The Name's Barry...John Barry: Composer's Early Sides Collected On New 3-CD Box Set

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Throughout a long, celebrated career, the late John Barry scored roughly 100 films (including eleven James Bond movies), picked up five Academy Awards, penned classic television themes, and wrote five musicals. But before all of those mighty accomplishments, the Yorkshire native formed his own band, The John Barry Seven. While leading the septet, he was hired by EMI as an orchestral arranger - which in turn, led to his first film assignments. The early days of Barry's career have been chronicled on CD before, but Cherry Red's El imprint has delivered one-stop shopping with a new 3-CD clamshell box set. The John Barry Sound: The Mono Years presents Barry's 1957-1962 output in its original mono form, with numerous tracks appearing on CD in mono for the very first time.

This new set has been compiled by Barry historians Geoff Leonard and Pete Walker, who have just released Hit and Miss: The Story of The John Barry Seven, a new 368-page book chronicling the same period covered on this set. There were plenty of personnel changes during the existence of the Seven, but the first band included trumpeter Barry, tenor saxophonist Mike Cox, alto saxophonist Derek Myers, drummer Ken Golder, bassist Fred Kirk, lead guitarist Ken Richards, and rhythm guitarist Keith Kelly. The first disc, The Parlophone Years Plus, encompasses tracks recorded for that venerable label between 1957 and 1959. Ironically, the band's Parlophone debut ("Zip Zip" b/w "Three Little Fishes"), featuring Barry on its gruff vocals, was actually billed as "John Barry and The Seven" owing to the brief addition of a vibraphonist to the line-up.

Soon, Barry would wisely give up singing to concentrate on his instrumental prowess - and his composing. Parlophone's Norman Newell encouraged Barry's writing, which would of course lead to his eventual career. Exposure on television helped sell records, and by the end of 1958, the roster had settled on Barry, Kelly, baritone saxophonist Jimmy Stead, bassist Mike Peters, tenor saxophonist Dennis King, drummer Dougie Wright, and crucially, guitarist Vic Flick. Barry sensed Flick's virtuosity on his instrument, and soon guitar was the prevailing sound on the JB7 records. When Kelly left in early 1959, Les Reed joined on keyboards. The Parlophone Years Plus has all of the group's A- and B-sides for the label as well as their contributions to the album tie-ins to television shows Six-Five Special and Drumbeat, and five tracks of rare "library music" (music recorded to be licensed for television, radio, and film) Barry cut for the Chappell Music Library.

The second disc, The Columbia Years Plus, captures the Seven's most commercially successful period via all of their A- and B-sides. Barry was moved to the EMI sister imprint even as the singles he arranged for Parlophone artist Adam Faith were proving to be phenomenally successful. In March 1960, the John Barry Seven charted their first hit single with the Flick-led "Hit and Miss," the Barry-penned theme to television's Juke Box Jury. Faith also led to Barry's first film assignment. When Faith was cast in the movie Beat Girl, Barry was the only choice to compose its score. The top ten LP is presented in full on the third disc of this collection. Further movies followed (including Faith's sophomore effort, Never Let Go) as well as further hits (including a cover of "Walk Don't Run") and the group's first LP, Stringbeat. Showcasing their trademark sound of pizzicato twang with heavy reverb, it, too, is included in full on CD 3.

The Columbia Years Plus goes all the way from January 1960 to November 1962, including the period Barry once described as the most important of his life. That was the week of June 1962, when he began work on a little film called Dr. No. His thrilling, now instantly recognizable arrangement of Monty Norman's "James Bond Theme" was, indeed, life-changing. It wasn't just a hit single, but rather the true entrée to a remarkable career spanning decades. 1963 would mark the end of the John Barry Seven; Vic Flick departed in September, and Barry disbanded the group. A new band was assembled, but Barry was increasingly busy with other endeavors. Just a couple more singles were released on Columbia between 1963 and 1965 (one credited to The John Barry Orchestra, and one by the reformed Seven) before Barry finally called it a day as a bandleader in 1965. These sides are not included on this set.

The 92 mono tracks on three discs here have all been superbly mastered by Richard Moore from best available sources. The detailed liner notes in the 24-page booklet have been adapted by Geoff Leonard and Pete Walker from their book. The only unfortunate omission is any kind of discographical annotation indicating the origin of each track. There are recording dates, but no label or catalogue number information.

The John Barry Sound: The Mono Years 1957-1962 is a comprehensive introduction to the ground floor of one of film music's most impressive careers. It's available now from Cherry Red/El at the links below!

The John Barry Sound: The Mono Years 1957-1962 (Cherry Red/El ACME341BOX, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1: The Parlophone Years Plus