If you want to win a sure-fire bet, just ask any moviegoer, any fan of the James Bond films: "Who composed the theme that goes through every single James Bond movie? The one that goes dum di-di dum dum dum?
The answer given will probably be John Barry, the composer who wrote most of the great James Bond themes -- and who will be celebrated with a complete evening of James Bond music on Saturday. But the answer is wrong.
Yes, John Barry said that he had written it -- but Barry was sued for £30,000 by composer Monty Norman. And yes, Norman won the lawsuit (though when Barry died last year at the age of 74, he was still worth millions of pounds).
Both composers were working on the first James Bond film, Doctor No, in 1962, and that very same "James Bond Theme" was recorded using five saxophones, nine brass instruments, a solo guitar and a rhythm section. So when John Barry claimed credit, Monty Norman insisted he was wrong, asserting that he had been inspired by an Indian-themed song he had written. And yes, that theme does sound like it could be played by raga and tabla. The jury gave him the benefit of the doubt.
Sarun Kungbunpot. Bangkok Symphony Orchestra Foundation
Audiences in Thailand will be hearing that twangy theme a few hundred times when the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra and three prime local vocalists will play music from all the great James Bond movies. In fact, audiences at the Thailand Cultural Centre may well be excited to hear Barry's music from just about everything. In no particular order: From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice, Casino Royale, Thunderball, Diamonds Are Forever, For Your Eyes Only and -- best-known in Thailand -- The Man With The Golden Gun.
Yes, this movie was made partly in Thailand -- the island off Phangnga is named Koh 007 in its honour. But, in a little-known true story, the character of Nick Nack, played by Hervé Villachaize, was invented on Sukhumvit Road with the help of this writer.
I had interviewed the forthcoming director of The Man With The Golden Gun, the late Guy Hamilton, and he asked me to take him to a good Thai restaurant. After the meal, on Sukhumvit Road, we walked back to the Dusit Thani Hotel where he was staying.
On the way, we passed by one of the many Mexican restaurants where, in those days, Thai dwarves with large sombreros would welcome guests. As we passed one, Guy looked at me.
"Harry," he said, "do you know the difference between midgets and dwarves?"
I muttered something about heredity, but he stopped me.
"We've never had a dwarf in a James Bond movie. I think we'll have one written in."
For the record, Hamilton's wife found Villechaize in a French circus; he was hired, came to Thailand for the shooting and made himself totally unbearable. But that's another story, quite unpublishable. And what about the James Bond music?
Rapeeporn Pratum-Anon. PALMMAN CHANTZ
John Barry didn't write all of it, and many of the songs were written by Lionel Bart or Monty Norman. But he did compose most of the music, which, even without the theme, stands out immediately. Just as the Star Wars anthem is part of every measure, the James Bond music has its own electricity.
Take From Russia With Love. This was the second Bond film, with a big budget (no small band like Dr. No) and John Barry, now the sole composer, allowed Lionel Bart to write the theme. Yet all of the music was propelled, it seems to jolt forward, Barry uses bells, drums and brass with all the precision needed for what was to be a legendary franchise.
As for Goldfinger, John Barry always said this was his favourite. Partly it was the music, with a brash, brassy sound. Not sophisticated music by any means, but it does the trick. One can almost hear the golden trumpets, and one can certainly hear the golden voice of Shirley Bassey.
How could Barry write music that was so "right", music that was as much Bond as Sean Connery himself? Sean Connery was the one and only James Bond, and nobody else had his combination of insouciance and menace. David Arnold, John Barry's successor, is brilliant in his own way, but perhaps lacks that magic from its original creator.
Barry, though, was born for the job. His father owned a group of movie-houses, and he grew up with the screen rather than the concert hall. He had always wanted to write for films, even at a time when movie scores were supposed to be simply background. But he knew instinctively when music was needed -- or when it should be silent. When he wrote the music for Zulu, he wrote little, using Zulu chants and Men of Harlech. In Born Free, Barry had a hit tune, and never had to add more.
In America, film composers were respected but had little to do with the Hollywood A-list. But in 1960s Swinging London, Barry was very much part of the scene, married to actress Jane Birkin, collaborating with Adam Faith and palling around with the elite.
The original singers for John Barry's scores were inimitable. Matt Monro, Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, Carly Simon, Paul McCartney. But the tunes have been covered so many times, every singer can add something.
For the performance here, Rapeeporn Pratum-Anon (known professionally as Pearl) has the professional experience. A graduate of theatre arts in Australia, Pearl was in Man Of La Mancha, The Fantastics and Miss Saigon, and was finalist (among the top 10 worldwide contenders) of the Avon Voices Competition in New York, as well as Most Promising Singer of Asia at the Shanghai WordStar Quest.
The second female singer is Saovanit Navapan, best known as Gob. A graduate of Chula, she studied at Boston's renowned Berklee College of Music, graduating with a First Honorary in Professional Music. While there, she recorded the songs of King Bhumibol, and, returning home, she became one of Thailand's most respected singers. When not teaching Contemporary Singing at Silpakorn, she is lead singer for "Jim Brickman Live in Bangkok" and was on Dave Koz's album Manhattan Jazz Quintet: A New Dawn In Asia.
The male singer here, a budding McCartney or Monro, is Sarun Kungbunpot, known to his many followers as Note. It's one thing to say he has a bachelor of arts from Chulalongkorn and a master's from the University of Warwick in the UK. To his fans, though, his singing life is sterling. He is known for being in the Thai musical Prissana, and was a commentator in the nationwide auditions for three consecutive years.
Last year, he was selected to be the voice of Tamatoa in Disney's Moana, and Lumiere in Beauty And The Beast. You Are So Sweet is his first single launched in a music project called "Love You Forever".
Conductor Vanich Potavanich has two assets especially suitable for this concert. First, he has written and arranged many film scores himself. Second, his first instrument is the trumpet, one of the driving forces of Bond music. In fact, his expertise has enabled him to play with the Netherlands National Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Singapore Philharmonic, among others.
Hopefully, audiences at this special 007 concert will be shaken and stirred by the occasion.
Music From James Bond Movies 007
Saturday, 8pm, at Thailand Cultural Centre, Main Hall
Ticket prices: 500, 1,000, 1,500, 2,000 and 2,500 baht
20% off for Bangkok Bank credit cards (Visa and MasterCard)
20% off for True customers
50% off for students (show student ID)
Purchase tickets from ThaiTicketMajor by calling 02-262-3456 or visiting www.thaiticketmajor.com.
Call BSO on 02-255-6617/18. Or visit www.bangkoksymphony.org or www.facebook.com/royalbangkoksymphony.
