terence Young and editor Peter Hunt), and threatened legal action unless the audio track was edited. A similar M&E track (and controversial commentary) was also available on Criterion's laserdisc of Goldfinger, which therefore includes those short pieces of music composed by John Barry not featured on the original soundtrack album.

Original soundtrack?
Although the James Bond albums always bear the words ‘Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [or Score]’ this is not actually the case. As with all motion picture recordings, the music heard in the film is usually different to that which appears on the soundtrack album. Two separate sessions usually take place; one where the music that the director, composer and film editor have spotted, timed and chosen for the final sound mix is recorded, and another session often with different musicians when the soundtrack album recordings are performed. Some soundtrack album recordings often combined several different tracks for a more pleasurable listening experience, omitting many of the shorter cues which only appear in the film as brief punctuation to a scene, or to support the action on screen. Composers themselves will sometimes create album versions of certain music tracks that bear little resemblance to what appeared in the film. Other cues are combined into suites, or cross-faded to create a new hybrid track.

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FACT FILES The James Bond Films