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I saw you sitting there so cool
Like you just come home from school
Looking such a pretty sight
Like a stick of dynamite
Sitting on a coffee bar stool

You're a gasser that's a fact and I never can relax until I've made you

I feel such a crazy clown
You're the biggest thing in town
Come on honey isn't fair
Never getting anywhere
How do I melt you down

You're a gasser that's a fact and I never can relax until I've made you

I'm not giving up the chase
I don't want to lose this case
Every time I make a play
Baby you just run away
I never make first basev

You're a gasser that's a fact and I never can relax until I've made you

John Barry
Sung by Adam Faith

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She's nearly always here
Digs all the modern gear
Cool like a lager beer
Beat Girl

Tries anything for kicks
Lose her with the swinging hips
Makes with the pretty lips
Beat Girl

(Speaking)

"That's the Beat girl feeding the coins
into the jukebox,long black stockings and no
make-up. Big, big wheel setting up the coffee pot
she makes like she's not over concerned about
this extravagant attention. Keeps giving me the
look like I'm supposed to rate this chick high or something."

Clouds on the chicken run
Goes but it ain't no fun
Not 'less you doin' a ton
Beat Girl

Drives in an old sedan
Tries all the way she can
Jives like the crazy man
Beat Girl

John Barry
Trevor Peacock

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well I did just what you told me
you told me to forget
today some other baby
just as though we'd never met

well I did what you told me
well I did what you told me
I can't forget
I'm crying yet
over you

Well I threw away your photo
Just like you told me to
I put your letters in the fire
and got mine back from you

well I did what you told me
Ooh babe, just what you told me
I can't forget, Honey
I'm crying over you

What's going on baby? (unclear)

Well I still go to the dance hall
I listen to the noise
I try to tell myself I'm having fun
with the boys (unclear)

well I did what you told me
Ooh I did just what you told me
I can't forget
I'm crying yet
over you

Oh baby, can't forget, Honey
I'm just crying for you

From the movie 'Beat Girl' 1960
Lyrics by Trevor Peacock
Music by John Barry
Sung by Adam Faith

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A list of lyrics to songs with music by John Barry. These include songs for James Bond films co-written by Don Black, Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley, Hal David, Mack David, Trevor Peacock, Jack Good & Alan Jay Lerner.

Click on title to get the lyrics | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

All lyrics are property and copyright of their owners and are provided for educational purposes only.

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The following scans are articles on John Barry from a variety of magazines and newspapers, such as Music from the Movies, Soundtrack! and a History of Rock, all taken from Gareth Bramley's extensive Collection.

Gareth ordered by name, not date - apologies.  if text is too small, it's your browser settings. Firefox can be adjusted.

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The following scans are articles on John Barry from a variety of magazines and newspapers, such as Music from the Movies, Soundtrack! and a History of Rock, all taken from Gareth Bramley's extensive Collection.

Gareth ordered by name, not date - apologies.  if text is too small, it's your browser settings. Firefox can be adjusted.

Walkabout The Movie, 1968

Songs and Studios History of Rock

The Sound of Bond - David Stoner (1983)

James Bond files - photo only

Bond changes his tune David Stoner, 1983

Premiere, December 1990

Moviola poster

John Barry Into the Seventies, Part One Geoff Leonard & Pete Walker Music for the movies 6, Autumn 1994

John Barry Into the Eighties Geoff Leonard & Pete Walker Music for the movies 12, Summer 1996

The Best of Bond: Music

The Word of 007

Czeching out Raise The Titanic Commentary & Photography by Geoff Leonard Music for the movies 24, Summer 1996

The Essential Musical Guide to James Bond Music for the movies 18, Summer 1997

First the violins, then the handkerchiefs - Composer John Barry is Swept from the Sea Soundtrack, March 1998

John Barry, La Paciencia de un Creador Luís Saveedra Film Music

Q & A John Barry Hollywood Reporter, 24 August, 1999

And the Bond Played On December 1999

The Enigma of John Barry Soundtrack 44, Autumn 2001

Vic Flick, James Bond's favorite guitarist - Rod M. Lott (Aug - Nov. 2001)

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The following are various scans of a series of articles and interviews with John Barry, as published in John Williams' "From Silents to Satellite" magazine.

Bryan Forbes on John Barry

John Barry - For the Record by David Toop

John Barry - Writing the Bond Music Dick Tatham, Showtime magazine, 1965

John Barry The Early Years by Geoff Leonard and Pete Walker

John Barry by Gareth Bramley

John Barry's Television Scores - An Overview, by Jon Burlingame

Les Reed on John Barry

Couple of things about the John Glen interview. His memory of the JB7 playing at the local town hall when he was doing his national service, is faulty. Glen's national service was from 1950-52, finishing five years before the JB7 was formed! The story about Vic Flick's cracked guitar is also wrong, though Vic believes it was editor Peter Hunt who started this story, so Glen probably believed it to be true .... John Glen on John Barry

Leslie Bricusse on John Barry

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By Geoff Leonard
22 July 2012.

 Back in the summer of 2006 I received a surprise phone call from a project manager at Sony/BMG. He had been given my name by David Stoner of Silva Screen Records, who had told him that as a fan of John Barry, I might be able to provide some “expert” assistance.

He told me that his company were planning two compilation CDs, one a previously postponed 4-CD box-set and the other a TV-advertised single CD.   Someone had been working on the box-set before departing from the company, so he had a provisional track-listing, but the single CD had to be a very commercial compilation which could be TV-sold.

My mission, should I choose to accept it, was to choose the tracks for both projects, identify the current owners, write suitable liner notes and lend them suitable photos and album covers etc.  In recognition of this I would receive a substantial fee.  Of course, like many of us, I would have been happy to take it on free of charge, as it was a rare opportunity to influence the contents of what Sony hoped would be the definitive box-set.  A year and literally hundreds of emails later, it’s fair to admit that a certain amount of frustration had crept in.

The first thing to happen was that my contact announced his departure to New York and the handing over of the Barry projects to two colleagues.  Yes, that was the first sign of possible trouble ahead in that I would be dealing with two different project managers.

They were both very enthusiastic but, not surprisingly for youngsters in the music business today, not necessarily very knowledgeable about the works of John Barry.  This became apparent when it came to the track selection for the “Greatest Hits” single CD when I was asked, in all seriousness, from which films were the tracks The Ipcress File, The Knack, Somewhere In Time & The Lion in Winter taken.

Anyway, back to the plot. My first task was to come up with around 30 of not necessarily the best themes, but the best known, for the TV-advertised CD. I was advised that this could be a joint-project with EMI so there was no problem including quite a few of the James Bond theme songs.  Whereas I could see this would be a good marketing opportunity, I could also see that it would invariably lead to the omission of some arguably better but less commercially successful tracks. However, I could only give my opinion.  What I was keen to avoid was any misunderstanding over the versions of the chosen tracks. I was very keen on original versions whenever possible, and at the risk of offending JB I was particularly anxious that it didn’t become a “Moviola III”. For those not familiar with Moviola volumes I & II, these featured re-recordings of Barry’s favourite tracks but with an often slow tempo and, in some cases, over-elaborate arrangements, which in the opinion of many, did not quite match up to the originals.  I knew this might be a hard nut to crack since Sony owned the Moviola albums and it would be tempting, easier and cheaper for them to utilise tracks from them, but I was determined to try.

We eventually agreed on a 26-track CD which included all the “hits”, plus one or two more unusual tracks.   I soon realised that I would have to spell out not only track title but also film, in many cases, if we wanted to end up with the correct version. While this was going on I was also fielding vast quantities of emails from the box-set project manager who was very often asking the same questions.

I was then told that because the licensing had taken so long, they had missed their “slot” for the Christmas market and so the TV-advertised CD would be postponed. In the meantime I would continue to work on the box-set which was altogether more challenging.   As I said, they already had a draft list of tracks provided by someone who had left the company after the original box-set had been postponed. I could tell that this must have been a Barry fan because they had included, just as I would have done, all the rare B-sides from Barry’s sixties sojourn with CBS (now Sony).  Unfortunately they had also made a few wrong assumptions and included tracks which either didn’t exist or would be impossible to licence.  So my first task was to remove tracks like Drink-a-pinta-milk-a-day and The Black Hole which my predecessor had linked to EMI. I also had to correct the owners of several of the listed tracks (to the best of my knowledge) and try and pick some replacements for ones I knew we would never be able to licence, or in some cases did not exist, such as L-Shaped Room.

I’d had some previous experience of licensing tracks, but was not really prepared for the lengthy delays which now entailed.   Not only that, certain tracks could not be cleared, frustratingly in some cases when it seemed obvious (well, to me) who the owners were. In one case EMI cleared six assorted tracks from the days of the John Barry Seven, but apparently refused a seventh, even though it was from exactly the same era, with the same writer (Barry) and publisher. The most baffling of the rejections was a track called Romance for Guitar & Orchestra which was an abridged version of Barry’s magnificent concert piece for the Bryan Forbes directed film Deadfall. This version had previously appeared on countless CBS/Sony LPs and CDs, yet now they were telling me it could not be licensed — from Sony?

Next up the TV-advertised CD project made a reappearance with a new project manager. He told me that they would have to reduce the track-listing by two tracks to fit everything in. This surprised me a little because I thought I’d already worked out the timings would not be a problem. It also meant losing a couple of non-Bond tracks, which was a blow to my hopes of keeping a varied line-up.   Then Mr & Mrs Barry entered the fray.  They vetoed my idea to include a JB7 hit, Walk Don’t Run (it had recently been used for a Debenham’s TV advert) and also wanted to remove The Persuaders on the grounds that it was not that interesting.  I’m happy to say the project manager stood his ground at this point, and refused to remove the latter.

I asked for some guidance on the length of liner notes required, since my co-writer Pete Walker was anxious to make a start. We also wanted to establish if these notes should be a reduced version of our notes for the box-set or completely separate.  I was surprised to be informed our services were no longer required. We had apparently been replaced by TV and radio presenter Jonathan Ross, who was willing to do it free.  Moreover they could use his name to “sell” the CD, unlike ours. No argument there!

I carried on with the box-set and when the original project manager came back briefly to work on the TV-advertised CD, I took the opportunity to check if the right versions of The Lion in Winter & Séance on a Wet Afternoon had been included. A few weeks later the CD was released. I never saw any TV advertising for it, though Sony/BMG did send me a video file of it, so I know it existed. They spent ages trying to think of a catchy title — something similar to Themeology, which had sold well for them back in the nineties. In the end we got yet another “The Very Best of …”

Sad to relate, this was very much a low-budget affair in production values. A rather tacky booklet cover with made-up film images relating to some of the tracks. No photos whatever of John Barry and the briefest of notes by Ross which could have been about any composer.

The other problem was the tracks themselves and now it became apparent why they’d had to drop a couple for space reasons. Somewhere In Time, though credited to pianist Roger Williams and MCA, from the original soundtrack, was in fact a nine-minute suite taken from Moviola — the very thing I‘d been anxious to avoid. What’s more, they’d licensed Nancy Sinatra’s main title song You Only Live Twice from EMI, but included her pop cover version for Reprise! 

I’ve neither time nor energy to outline all the comings and goings involved in the compilation of the box-set, now named Themependium.  Suffice it to say the listing changed almost daily as tracks were acquired, refused, replaced or rejected (mainly by the Barrys). 

I had suggested it would be a good selling point to make sure there were 100 tracks spread over the four CDs. This proved somewhat difficult in the hectic last few days before the deadline as most of my suggestions for new tracks were rejected for a variety of reasons. In the end I managed to sneak in a couple of tracks from a CBS compilation album which the project manager was unaware were actually further cues from OHMSS. If she had been she would have refused them on the grounds that she only wanted one track per film.  Sadly, this led to The Lion in Winter Part 2 featuring Alan Haven, being rejected, as I could not disguise its origins.

I did my best to make sure nothing was overlooked in the effort to make this a truly definitive box-set, often getting good advice and suggestions from friends and colleagues. I was pleased we managed to include a few rarities, such as the aforementioned CBS singles, and also that 98% of the tracks were originals or re-recordings by Barry himself. I would have preferred original versions of everything but licensing proved very tricky in some cases and we simply ran out of time in the end.

When it came to the mastering, there were more problems when Sony/BMG couldn’t obtain anything for at least a dozen tracks. The only solution was for me to lend them CDs from my own collection, which I did. I was sent CDRs of everything, and they all contained at least one wrong track.  I think their budget, or lack of one, meant little attention was paid to reducing the noise on the 45s, such as Sleep Well My Darling & Barbra’s Theme, which was a pity.

Now it was time for the notes. Sony/BMG also wanted photos, scans of LP covers etc.  I was told it was a 24-page booklet so if we supplied notes to fill 20 pages, they would fit in the various photos as required.  This was no problem at all and Pete and I duly wrote around 12,000 words, managing to sum up JB’s career and also mention the majority of the tracks. There was another problem, however, because Sony had realised they had nowhere near enough space to accommodate our notes, because of the room taken up by the track credits and the photos. All my photos/scans had been rejected and instead they had accepted an offer from the Barrys to provide photos. They sent me scans of these and I noted three of them were photos John had “borrowed” from me back in the nineties! 

We had to edit our notes considerably but Sony still wanted all the tracks to be mentioned. This was not an easy task, as we didn’t want it to become merely a long list. Nevertheless I was quite pleased when we got it down to around 9000 words without losing the thrust. But this wasn’t good enough for them and we had to make two further edits before finally notes of around 8000 words proved acceptable. Both Pete and I were disappointed that our efforts to inform had been somewhat thwarted, though we hoped it was still readable.

I was told that JB had personally approved both the track-listing and the notes and I should be delighted with my part in the project.  Well, yes, it was good to be so involved in this definitive project, but incredibly frustrating in the time it took (well over a year) and because of the tracks we couldn’t include.

So, if your favourite track is missing it probably wasn’t for the want of trying that it wasn’t included.  Of course, since the box-set was released, many more Barry soundtracks have been released, and some of the omitted tracks are now available.

Now, what else was there?  Oh yes, what about the substantial fee?  Still waiting …..

Geoff Leonard

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Giles Squire
February 12, 2010

 Tribute video below from the Music Industry Trusts Award given to John Barry in 1999:

I set off from deepest darkest Northumberland at 9am on the Friday intending to drop my wife and daughter off near Haywards Heath in Sussex before catching a train up from Gatwick to Victoria and then onto my Hotel in Maida Vale to change for the gig. I was going to fly out to Brussels from Gatwick the next day and needed to drive to Swansea as soon as I got back. (Hence the need to drive).

I got to the M25 at 2pm full of the joys of autumn having subjected my family to my six stack CD player. At 5pm we were still on the M25 at a standstill and my demeanour having changed somewhat so I started to rearrange my plans. The bit where I went to my hotel was out etc etc. Bear in mind the event was due to start at 7pm and dinner was at 8pm.I decided to get off the M25 and try the B roads, which resulted in my standing at Haywards Heath station at 6.20pm waiting for a London train which should get me into Victoria for 7.22pm.Bear in mind that it had been pouring with rain for 3 hours and I was dressed in jeans and a baggy Record company freebie jacket clutching my suit and overnight bag.

This train which arrived late decided to stop at 3 more stations than normal and got me into Victoria at 7.38pm. Anyone who has ever arrived at Victoria station will know that the distance from the platform to the Taxi rank is long enough to be a separate train journey itself. Thank goodness I jog because I tried to beat the 1500 metres world record only to find it still raining and the Queue right round the block. (If had stood there I would probably still be in it now). So I ran into the London traffic and starting in the general direction of Mayfair. With a bit of luck I managed to hail a cab who on being told I would double his fare if he beat the world land speed record, set off like the clappers. I am still in very wet jeans and jacket and wondering how I am going to change.

I get to The Grosvenor House hotel at 7.50pm belt into the cloakroom past a 1000 guests do a Superman impression in a cubicle and at 7.58 pm open the door of the toilet still a state of dishevelment to be greeted by the sight of John Barry waiting to go in........What a start!

Having just scrambled out of a toilet cubicle only to be greeted by the man himself was such a shock that we both nodded and passed. British reserve prevents me from accosting my hero in the cloakroom and besides a colleague had offered to introduce me later. So here we are in the Great Room surrounded by celebs. There is Alan Freeman (not 'arf) talking with the host for the evening Paul Gambaccini and just to one side is Michael Parkinson (he will hand over the award to John later in the evening with a small speech praising Barry). With announcements of "Will you please take your seats" I start to try and find out where my table is and am immediately accosted by a lady selling raffle tickets and by this stage I am so elated that I take out a pound coin, say I will have some and ask 'how much?'.. only to be told that they are £10 each. So I bought two. I must have been in a good mood. The raffle prizes included a limited edition movie poster signed by Barry, a days fishing in some river in Hampshire, a mini disc player, a shopping trip to New York, the autographed and framed original score for TWINE donated by Mr Arnold etc etc.

When I got to the table there laid in front of everyone was a limited edition CD and a very nicely produced programme (if you want the track listing I will do that another day). The meal consisted of baked Italian vegetables and mozzarella on a warm walnut crostini, served with asparagus tips. This was followed by fillet of cod sitting on an herb crust tapenade and nutmeg mash. And the trio of desserts to end.

Adam Faith helped himself to my bottle of wine (ok it was just a glass but hell I paid for it - £34 a bottle...Good grief!! this is getting expensive) and then David Arnold got up and spoke before playing a special edition 007 guitar (only one in the world which will be auctioned at Christies) along with four or five other musicians as backing to David  McAlmont singing 'We have all the time in the world' .

Then the great Gambo gets up to do his bit about Barry and while I am sitting there I get this feeling of 'I have heard all this before'. Of course I had...sometime ago I had been asked to pen my thoughts about Barry (Not facts but descriptive stuff about his music etc) and had forgotten about it. They then ran an amazing Video which included a piece of Barry singing in the show Six -Five Special. This brought the house down with laughter and caused Bryan Forbes later to suggest that Barry never sing again.

I am sure you have read all about Roger Moore and Alice Cooper’s tributes and Don Black did a Video spot even though he was sitting opposite Barry. His was a Stateside story about the great man and Gambo did his own version of the JB7 by coming up with seven great Quotes attributed to John including what he said to Barbara Streisand when she said that he should move to LA! 'Foxtrot Oscar' I think is a pilot's version of his reply.

Then JB gets up and to be fair (he was very nervous) did not only speak up but crack a couple of not heard before comments which I can't remember now, so don't ask. Hey I had to drink my bottle of wine before Adam Faith helped himself to any more. .....

So now to the bit where everyone gets up from their tables and says hello to Barry .....but hang about there is no one talking to the man and everyone else seems to be quite happy drinking at their respective seats...Where is this guy who was going to introduce me or should I say re-introduce...Typical he is nowhere to be found and I have one chance to say hello before the rush...I must confess that back in the early 70s when I was trying to tie him down to do an interview and I used to ring that lady at N.E.M.s all the time and she used to give me the typical brush-off that I conceived a cunning plan.....Well no it was a spur of the moment decision based on the fact that after the concert at the Albert Hall I was passing the back-stage door and there was no-one there to stop me walking in, so I marched straight into Barry's dressing room and confronted the poor man with the fact that I had been chasing him for an interview for several months. He was so shocked that he gave me his home number and asked me to call him the next day....which led to lunch and all the studio sessions etc. (previously mentioned)....So there I was left with the decision of having to
do 26 years later the same thing...Gate crash his table...Nothing ventured!!...

Just as I got to him someone came up shook his hand and thanked him for all his music etc and JB smiled and turned to face me....I said "John I have not come over to thank you for your music as that goes without saying but to thank you for lunch!" Well that got his attention and I proceeded to tell him my lunch story and how relieved I was that he had paid the bill. He laughed and turned to Don Black who had by this time joined and had butted-in that "John always pays". JB was laughing and said it was a pleasure but was struggling to recall when this all happened and wanted to know what film he was working on at the time . I mentioned "The Glass Menagerie" and was that the only time he had actually played on one of his own Soundtrack sessions ? He remembered and said it was and started to talk about the film to DB and I. Don said JB's lunches were legendary both for him paying and the style of restaurant etc. I reminded JB of some of our conversations and remarked that the big talking point in 1973 had been "Who really did write the James Bond theme?" and what his answer had been then...he looked pained but was encouraged by me saying that I had never forgotten his response then and I was sure it was the same today and he confirmed that it was. He spoke about his son and how he likes to take him to school (Play School?) and be involved in his world and because of that he was going straight back to the states. General chit chat ensued and by this time there was a queue waiting to speak to the man and I felt that I had probably had my fair share. So he shook my hand and thanked me for coming and I left a thin and slightly frail (because he looks so thin) but otherwise well man who was enjoying the attention and the accolades. I even saw him later in the evening wandering around on his own stopping at tables to converse with various people. Oh yes, when saying goodbye to him I mentioned that there were a great many people around the world and Bristol who could not be there on the night but wished him well for the night and his forthcoming birthday. I then went back to my table to rescue my wine from Adam Faith and try and beg a few extra programmes.

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By Terry walstrom
 10 February 2011

 The year is 1963 and I'm being dragged kicking and screaming to a film I don't want to see titled Dr.No.

My best friend, Johnny, has told me it is about a secret agent with a license to kill.  Jeezus!  It is going to be crap.

But, wait!

What is this music?  No, not the awful Three Blind Mice.....this other thing...with the guitar and bebop. What in the bloody hell kind of style is this?
I LOVE IT!!  Sean Connery is galvanizing and the weird theme music simply riveting.

Thus began a lifelong infatuation with a sound and a style and a mysterious emotion being wrenched out of me like no other in the music of a mysterious Englishman named John Barry.

Now, I can read very clearly the so-called James Bond theme has been "composed by" Monty Norman.  I also can see that it is being played by John Barry's orchestra. For some peculiar reason I pay no attention to the name Monty Norman at all.  I fix on Barry.  I mark it for later. It will become a habit.

My 2nd encounter with they elusive John Barry occurs, once again, with my friend Johnny at a film title ZULU.

From the very first thundering strikes of the timpani and inexorable swell of horns my attention ratcheted up to a state of mind quite beyond reason!  Why certainly!  There is that name again: John Barry.  No mention of Norman on this one.

Whoever this Englishman is--this composer with the arresting style and lovely way with a melody--he's got Mojo and a half!

What is it? Why does it make me feel like this?

Some people just accept things as they are and go about their business.  Others, such as myself, have to know "why?".

Take falling in love, for example.  Who would ever shrug their shoulders and toss it off with a casual "so what!"

Whomever had snatched your heart from you and stopped your world would instantly become the center of your attention and focus. This is what Barry's music created in me: a world-stopping event that demanded my attention.

The first opportunity to buy an album arrived one day at a small five and ten cent store in the bargain bin. It was the soundtrack to a new James Bond film: From Russia with Love.  Great cover!  Connery and Bianchi in a Turkish church shrouded in dramatic shadows. Walther PPK 7.65 mm pistol at the ready!   Orange border with that name again!
Music composed and conducted by JOHN BARRY!
It sounds rather vapid to say this out loud but it is true: my heart skipped a beat.  I was enthralled at the prospect of owning some of this potent drug: BARRY MUSIC!!

I played the album until my family threatened to send me to a monastery. I was mainlining!
The Bond films stepped up the excitement while the art films flummoxed my brain with beauteous encounters both ingenious and exotic.  The creativity was astonishing.  WHO WAS THIS GUY?

Living stateside across the pond from all things England I was without a clue save the few liner notes gleaned album by album.  Tiny black and white photos provided a glimpse of a slim, serious face.

Like pieces of an arcane puzzle I began assembling the picture of who this young Yorkshire maestro was.  Apparently there was some sort of Rock and Roll career.  Odd that.  The music I had heard so far didn't come close to the silly pop music blaring from my radio with the "Bop shoo bop" "Doo wah" "Bomp oompa Bomp a Bomp" and "Dip ti Dip ti Dips".

Every musician I had encountered in my life had ONE STYLE and one style only. That one way of doing things made them famous and they stuck with it.  Glenn Miller sounded like Glenn Miller, Bill Hailey and the Comets sounded the same on every 45 r.p.m. and Mitch Miller was always Mitch Miller.  This John Barry person sounded like three or four completely unique people who severally were pure genius at concocting a Brand New sound styling unlike any other.  What gives?

As the Swinging Sixties swelled into a tidal wave of furious British Invasion estalt the page was torn from the book of Top 40 culture.  America was drowning in an odd funk of soup tasting like whatever tidbit was tossed into the pot.
Above all that cacophony on a cloud of rarefied wisdom and craft soared this New Voice alone and apart: John Barry!

Birds of a Feather may flock together but I peeled off like a Blue Angel from my generation's squadron of droning screamers and twangers into a solo flight of film music devotion.  There was a siren song to be followed and I was loosed from the mast.  I came of age to the splendor of cymbaloms and kantala, moogs and French Horn choirs replete with syncopated eighth notes in a 3-3-2 rhythm preening away beneath gorgeously seductive melodies from the pencil and staff of Mr. Barry.
The Orchestral tour de force bonded with my DNA.
 I created seduction tapes on my reel to reel to stupefy the lissome lasses and fell them sonically into surrender to the waving baton of a maestro who could awe and tame as adroit as any liquor.
My honeymoon, the birth of my children, the evenings of after work unwinding, the highs and lows of wretched life on planet Earth with Viet Nam raging outside: each and all were made sense of by Barry's music.  His unique sound was the common denominator for  crying babies and moonlandings; the yin and yang of presidential assassins and Hollywood decollete.  The music of my life: the sideburned staffsman's uncanny concoctions.

Some men collect fast cars, great art or fine wine.  I collected movie music albums in a burgeoning array of LP stacks replete with John Barry's latest, greatest incantations along with the Jerry Goldsmiths, Elmer Bernsteins and Lalo Schifrins galore.  The crates proliferated and soon I was more owned by them than they by me!

Life, it is said, is what happens while you are busy making other plans. 
I never planned to be a 64 year old man living in a bedsitter room with most of my children grown and a chilling obituary notice flashing on my laptop screen notifying me that the man with the greatest gift I'd ever witnessed was no longer alive: John Barry had died.

I remained numb for days as snow fell and the world seemed cold and silent outside. The silence bespoke an emptiness I'd never known.  Then, I began reading the words of others; hundreds...thousands around the planet spoke up and gave voice to the same confraternity of worship I'd been unable to define my lifelong.  The music of John Barry had really MEANT SOMETHING WONDERFUL without which life would have not been as full, enriched or meaningful.

Finally it sinks in.  
 Art fills us as light fills a darkened room.  John Barry's art was the music of our soul extending the reach of our grasp.
If I have loved, I've done so more knowingly having been taught what beauty can be felt.
Whatever is noble, heroic, seductive, visceral and majestic was enlivened on his canvas of sound.
Thank God I can reach for those gifts and replay the music of my life preserved in the amber of recorded sound.

The Knack is my 18 year old self fresh out of school; alive to a world full of beautiful women.
The Lion in Winter is my encounter with God.
The Dove is my journey to a new life in California far from a cowtown in Texas.
Somewhere in Time is the death of my first wife as I rear three children alone.
x
Thank you John for being the ink of emotion upon the pages in the book of my life.


Terry Walstrom
February 7, 2011
48 years after hearing the James Bond theme in the Poly theater in Fort Worth, Texas at the age of 16