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Eleven scores in three different decades.
Classic arrangement, at the very least, of the theme,
Musically defined a genre.
Depending on your preferences, at least five timeless songs: Goldfinger, Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, You Only Live Twice, We Have All the Time in the World, and Diamonds Are Forever. And a few others of note.
Scored for FOUR different Bonds, adapting to and updating for each while maintaining the style he created.
ZERO nominations.
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We all need to quite caring about the Oscars.
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Yes, all 11 of John Barry's Bond scores were absolutely and unbelievably overlooked for Oscar consideration in their time.
I love them all, but In particular:
GOLDFINGER
THUNDERBALL
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
These are not only great Bond scores, but also some of the greatest film scores (and songs) ever written... period!
John Barry was one of the Top 10 Greatest Film Composers of All Time, and I'm thrilled that he won so many Oscars during his amazing career...
...But no Bond nominations or wins? That is an out-and-out CRIME.
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It's crazy how Barry's Bond music was ignored at the Oscars, but given he won five Oscars in the end I don't think anybody's going to cry for him over that one.
I mean, sure, the songs of Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice, We Have All The Time In The World and Diamonds Are Forever at least should have been nominated, and the scores for Goldfinger and OHMSS at least should have been nominated.
You can argue for not nominating the others because you can argue they were more derivative, but those two scores were both ground breakers.
But, you know what — that word should is just the way we argue with reality.
The five he did win will be reward enough.
I was just disappointed they didn't have a card on the end credits of Skyfall for him, since he'd just died at that point and it was the Bond 50th anniversary film.
Cheers
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morricone never got an nomination for any of his "spaghetti" westerns...think about this!
and even here, on this board, he still doesn't get the honor and appreciation he deserves!
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Awards are recognition for the music. Whether or not you get the awards, the music still stands. Still, the recognition is nice.
Putting this in a different light for, say, John Williams fans. What if JW scored the original Star Wars plus several more and never got a nomination, much less an Oscar, for this work and then after he stopped doing them several others stepped in, creating scores of varying quality in the musical framework he created, and got nominations and Oscars.
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Posted: |
Jun 23, 2022 - 3:10 PM
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By: |
JohnnyG
(Member)
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I guess in the case of GOLDFINGER - which is the most glaring omission in the first years of the franchise (and to a lesser extent THUNDERBALL's song) - it was probably snobbery. When YOLT, with its also very worthy song was released, it was 1967 and Barry had already won his first two Oscars. In 1969, when OHMSS was released, Barry was winning a third Oscar. Three wins out of three nominations. After that, the music branch of the Academy didn't give JB many opportunities to win another statuette - they nominated him again for MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS (the year of DAF, the other glaring omission in the song category) but he had to wait until the mid-'80s to receive another nomination. Barry had a fantastic win to nom. ratio - an, I think, unprecedented 5 out of 7 - which always made me to believe he was more liked by the entire voting body of the Academy than by its music branch... (It's also the circumstances, of course - his other two Oscars came for hit films that swept the awards). His peers could have easily nominated him for WALKABOUT, MIDNIGHT COWBOY or later for FRANCES. But they didn't.
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[quote]I don't think that there has yet been a proper release of the ACTUAL soundtrack for TSWLM. [/quote]
Forgive the ignorance, but there' vinyl version of it available. Is it not the actual soundtrack?
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When I started this thread, I knew Barry would never get a Bond Oscar. It was just my way saying how ludicrous that he never nominated.
But then I thought of a few other iconic examples of composer/series or composer/director collaborations that were never recognized by the academy, and that the Oscar ceremony could do a brief segment each year.
Other examples:
Rota/Fellini
Herrmann/Hitchcock
Morricone/Leone
Clips/music/5 minute segment--good TV.
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Although John Barry went on to write 007 scores that got even better than GOLDFINGER, since GOLDFINGER was the real trail blazer of Bond scores—the ground breaking one—it, if any, would have been the one that should have won the best score Oscar.
The next best candidate would have been OHMSS which represented a remarkable revolution in the Bond sound while still respecting expectations laid by GOLDFINGER.
Personally, I'd have voted for nearly all of the Barry Bond scores and songs to get nominated, but putting my biases aside and trying to be even about it, I'd have suggested that an alternative Oscar history of nominations for James Bond music might have reasonably and justifiably looked like this:
1965 awards:
GOLDFINGER (best score, winner)
GOLDFINGER (best song, winner)
1968 awards:
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (best song)
1970 awards:
WE HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD (best song)
ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (best score)
1972 awards:
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (best song)
I would sacrifice THUNDERBALL as a best song candidate in the interests of not seeming overly biased towards James Bond music, and I'd be okay with the rest of Barry's Bond legacy not getting Oscar favour given the films got flabby and derivative, and the songs didn't do that great.
And in fact, if we expand that, this is how I'd see a better history of John Barry at Oscar unfolding:
To repeat the above, but for completeness:
1965 awards:
GOLDFINGER (best score, winner)
GOLDFINGER (best song, winner)
1967 awards:
BORN FREE (best score, not winner)
BORN FREE (best song, winner)
Although I think both the BORN FREE score is brilliant and a very worthy nominee, I'd sacrifice that win in my alternative history to allow THE SAND PEBBLES to have won, although the real best score of that year was actually THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY. It's just not realistic that it would have had the exposure to win given it was only released in Italy in December 1966.
1969 awards:
THE LION IN WINTER (best score, possible winner)
I'll be honest. THE LION IN WINTER versus PLANET OF THE APES is a genuinely tough call for me. Personally, LION edges it for me, but for my alternative Oscar history to not seem overly biased towards Barry, given there are other scores I'd like to have seen him honoured for, I'd also be happy to sacrifice it for PLANET OF THE APES.
1970 awards:
MIDNIGHT COWBOY (best score, winner)
ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICES (best score, not winner)
WE HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD (best song, possible winner)
Yes, even trying to be even, I genuinely think Barry warranted three nominations in these awards, and I think MIDNIGHT COWBOY was the best score of the year. For me, I'd even add the words, "hands down," but I recognise that's just me. I think MIDNIGHT COWBOY is an amazing score. Inventive and fresh too.
Now after that, it would wind down for Barry, who continued to be brilliant, but not as brilliant as he'd been in his 1960s heyday.
I think OUT OF AFRICA and DANCES WITH WOLVES are still worthy nominees and winners for him, and maybe he should have had nominations for BODY HEAT and SOMEWHERE IN TIME.
So that leaves, to complete my alternative history:
1981 awards:
SOMEWHERE IN TIME (best score, probably not winner though)
1982 awards:
BODY HEAT (best score, probably not winner though)
1986 awards:
OUT OF AFRICA (best score, winner)
1991 awards:
DANCES WITH WOLVES (best score, winner)
1993 awards:
CHAPLIN (best score, not winner though)
And although this is drifting off topic, I'd of course had Goldsmith winning for PATTON, THE OMEN and STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE; and I'd have had Morricone winning for THE MISSION.
The key thing is, I think GOLDFINGER and MIDNIGHT COWBOY would be key features of an alternative history of John Barry at the Oscars.
Cheers
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Oscars are done by dicks. And we all know dicks don't have ears.
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Regarding Stephen's assessment of which Bond scores/songs should have been nominated, I almost completely agree with his choices and reasoning--with one exception:
You Only Live Twice (score) also showed new aspects in the style, plus had several memorable--and diverse--scenes with spectacular music: the space capsule, the wedding, the Kobe dock fight, the mountains and sunsets, and the drop in the ocean. "The Wedding," in particular is one of the most perfectly scored scenes in the franchise.
Of course, the thing about looking back is that for every score/song you say should have been nominated, one of the actual nominees have to come out. Sometimes that's easy. Sometimes--not so much.
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