John Barry - On Her Majestys Secret Service '1969; 2015

Tracks list

John Barrys best score for any James Bond movie -- including the best song (We
Have All the Time in the World) ever written for any movie in the series -- is
reasonably well represented on this CD. Barry had already begun adding more
diverse and complex orchestral pieces to his underscoring and greater lyricism
to his songs with the preceding movie, You Only Live Twice, and he continued the
process with On Her Majestys Secret Service. The serious nature of its plot,
however, and the unique mood of the movie, dictated that almost an entirely new
score be devised: the brassy 007 Theme, which had appeared in three prior films,
was absent, and the James Bond Theme was re-arranged. Barry also wrote one of
his longest and most easily embellished action themes (heavily featuring the
synthesizer, an instrument new to film scores), and dressed it up with a string
section playing running scales that is startling to hear in stereo, with the
discreet separation of the orchestral parts. And then there was We Have All the
Time in the World, the best song ever written for the Bond series; a serious,
poignant love song that underscores the doomed romance between Bond and Tracy
(Diana Rigg), it was sung by Louis Armstrong in what proved to be the jazz
legends final recording session. Astonishingly, the song was originally only a
successful single in Italy, although it did become a hit in England 30 years
later in connection with its use in a British television advertisement for
Guinness. The music has since become one of the most popular elements of this
film, which, with George Lazenby as its star, stands apart from both the Sean
Connery and Roger Moore Bond movies.“ (Bruce Eder, AMG) 

„After waiting pretty much forever, a generation of film music fans dreams
came true when EMI finally decided to re-release the James Bond scores in 2003,
remastered and sometimes featuring extra music. The original releases were very
shoddy. The musical content followed the original albums, which is forgivable,
but the sound quality was on the whole terrible, which isnt. On Her Majestys
Secret Service, the sixth outing for Bond, is a paradox of a movie - a pathetic,
laughable performance by George Lazenby as Bond is countered by an intelligent
and satisfying plot and a great, great score by John Barry. 

It was notable as the first movie since the series really found its feet not to
feature a title song - well, the title wouldnt really lend itself too well to
lyrics - but instead a strident, thrilling instrumental theme by Barry which
captured the imagination of a whole generation of fans and in its way sums up
not only the sexiness and excitement of the Bond movies of the time, but the
sexiness and excitement of life in Britain at the time. Nobody could have done
it better than Barry (as has been seen since). 

The other main idea in the score is the love theme. The unthinkable happens -
Bond gets married, to Diana Rigg, who is then brutally murdered. Somehow Barry
and lyricist Hal David managed to sum all this up with the ironically-titled We
Have All The Time in the World, made all the more poignant by Louis Armstrongs
performance, the last he ever gave in a recording studio. Everything about the
song is perfect - the beautiful main melody, the brilliant arrangement, the
touching lyrics, Armstrongs throaty performance - and it has rightfully become
an untouchable standard. Its the best song Barrys ever written - and hes written
some good songs in his time. The various instrumental versions on the album are
highly-attractive too, not least the previously-unreleased Journey to Dracos
Hideaway. 

Not entirely clear from the original album is the amount of action music in the
score, which can now be corrected. Of course, we were always familiar with This
Never Happened to the Other Feller and Battle at Piz Gloria, but now these can
be joined by things like Escape from Piz Gloria and Bobsled Chase. Another
unreleased gem is the suspenseful Gumbolds Safe, after which Barry fans have
clamoured for years (34 of them to be precise). And finally we get the original
version of the gorgeous Who Will Buy My Yesterdays? theme, later released on a
Barry compilation, presented here as Sir Hillarys Night Out. Also a joy to hear
are the snippets of extra music that have been added to tracks weve heard
before, like the gunbarrel music being added to the start of This Never Happened
to the Other Feller and so on. 

Musically, this release is a dream come true - one of Barrys best scores
presented (almost) in its entirety, in crystal-clear sound. Unfortunately, and
it pains me to say it, thats where most of the praise for the album must end. In
common with the other albums in the re-released series, the unreleased cues are
just stuck at the end of the tracks that were released originally. Apparently
there are contractual reasons for this (though it does seem odd that nothing
other than Bond scores seem to have the problem) but it rather spoils the music.
As the album is released, it is very difficult to enjoy that much, so you should
make every effort to reprogram it into a more sensible order should you have the
facility to do so. Another disappointment is the packaging. Jeff Bonds liner
notes give lots of information about the film but barely a couple of paragraphs
to the score. Now, hes one of the best writers of liner notes in the business so
I cant believe it was his decision, but I doubt that there can be a single
person whos going to buy the album who hasnt seen the film countless times, so
surely some sort of anecdotes about the recording of the music, perhaps an
analysis of how it is used in the film, a look at the cultural impact it had at
the time - something else - would have been in order. And instead of publicity
stills weve seen a trillion times before, how about a few photos of the score
being recorded or of Barry with Armstrong or with the director? The way these
albums have been put together makes it seem like they were cobbled-together in a
few days, which couldnt be further from the truth - but someone really ought to
have spent more time somewhere on them given how much care and attention was
given to the music. Such a pity that with the opportunity to do something really
special, EMI didnt take it. 

Still, the importance of liner notes and photographs pales into insignificance
when compared with the importance of the music which, provided you can change
its idiotic sequencing, is first-rate. Barry at his best - film music at its
best.“ (James Sothall, movie-wave) 

Louis Armstrong, trumpet, vocals
John Barry, conductor 

Recorded October 1969 at CTS Studios, Bayswater, London 
Produced by Lukas Kendall 

Tracklist:
01. Louis Armstrong - We Have All the Time In The World (From “On Her
Majesty’s Secret Service” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015) (3:15)
02. Michael McDonald - This Never Happened To The Other Fella (From “On
Her Majesty’s Secret Service” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015) (4:27)
03. Michael McDonald - Try (From “On Her Majesty’s Secret
Service” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015) (3:26)
04. Michael McDonald - Ski Chase (From “On Her Majesty’s Secret
Service” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015) (2:53)
05. John Barry - Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown? (From “On Her
Majesty’s Secret Service” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015) (3:20)
06. John Barry - On Her Majestys Secret Service (Main Title / Remastered 2015)
(2:35)
07. Michael McDonald - Journey to Blofelds Hideaway (From “On Her
Majesty’s Secret Service” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015) (3:28)
08. Doug Schwartz - We Have All the Time In The World (Instrumental / From
“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” Soundtrack / Remastered
2015) (2:59)
09. John Barry - Over And Out (From “On Her Majesty’s Secret
Service” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015) (2:41)
10. John Barry - Battle At Piz Gloria (From “On Her Majesty’s
Secret Service” Soundtrack / Remastered 2015) (4:02)
11. John Barry - We Have All the Time In The World/James Bond Theme (From
“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” Soundtrack / Remastered
2015) (4:33)

Related artists