Book Review: Geoff Leonard & Pete Walker - Hit and Miss: The Story of the John Barry Seven

The John Barry 7 could by no means be classified as a jazz group although most of their members, including John Barry Prendergast himself, were certainly jazz orientated. JBP studied 'Composition and Orchestration', via a correspondence course, with Stan Kenton arranger Bill Russo and it may come as a surprise to find that the seven's pianist Les Reed, who later penned Engelbert Humperdink's hit recording of The Last Waltz, was considered a first-rate jazz musician.

The book covers the career of the group from Barry's early days at the Rialto in York, the dropping of his surname, the musical partnership with Adam Faith, the Radio and TV shows such as Saturday Club, Oh Boy and Drumbeat and the endless one-night stands up and down the land.

The seven peaked during the period bookended by the post-Bill Haley/Freddy Bell era and the arrival of The Beatles during which time they were second only to The Shadows as an instrumental group. Later, Barry would achieve individual acclaim as a composer - The James Bond Theme being perhaps his greatest success although there were many others including picking up five Oscars for various film soundtracks before his death in 2011.

Authors Leonard and Walker, building on Leonard's earlier work - John Barry: The Man With The Midas Touch, give an almost day by day account of the ups and downs of the concerts, broadcasts, recording sessions and gigs at venues as contrasting as the Royal Albert Hall in London and the Top Hat Club in Spennymoor.

Of particular interest to readers in the northeast are the references to the late Bobby Carr who played trumpet with the band after Barry decided to concentrate on composing and arranging. Bobby, a legend himself in the northeast (born at 9 Pioneer Tce., Bedlington on March 6, 1930), is recorded as bemoaning the fact he got so few jazz opportunities with the band. Cormac Loane, well-known former Newcastle based saxist, also paid a warm tribute to Bobby who died on March 13, 1979.

Further local interest surfaces in the form of Johnny Worth (a.k.a Les Vandyke) who penned a score of hits for Adam Faith and others. Johnny's son, Cristos Worsley, was active on the Tyneside scene playing bass guitar with a band called HCW (John Hirst/Ed Carr/Cristos Worsley) although I haven't seen him around for a few years.

Barry comes across as someone who knew where he was going and how to get there 

A fascinating, well-written book covering the scene before the beat boom of the sixties decimated everything that had preceded it - at least for a time.

Within the 350 pages are a host of photos, lots of memorabilia in the form of record sleeves, theatre posters, programmes, publicity handouts, musical press extracts along with a discography, bibliography, index and much much more...

There's still time to get if for Christmas if you hurry otherwise you'll have to use up those gift vouchers that mysteriously appear at the foot of the tree on Christmas Day.

Recommended.

Lance.

PS: A couple of minor corrections.

1 - Dizzy Reece was Jamaican, not American (p. 84). 

2 - The Rialto Cinema in York wasn't the only place in the north to present bands such as Count Basie, Duke Ellington etc. The City Hall and the Odeon Cinema in Newcastle also featured concerts by American big bands (p.20).

Hit and Miss: The Story of the John Barry Seven by Geoff Leonard & Pete Walker. Published by Redcliffe Press Ltd., 81G Pembroke Rd., Bristol BS8 3EA. 

ISBN 9781911408 390. (Hardback £30).