Monday, January 31, 2011

John Barry, 1933-2011



Composer and arranger John Barry has died at the age of 77. You might not recognize the name, but you certainly recognize the music. Perhaps most famous would be the theme to Dr. No, the first of the James Bond movies. That music was actually written by Monty Norman, and only arranged by Barry. However, it got Barry a job composing scores for several more Bond movies, and it's his take on the music that's unmistakably a part of the Bond movies for decades to come.

Barry, however, wrote far more than just the music for James Bond movies. He won multiple Oscars, including but not limited to writing the song "Born Free" for the movie of the same title, as well as writing the scores to Out of Africa and Dances With Wolves.

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