Celia Cruz Centennial Celebration livestream, Sunday

Fania's centennial celebration of Celia Cruz streams on Sunday (Oct. 19) at 3 pm Eastern right here. Watch Celia in action below.

Remembering John Barry on his birthday

Raising a glass to film composer John Barry with "You Only Live Twice," a BBC doc, Terry Gross interview and more.

LINKS
John Barry YouTube Playlist YouTube Playlist

Vanity Fair The Man Who Knew The Score by Bruce Handy

Bob Stanley digs a bit deeper into the John Barry soundtrack archives

Ace's new Something's Up collection thankfully focuses on composer John Barry's swingin' 60s peak years – Bond and beyond!

Writes compiler Bob Stanley: 

"I’ve put a new John Barry comp together. I’m quite excited. Bond themes, plus obscurities from Man In The Middle, Dutchman, The Chase (US single version)…magical stuff." 

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“Something’s Up!” – Ace's latest archival dig into the soundtrack recordings of John Barry soundtrack recordings – is the ultimate collection of the distinctive, darkly beautiful John Barry Sound – spy movies, swinging comedies, and social realism.  Compiled by Saint Etienne's  Bob Stanley, “Something’s Up!” covers the era when London was the driver of popular culture, and John Barry went from being just another British arranger to an actual pop star. The press talked about his E-Type life and called Jane Birkin his “E-Type wife.”

At the heart of this was his work on the most beloved James Bond films. With 1964’s Goldfinger, 1965's Thunderball and 1967's You Only Live Twice, John Barry made Bond his own; his fame and fortune were secured. Further big commissions like The Ipcress File and The Quiller Memorandum came in, and Barry essentially the sound of the cold war spy movie. They also enabled Barry to pursue more unusual requests – the tense and controversial short movie Dutchman; Bryan Forbes’ tale of isolation and paranoia The Whisperers– for purely artistic reasons. He even tried his hand at  advertising work; ‘The Girl With The Sun In Her Hair’ is taken from a Sunsilk hampoo ad.

Other highlights of “Something’s Up!” include not only acknowledged classics (the Bond movies, The Knack, Born Free) but other now-obscure films whose soundtracks (King Rat, The Chase, Séance on a Wet Afternoon) are more widely discussed than the actual movies.

John Barry’s soundtracks were among the first to sell in numbers on record, often irrespective of whether the purchaser had seen the movie. He was a new breed; his music was designed to have a life of its own, on vinyl as well as celluloid. After the success of Ace's “The More Things Change: TV, Film and Studio Work 1968-73”, “Something’s Up!” will work a magic all of its own. Something's Up is set for release on September 27th but you can pre-order it directly from Ace Records right here.  Check out a few song clips following the tracklisting below. 

John Barry – Something's Up

Film, TV & Studio Work, 1964-67

01  The Syndicate

02  Oublie Ca

03  Seance On A Wet Afternoon'

04  Troubadour

05  Chicken Delhi Cold

06  Barbra's Theme

07  Goldfinger

08  The Chase

09  Theme From King Rat

10  A Man Alone

11  The Knack

12  Thunderball

13  Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

14  Four In The Morning

15  Danny Scipio Theme

16  Theme from The Quiller Memorandum - Wednesday's Child

17  Something's Up!

18  The Girl With the Sun In Her Hair

19  Vendetta

20  The Whisperers

21  You Only Live Twice

22  Space March (Capsule In Space)

23  Dutchman

24  Seance On a Wet Afternoon

25  Theme from Born Free

Happy Birthday Nancy Sinatra!

Celebrating Nancy Sinatra's birthday with a performance of "Summer Wine" and the theme from "You Only Live Twice" 

Nancy Sinatra's "Something Pretty" issued with a classic Bond theme flip!

Check out Nancy's rare recording of "Something Pretty" along with her classic 1967 James Bond theme "You Only Live Twice."  

Light In The Attic have pressed up 500 white vinyl copies of the single which you can get from their site right here.  

Happy Birthday Chris Connor!

Remembering jazz chanteuse Chris Connor on her birthday with her swingin' 1957 rendition of "Speak Low."

Happy Birthday Vic Flick!

Cheers to UK session guitarist Vic Flick who played the Bond theme from Dr. No in 1962 on his Clifford Essex Paragon Deluxe. 

Songs That Could Be Bond Themes: Guy Mitchell's "Ninety Nine Years" (1956)

Guy Mitchell voiced this John Benson Brooks tune played by Jimmy Carroll's band in '56. Does the tune sound familiar?

Lee Aaron sings "Goldfinger" for Jaymz Bee's Music For Secret Agents

Lee Aaron's update of "Goldfinger" is off Jaymz Bee's Music For Secret Agents launching at the Paradise Theatre, November 18.

Here's the scoop...

The lead off track from the forthcoming concept album, Jaymz Bee presents Music For Secret Agents, is the ultimate James Bond theme "Goldfinger" – written by John Barry with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley – featuring the unmistakable voice of legendary rock diva Lee Aaron, who continues to be one of Canada's great vocal powerhouses. Listen to Lee Aaron's version of "Goldfinger" below. Stream it here. 

 

Says Jaymz Bee "Lee Aaron absolutely slays this classic 007 song and I have been a fan since her debut in 1984, so I’m absolutely thrilled to have her on the album. She is incredible!" 

 

Also featured is the extraordinary Juno-nominated saxophonist Alison Young,  who has performed with everyone from Heillig Manoeuvre and Shuffle Demons to Joe Sealy and Corey Hart. 

 

The Music For Secret Agents band includes Eric St-Laurent (guitar), Adrean Farrugia (piano), George Koller (bass), Davide Direnzo (drums), Great Bob Scott (percussion), Irene Torres (backing vocals) and Jono Grant on the talk-box. Produced by Jaymz Bee and Juno, Gemini and Genie winner Jono Grant.

Music For Secret Agents will be celebrated with a live concert and party at Toronto's impressive music venue and movie house, Paradise Theatre (1006 Bloor West) on November 18 featuring a live band, film shorts and videos, courtesy of D.J. Swankenstein. Doors at 7 pm. Concert at 8 pm. Get tickets here.

Listen to Lee Aaron's version of "Goldfinger" followed by Shirley Bassey's original from 1964. 

 

That time Dizzy Gillespie cut a John Barry-style version of "Bésame Mucho"

Back in 1969, Dizzy Gillespie transformed "Bésame Mucho" into what sounds like a lost James Bond theme. 

John Barry vs. Jimmy Carroll

See if you can spot any similarity between John Barry's Bond theme and Guy Mitchell's Ninety Nine Years arranged by Jimmy Carroll from 1956. 

Mark Lanegan vs. Nancy Sinatra

Mark Lanegan tries an understated arrangement of Nancy Sinatra's classic Bond theme You Only Live Twice. 

Happy Birthday John Barry!

Rather than post clips of well-known John Barry tunes, I thought I'd go with a couple of recordings which sound like they were favourites of the late great British film scoring legend. James Bond fans should listen closely to Django Reinhardt's rendition of the Ary Barroso standard Aquarela do Brasil at the 0:42 mark and Celia Cruz's spellbinding incantation Plegaria a Laroye accompanied by Sonora Matancera at 1:01.

Brazil by Django Reinhardt


Plegaria a Laroye by Celia Cruz