X

Bond Band Facebook!

Q Branch Archive for posts tagged ‘Dr No’

Post

John Barry and the Bond Music

Eleven of the James Bond Films, from EON Productions, had the illustrious John Barry to thank for the bond music.

As a young boy John Barry gained most of his musical influences after spending hours with his father who worked as a projectionist in cinemas all over York.  He was a trumpet player in the army and after leaving became a music arranger for Jack Parnell and the Ted Heath Orchestras.  He then spent many years composing music for organisations such as the BBC and  EMI Columbia and, in 1962 the producers of Dr No approached him to write for the latest James Bond film, and with Monty Norman writing the theme, John Barry was the arranger of the one and only James Bond Theme. Unmistakable and unforgettable.  The second this bond theme is heard every man in the room will start raising an eyebrow and putting on their best bond impression!

John Barry worked on the soundtracks for all the following James Bond films and his brassy and moody style can be heard in each and every one: 1962 Dr No – James Bond Theme with Monty Norman, 1963 From Russia with Love with Lionel Bart, 1964 Goldfinger with Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse, 1965 Thunderball with Don Black, 1967 You Only Live Twice with Leslie Bricusse, 1969 On Her Majesty’s Secret Service with Hal David, 1971 Diamonds Are Forever with Don Black, 1974 The Man With The Golden Gun with Don Black, 1979 Moonraker with Hal David, 1983 Octopussy with Tim Rice, 1985 A View To A Kill with Duran Duran, 1987 The Living Daylights with Paul Waaktaar-Savoy.

The Bond Tribute Band The Name is Band love playing the Bond music at events, parties and celebrations all over the UK and abroad.  Each Bond theme is different but they all have fantastic orchestral scores and the challenge we face is replicating these amazing scores so that our live 10-piece band is as close and authentic to the original as possible.

Articles

Skyfall

Skyfall – this bond theme has been recorded by the Bond Tribute Band The Name is Band.  Originally recorded by Adele for the Bond Film Skyfall in 2012 which starred Daniel Craig as the suave 007 Agent.  The song was actually released at 0:07am on the 5th October as this date was apparently called “James Bond Day” and marks the 50th anniversary of the release of Dr No.

Sadly, the original Skyfall recorded by Adele was the last Bond theme to feature the amazing Derek Watkins on trumpet.  He was a hero to many trumpet, and brass, players all over the world having a unique and unmistakable sound and technique and had played on every Bond sound track.  He was, quite simply, a legend! A truly remarkable and gifted musician.  To see a clip of Derek and an absolutely stunning version of My Way – follow this YouTube link – you’ll see for yourself why he performed on every Bond Theme and why he has been so inspirational to so many brass players – a very classy performer and in a league all of his own!

The recording by Adele apparently had 77 musicians performing this bond theme and over took two days to record.  The Bond Tribute Band are just 10 people and we took a total of 4 hours to do all six new tracks in the studio but we think our version of this piece of bond music is authentic in sound and dynamic.  This is one of our favourite bond themes to perform.

The Bond Tribute Band The Name is Band only ever perform totally LIVE and only as a 10-piece.  You won’t find any backing tracks used in any of our performances.  If you are looking for a band for a James Bond Event then please get in contact – we’d love to hear from you!