JOHN BARRY

[Marian]

Just heard the very sad news of the death of John Barry aged 77 from a heart attack. R.I.P. John. You will be very much missed.

[Lena & Harry Smith]

Yes, very sad to hear of John Barry's passing. Among his great works, composed soundtracks for Eleven of the James Bond movies.
R.I.P. John Barry.

[Sandra]

Yes, we were briefly excited to hear Matt singing Born Free and From Russia With Love on Chris Evans Radio 2 show this morning until we realised why.
Very sad news, a multi talented man. R.I.P.

[Seb Lassandro]

Very sad news indeed. A great talent to the music world who will live on in all our memories through the wonderful songs he penned.

[maureen & harry]

Yes it was sad to hear about the death of John Barry - a great talent whose music will live on forever.

[john]

Very sad news, he wrote some wonderful music.
R.I.P.

[mariana44]

More sad news for this year.

[mark porter]

magnificent talent

[Josh]

Terrible news indeed and so close to the 50th anniversary of the Bond films.
Here's a link to George Martin discussing John and Matt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyxNbVnmlqE

[ROBERT M.]

The BBC Six O'Clock news showed the photo of Matt, John and Don last evening .........................RIP John Barry an extraordinary talent in his field

[Gray]

This is very sad news for me, Mr Barry being a native of York.
His family is part of the fabric of the city.

[ROBERT M.]

Here is a very interesting quote from Nancy Sinatra, I found on the Sinatra Family Forum

"The John Barry I knew was a brilliant musician and loving coach who got me through one of the most difficult recording sessions of my forty-plus year career. Imagine a nervous, very young pop singer walking into the studio where London symphonies, (and Shirley Bassey,) created incredibly powerful tracks. Cubby Broccoli and the other United Artist VIPs were in the sound booth and the biggest orchestra I'd ever seen were in place as I stepped up to my assigned microphone. I froze and nearly couldn't get a note to come out of my throat. When John saw my struggle he said, "Would you feel better if we recorded the track tonight and add your vocal later?" Whew.

You know the rest so I don't have to tell you except that I know he had to do a lot of editing to patch together a decent vocal. Many people have chosen "You Only Live Twice" as their favorite Bond theme and it's all thanks to my friend, John and Leslie Bricusse.

Fortunately I was able to see him again a few years ago at a Song Writers' dinner. I raced right to him across that crowded room and he swooped me up in a great bear hug that I will never forget as long as I live.

My favorites of John's film scores are "Out of Africa" and "Dances with Wolves." Both are painfully exquisite, with John's love of the classics - and his warm heart - coming through his charts to envelop the actors and gorgeous cinematography. His breathtaking melodies, drive the story forward without a word. The heavenly choir of the Universe will be better now that John Barry is involved."

[ROBERT M.]

I am not a memeber of the Sinatra Family Forum, I would feel like a traitor I just visit the site now and again

[Geoffers007]

I was very sad to learn of John's death, though I did know his health had not been great for some time. Fortunately, like Matt, he left a lot of music behind for us to enjoy.

One such piece has always puzzled me. As Matt fans will know, the two of them worked together on "Wednesday's Child" for the film The Quiller Memorandum. The lyrics for his song were by Mack David. Now, John Barry released an instrumental version of the song and it's the flip-side of this single that puzzles me. It's called "Sleep Well My Darling" and although an instrumental, is apparently another song with lyrics also by Mack David.

It's arrangement and orchestration is *very* similar to Wednesday's Child and I'm wondering whether it was originally also intended for Matt to sing. You know, maybe Barry & David wrote two songs for the movie but in the end decided to go with just the one, Wednesday Child. I've never heard Sleep Well My Darling sung, but I can well imagine Matt doing so. If anybody wants to hear it, it's currently on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE33n1SdgTw - a very haunting, wistful melody.

[Marian]

Hello Geoffers,
A warm welcome to the forum. I think maybe I recognise your name from another site and hope you will enjoy being here too.
Perhaps Richard will be able to help you with your query about the song. He is very knowledgeable about all things music!
Marian