Yep, I've seen it and my first reaction was to order it. But then I realized that there's absolutely
nothing new on it and the compilation itself looks rather dubious to me.

*YAAAAAAAAWN* ;-)

coma, June 16, 2007; 7:19 PM

As a life long (well nearly 37 out of 49 years to be precise ... though I liked his music before I knew his name so it's probably longer, but I digress), I, too, looked forward to this set. Once I knew its track listing I was somewhat disappointed as I'd hoped for a few more rare items.

I'm compiling a "version" listing and have been surprised at the number of tracks taken from the Moviola I/II albums. Given that this set belongs to the same label I shouldn't have been. Similarly, many tracks are from JB's 60's recordings on the CBS (Columbia) label also now owned by Sony.

Thus despite the cover proclaiming original recordings, many tracks are not OST but JB original recordings on his own albums.

That said, there are a few nice - rare - items and I am particularly happy to get a few tracks which (as far as I know) have never been released on CD before, such as his CBS recordings (released only as 45rpm singles) of two tunes from Passion Flower Hotel, A Man Alone (theme from The Ipcress File) & its b-side and the b-side of The Quiller Memorandum. In addition there are three tracks from his Ready When You Are, J.B. album which I've not had on CD before - the CD album is very rare.

Mary's Theme from Mary, Queen of Scots (OST) is a nice extra, too, as there is no official CD release of this score - can we have the full score, please?

Beware that the sleeve notes are not too detailed about sources of the tracks - but then I suppose it's only us Barry aficionados who will know ... and who will care.

It's an excellent collection for the general public; for the specialist soundtrack buyer it relies on the buyer's desire for completeness.

Mitch, June 17, 2007; 2:47 PM

"It's an excellent collection for the general public; for the specialist soundtrack buyer it relies on the buyer's desire for completeness."

I dont think the "general public" would by this 4-cd set, nor the average completists (it's quite expensive for the few interesting tracks). So, I dont see the real target for this set.


falcsanz, June 17, 2007; 4:44 PM

Speaking of John Barry. Is anyone aboard ship aware of a release of the Midnight Cowboy recording with the title Asphalt Cowboy? I have a vinyl pressing of this and have not seen the film listed as having such an alternate title.

victoravalentine, June 18, 2007; 11:55 AM

Hi knives, Asphalt Cowboy is the original german release title.

coma, June 18, 2007; 12:17 PM

Where is the 'Mary, Queen of Scots' theme lifted from? Its listed as 1992 Sony BMG? Also, are the songs from 'Passion flower hotel' not just the same versions as on the cast cd?

thomas.scallan, July 3, 2007; 5:46 PM

Now I think about it, its just lifted from the 'Moviola' cd, so nothin to get excited about.......sorry!

thomas.scallan, July 3, 2007; 5:53 PM

Originally the sleeve-note writers were told to write as much as they liked. They did. Ultimately they had to cut what they had written in half for space reasons, yet still mention all the tracks! That's why there is very little detail about sources. However, MQOS was the original version, as I recall. Very poorly mastered from John Barry's vinyl LP.

I think some of the sources mentioned in the track listings are wrong. The Sony people turned out not to have too much knowledge of the subject and preferred to use their own back-catalogue for certain tracks, rather than the originals we suggested.

Themepedium remains a mystery to me. It received very little publicity from Sony and appears to have disappeared from shelves very quickly indeed. The "TV" compilation CD which preceded it also suffered from wrong tracks and wrong credits. All thanks to the carelessness of Sony. A wasted opportunity.

geoff, February 7, 2009; 5:01 PM