Search - John Barry :: John Barry: The EMI Years, Volume One - 1957-1960 (Film Score Compilation)

The John Barry who was at the very forefront of British Rock

Anton Coy | Johannesburg, South Africa | 05/05/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For any person of a certain age brought up in the UK, the name of The John Barry Seven will evoke many exciting memories of the early days of British Rock, and it is a great pleasure to have such a comprehensive musical account (no less than 37 tracks) of the first few years of their existance. At a time when British performers did little more than ape their American cousins, John Barry lead a group of trained musicians and ploughed his own furrow with newly written material plus versions of a few old chestnuts which were replete with innovation. A few of the tracks do fall a little bit short with the passage of nearly 50 years. However, as a detailed history of the time, replete with intelligent sleeve notes, this can scarcely be faulted. Many of the tracks feature powerful drumming, solid sax solo's and skillful guitar breaks and indicate exactly why - until John Barry was eventually seduced away from performing by the lure of writing major film scores - The John Barry Seven were just about the most sought after backing group of their era. That's when they weren't making significant recordings in their own right, of course. As you will hear when you listen to this record. A good buy, and one definitely for the British rock historian."