A few names have risen to the level of genius when it comes to soundtrack composition. Mancini, Morricone, Goldsmith, Rota and the man behind the man who takes it shaken not stirred...John Barry. His scores for the James Bond series virtually defined the style of those film, making the Bond theme a worldwide hit and inspiring many copycat soundtracks. Barry's beginnings, though, were in rock and roll. These roots would later show themselves in the hollow guitar of that Bond theme and the swinging attitude of his Bond scores. Scamp presents a three volume collection spanning Barry's career from the early rock-a-billy styled Volume One to the stringbeat hipness of Volume Two and finishing with the ultra suave soundtrack era of Volume Three. Beautifully re-mastered at the EMI studios in England, these volumes include excellent rare artwork and liner notes by musician and composer David Toop.
John Barry 
John BarryScamp Records is pleased to release John Barry: The EMI Years Vol. 2, the second in a three volume series that highlights celebrated film composer John Barry's pre-James Bond soundtrack, pop music years.
John Barry: The EMI Years Vol. 2 covers the very prolific year, 1961. It begins at a time when his group, the John Barry Seven, were considered one of the top instrumental acts of Britain's early rock'n'roll era - "the beatiest group in the country" as they were described. It was during this period that Barry perfected his signature "stringbeat" sound - a sort of hybrid between rock and hip easy listening.
Volume 2 displays Barry's continuing musical maturity, mixing rock guitars with strings and brass. These tracks demonstrate Barry's skillful state-of-the-art studio techniques including his use of the Jetsons-style electronic keyboard - the clavoline - predating producer Joe Meek's use of it in the Tornados classic, "Telstar," by an entire year. On some of these tracks it's not hard to imagine that if the planet Mars had a Western-themed lounge this would be the music you'd hear piping through the interstellar audio system.
During this period, Barry's singles and album tracks started showing the sweeping cinematic flavor that would become his trademark in his James Bond soundtracks. In short, John Barry: The EMI Years Vol. 2 is a collection of two minute musical dramas played out across your hi-fi set combining twangy guitar pyrotechnics over a background of wildly plucking pizzicato strings..."Evocative mood music at its best, a soundtrack to an epic that had yet to be made." - Record Collector
This collection includes the entire Stringbeat album, which Record Collector magazine called "a masterpiece...15 tracks of breathtaking originality and excitement, on which the [John Barry] Seven were augmented by a twelve-piece string section." Add 13 more tracks of singles and never-before-released material and it's little wonder that fans of Barry's film music as well as the legions of lounge music aficionados are turning on to the John Barry sound.
The Magnificent Seven - Skid Row - Dark Rider - Iron Horse - The Menace - A Matter Of Who - Rocco's Theme - Spinnerree - It Doesn't Matter Anymore - Sweet Talk - Moody River - There's Life in the Old Boy Yet - A Handful of Songs - Like Waltz - Rodeo - Donna's Theme - Starfire - Baubles, Bangles & Beads - Zapata - Rum Dee Dum Dee Dah - Spanish Harlem - Man From Madrid - The Challenge - Watch Your Step - Twist It - Watch Your Step - Satin Smooth - The Agressor
John Barry
The EMI Years Volume Three
(Scamp 9710)
Volume Three represents the "Soundtrack Barry" of 1962 to 1964, the JB most will quickly recognize. 27 gems starting with the classic "James Bond Theme" and ending with a bonus track of "That Fatal Kiss" (from A View To A Kill) with countless classic themes in-between.
The James Bond Theme - The Blacksmith Blues - Cutty Sark (Dateline TV Theme) - Lost Patrol - Theme from "Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" - Tears - Blueberry Hill - Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White - Smokey Joe - Unchained Melody - The Party's Over - The Lolly Theme (from The Amorous Prawn) - March of the Mandarins - The Human Jungle (alternate version) - The Big Safari (from Call Me Bwana) - Mouse on the Moon - Twangin' Cheek - I'll Be With You in Apple Blossom Time - Volare - The Human Jungle - Onward Christian Spacemen - Seven Faces - Twenty Four Hours Ago - Theme from "A Jolly Bad Fellow" - Oublie CA - Seance on a Wet Afternoon - That Fatal Kiss
