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JOHN BARRY: The Man With The Golden Baton

Composer and conductor John Barry has scored 12 of the 15 James Bond movies, which is an impressive part of a spectacular career. However, on the phone to London, I’m most interested in his association with the legendary jazz great Louis Armstrong.

October 1, 1987
Iman Lababedi

JOHN BARRY: The Man With The Golden Baton

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Iman Lababedi

Composer and conductor John Barry has scored 12 of the 15 James Bond movies, which is an impressive part of a spectacular career. However, on the phone to London, I’m most interested in his association with the legendary jazz great Louis Armstrong.

Armstrong sang the Barry-composed (Hal David wrote the lyrics) “We Have All The Time In The World” for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. It was a beautiful swan song for a most personable man. “Armstrong was wonderful," Barry says. “He’d been in the hosptial for about a year prior to recording the song and was very low on energy. But it was a thrill to work with him. After the session he said Thank you very much for asking me to do it.’ It was such a privilege to work with him that I almost cried. That particular song and him singing it, even when I hear it today, is still one of the most moving moments, in the Bond series anyway.”

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