John Barry: A Sixties Theme
From James Bond to Midnight Cowboy

By Eddi Fiegel
December 2001
Boxtree, UK
ISBN: 0752220330
261 pages, illustrated, 6 x 9 1/8"
$23.50 paper original

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John Barry has been called the most important British composer of the twentieth century. Winner of five Oscars, and composer of the James Bond films, Born Free, The Ipcress File, The Lion in Winter, Midnight Cowboy, Out of Africa and Dances With Wolves, as well as classic TV themes such as The Persuaders, he has become a cultural icon an inspiration to countless musicians. Throughout the 1960's Barry was at the heart of swinging London. His lifestyle included not one but two flats in Chelsea and an E-type Jaguar; Michael Caine, David Bailey and Peter Sellers were amongst his friends, and Jane Birken was his wife. His Goldfinger soundtrack was at the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, and in America had achieved the ultimate coup of knocking The Beatles off the number-one slot. John Barry's phenomenal career reflects the evolution of post-war British popular music from big band jazz via rock 'n' roll to the birth of the early 1960's pop scene. His beginnings in the film world also coincided with the renaissance in British cinema, from which he emerged as one of the most successful film composers of all time. Featuring John Barry's personal recollections as well as insights from Michael Caine, Adam Faith, Jane Birken and John Schlesinger, John Barry: A Sixties Theme is a fascinating view of a period when London was the international focus for both music and film. And most importantly, against a backdrop of enormous social change, it looks at how John Barry came to write his music and why.

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