Both men deserve credit. Mr Norman created the basic tune, and Mr Barry made it more dramatic and exciting and fleshed it out. The tune we know and love wouldn't exist without both men, so they both deserve credit. Though as a composer myself, I feel the arrangement and production carries more weight, and I can totally understand why John Barry felt short-changed!
There is no way in hell Norman could've written the bebop section of the theme. And yet John Barry shot himself in the foot when he repeatedly claimed he wrote the entire theme, and not just a part of it, because the truth remains the James Bond Theme was a JOINT effort and should thus carry a co-composer credit for both Norman and Barry.
A basic question. Did anyone ever ask Norman directly what parts of the James theme in its entirety as we know it that he actually wrote? Was this question asked in court? If not then why not? My guess is that Norman wrote the opening bit played by the guitar and Barry wrote all the rest.
I have been reading a lot about this subject and can tell you that NOTHING in this video is true. Norman wrote a theme that was totally rejected, but due to contractural reason they couldn't remove his name. The song "Good sign, Bad sign" was invented by Norman 30 years later to convince everyone that it was his work. No one has ever heard that song back then. The evidence that it was Barry that composed and arranged the theme is overwhelming - you just have to listen to the compositions he did back then and see that Barry borrowed stuff from his own work. As an example, just search for "John Barry Poor Me" or "John Barry beat girl" and listen. Written by Barry before Dr No.
Sorry, the story of MN seems unclear indeed!? WE need to think about WHY film music industry continued to hire Barry instead of Norman for future Bond movies?? Thanks!
Monte only wrote the twanging guitar part. John Barry wrote the entire rest of the song. Why would Monte get all the credit? VERY unfair to John Barry who brought the whole song to life.
Sad thing neither of the men created the score it was stolen from. A Jamaican artists on the island that the film was made on. CARLOS MALCOLM ROBBED CARLOS MALCOLM AND THE film equipment was held until they came back with the score
What other major theme did Monty Norman composed NOTHING. John Barry all other James Bond´s 11 films like Goldfinger and others, Magnificent Seven, Mignight Cowboy, Born Free and one of my favorites Body Heat. The man was a monster, no other will come close to him ever.
Norman, Barry and Vic Flick the guitarist met in Norman's place to discuss the theme to the film. Vic say that Barry totally changed what he wanted. A court case gave it to Norman. Barry was nervous in court which went against him. He say in another court case, that he did the theme, although it was not the point of the hearing.
At the time that the Bond movies first came out on t.v. in 1976 I was a teenager. As a big fan of Dickens, I was then also watching "Dickens of London", for which Monty Norman had composed a beautifully enchanting soundtrack with songs. I was surprised when I heard that he had also composed the James Bond theme and even more surprised when I became a Bond fan myself.
There should be proper mention of Vic Flick in this story. He created the well known guitar riff when asked to improvise a "gypsy-like" vamp. Apparently he was paid $17.00 (US dollars) at the time for the studio guitar engagement. It is not clear whether he received any royalty payments. If not - what an injustice !
You could say it was a collaboration. Similar to what often occurred between Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. Duke would lay out the chords and Strays would rewrite the piece. Most of the time Ellington got sole credit.
![Andrew Lloyd Webber, Arlene Phillips, Michael Sheen, Jeevan Braich On The One Show [24.06.2024]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/iR64exkrpB4/mqdefault.jpg)
Both men deserve credit. Mr Norman created the basic tune, and Mr Barry made it more dramatic and exciting and fleshed it out. The tune we know and love wouldn't exist without both men, so they both deserve credit. Though as a composer myself, I feel the arrangement and production carries more weight, and I can totally understand why John Barry felt short-changed!
There is no way in hell Norman could've written the bebop section of the theme. And yet John Barry shot himself in the foot when he repeatedly claimed he wrote the entire theme, and not just a part of it, because the truth remains the James Bond Theme was a JOINT effort and should thus carry a co-composer credit for both Norman and Barry.
A basic question. Did anyone ever ask Norman directly what parts of the James theme in its entirety as we know it that he actually wrote? Was this question asked in court? If not then why not? My guess is that Norman wrote the opening bit played by the guitar and Barry wrote all the rest.
The picture at the beginning of "Cubby" Broccoli is actually Harry Saltzman
What a story!!!As an Indian , love to see Indian connection in James Bond movie.
I have been reading a lot about this subject and can tell you that NOTHING in this video is true. Norman wrote a theme that was totally rejected, but due to contractural reason they couldn't remove his name. The song "Good sign, Bad sign" was invented by Norman 30 years later to convince everyone that it was his work. No one has ever heard that song back then. The evidence that it was Barry that composed and arranged the theme is overwhelming - you just have to listen to the compositions he did back then and see that Barry borrowed stuff from his own work. As an example, just search for "John Barry Poor Me" or "John Barry beat girl" and listen. Written by Barry before Dr No.
Sorry, the story of MN seems unclear indeed!? WE need to think about WHY film music industry continued to hire Barry instead of Norman for future Bond movies?? Thanks!
Monte only wrote the twanging guitar part. John Barry wrote the entire rest of the song. Why would Monte get all the credit? VERY unfair to John Barry who brought the whole song to life.
Sad thing neither of the men created the score it was stolen from. A Jamaican artists on the island that the film was made on. CARLOS MALCOLM ROBBED CARLOS MALCOLM AND THE film equipment was held until they came back with the score
What other major theme did Monty Norman composed NOTHING. John Barry all other James Bond´s 11 films like Goldfinger and others, Magnificent Seven, Mignight Cowboy, Born Free and one of my favorites Body Heat. The man was a monster, no other will come close to him ever.
Listen to John Barry's Beat Girl Theme, two years earlier. Has the Bond vibe, and we know who had an amazing career with Bond music.
RIP Monty Norman.
Norman, Barry and Vic Flick the guitarist met in Norman's place to discuss the theme to the film. Vic say that Barry totally changed what he wanted. A court case gave it to Norman. Barry was nervous in court which went against him. He say in another court case, that he did the theme, although it was not the point of the hearing.
At the time that the Bond movies first came out on t.v. in 1976 I was a teenager. As a big fan of Dickens, I was then also watching "Dickens of London", for which Monty Norman had composed a beautifully enchanting soundtrack with songs. I was surprised when I heard that he had also composed the James Bond theme and even more surprised when I became a Bond fan myself.
Monty Norman died today 07/11/2022. Cheers to his theme song.
It's so surreal that, when you go and listen to the "original" piece you recognize it as the Bond Theme first.
But John Barry also wrote most of the music heard historically. He did the heavy lifting gees
RIP Monty Norman !
There should be proper mention of Vic Flick in this story. He created the well known guitar riff when asked to improvise a "gypsy-like" vamp. Apparently he was paid $17.00 (US dollars) at the time for the studio guitar engagement. It is not clear whether he received any royalty payments. If not - what an injustice !
You could say it was a collaboration. Similar to what often occurred between Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. Duke would lay out the chords and Strays would rewrite the piece. Most of the time Ellington got sole credit.