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Everything...........
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Did you try out classic Barry scores like "Dances with Wolves" and "Somewhere in Time"?
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Are you a Bond fan? I used to buy a lot of film scores, many of them for films I had never seen. I have found that in most cases, no matter how wonderful a film score is, I'm far more moved by it if I have a relationship to the film itself. Is it possible you're a big Bond fan and you "get" Barry's Bond motifs partly because of that? I find that even when Barry is writing in a "spy" motif for non-Bond films, it's still different from his Bond music. A slightly different language, if you will.
Have you tried any of Barry's more romantic scores? I'm a particular fan of HANOVER STREET, DANCES WITH WOLVES, OUT OF AFRICA (of course). HIGH ROAD TO CHINA is a lovely combination of his romantic and action motifs.
Addendum: While I was pontificating, Justin had some great recommendations.
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What am I missing?
Barry's style changed somewhat after the early 70s. His music become "smoother", and far-more dominated by lush strings, and slower tempi. There were no more cues with the gutsy, big band sound of "Oddjob's Pressing Engagement" or the staccato "Elsa at Play". Long, legato lines were a facet of Barry's style from the beginning, but they really started to become dominant in the early 70s. He even stopped using the trademark bass guitar in the Bond "gun barrel" intros and replaced it with strings.
Personally I love a great deal of his post-60s music (the later Bonds, Body Heat, Dances With Wolves, The Specialist, et al) but I suppose the leisurely pace of his later scores is not to everyone's taste. Even I have to admit, although John Barry is my second-favorite composer after John Williams, some of Barry's very late-career work (like Swept from the Sea, and Enigma) is too legato even for me.
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Did you try out classic Barry scores like "Dances with Wolves" and "Somewhere in Time"?
These are the type scores that I think he refers to when he says "boring"
I dubbed this late-Barry period SOMEWHERE IN AFRICA FRANCES DANCES WITH CHAPLIN
I still love him above all composers, though! His work from 1962-1987 (THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS*)
is incredibly grrrrrrrreat!
brm
*last "non-boring' score" LIVING DAYLIGHTS
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I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. ;-)
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Posted: |
Nov 30, 2016 - 2:05 PM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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While I love Barry's Bond scores from Dr. No through Diamonds, most of his other work leaves me cold. The Ipcress File is great, as is The Knack, and then I like a few one-off tracks like Seance and The Persuaders. But the rest just kind of bores me; it may work well within the context of the respective films, but it is nothing I would want to place on the turntable. What am I missing?
I understand your view. If JB had only worked from say 1978 I could well not have been such an it fan. It was those 60s scores like the ones you mention, plus Quiller, King Rat and The Chase that really cemented him as a lifelong favourite. There have been some gems since, of course, but investigate those or not, as you prefer.
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Posted: |
Nov 30, 2016 - 3:24 PM
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By: |
OnyaBirri
(Member)
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Are you a Bond fan?
I wouldn't classify myself as a "Bond fan" per se, but I am a fan of the 1960s spy aesthetic, and I consider the Connery-era Bond as being central to that aesthetic. From that standpoint, I recognize John Barry as the primary architect of the spy sound, but I think others surpassed him in this genre, including Laurie Johnson, Edwin Astley, Jerry Goldsmith, and Lalo Schifrin.
With Bond, I check out when Roger Moore arrives, not through any fault of Roger Moore, so I may be missing some good later Barry Bond scores.
Have you tried any of Barry's more romantic scores? I'm a particular fan of HANOVER STREET, DANCES WITH WOLVES, OUT OF AFRICA (of course). HIGH ROAD TO CHINA is a lovely combination of his romantic and action motifs.
No, but feel free to post YouTube vids.
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Based on what I know of your tastes, OnyaBirri, I'd recommend the following four scores:
-Deadfall, which has a terrific title song, but also a fifteen minute "Romance for Guitar and Orchestra," which plays like a sustained treatment of Barry's 60s voice -- not as jazz driven as his underscore, but the voicings are distinctively his.
-Petulia, which has a brilliant main title (I love the echoing saxophone pattern that starts it off), some rollicking source music, and has a sort of cold "period" feel to the underscore. This might be one of my favorite Barry scores. The movie ranks highly here, too -- I'm sure you've seen it.
-The Day of the Locust, which just came out in complete form from Intrada. It's Barry at his most modernist, complete with dense and unsettling microtonal string writing, devilish adaptations of 30s standards, and a rather haunting main theme.
-The Whisperers, which has some terrific angular jazz, but also some unsettling orchestral writing. Also, since Barry essentially wrote the score first, the album's got a lot of musical integrity.
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Onya.......... You KNOW what you won't like. Even I know what you won't like! Type in some John Barry titles on the Tube, and tell us if there are any surprises. I think you're being funny again.
I've got a hat. If you like DANCES WITH WOLVES, I'll eat it.
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