It was he who composed the original score for the music of James Bond, not John Barry. Monty Norman, the British singer and songwriter, author of the James Bond Theme died Monday, July 11, at the age of 94, announces his official website.
“It is with great sadness that we share the news that Monty Norman passed away on July 11, 2022, after a brief illness,” the site reads, which opens with a large black and white photo. of the composer, displaying a frank smile.
The site goes back to the genesis of the James Bond Theme. He explains that Monty Norman started with Bad Sign, Good Sign, a piece inspired by the jazz funeral march Nightmare, by Artie Shaw (1938). Bad Sign, Good Sign, which is played on the sitar, in the style of Indian music, was composed for a musical based on the novel A House for Mr. Biswas (1961).
But not thrilled by the rhythm of the piece, the producers called on John Barry to arrange, orchestrate and record the theme. The piece was recorded in London in June 1962, by the symphonic jazz big band The John Barry Seven and Orchestra. “The rest, as they say, is history,” Monty Norman’s site recalls.
In 1962, after the release of James Bond 007 against Dr No, the composer was caught by the patrol: he was ordered to pay 45,000 dollars in damages to Artie Shaw.
For his part, John Barry claimed authorship of the work, but in March 2001 Monty Norman won a libel suit against the Sunday Times, which had attributed it to John Barry. Monty Norman had ordered the newspaper to pay 30,000 pounds (48,000 euros at the time) in damages for this article published in October 1997.
Born Monty Noserovitch in east London to a Jewish family that left the British capital in the early days of the Blitz at the start of World War II, he got his first guitar aged 16, given to him by his mother . In the 1950s and early 1960s, he sang for jazz groups, including those of Cyril Stapleton, Ted Heath and Nat Temple, and participated in variety shows. Besides the theme of James Bond, he wrote for the musicals Expresso Bongo or Irma la Douce.
