John Barry: A Sixties Theme
John Barry: A Sixties Theme

Author: Eddi Fiegel

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Published: 2012-11-29

Total Pages: 211

ISBN-13: 0571299113

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Arguably the most important popular British composer of the 20th century, John Barry (1933-2011) enjoyed a career that spanned over fifty years, in which time he won five Academy Awards for pictures including Born Free, Out of Africa and Dances with Wolves. His reputation was further gilded by his soundtracks for a dozen James Bond films between 1962 and 1987. Barry ́s career reflects the evolution of post-war British music from big band to rock and roll and the birth of pop. In the cultural foment of ́Swinging Sixties ́ London he became an iconic figure and an inspiration to countless musicians. Written with Barry ́s cooperation and including insights from close friends, Eddi Fiegel's John Barry: A Sixties Theme celebrates a life of stunning creativity , recreates an unforgettable era in British culture, and reveals how John Barry came to write his music and why.

Dream a Little Dream of Me
Dream a Little Dream of Me

Author: Eddi Fiegel

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Published: 2015-10-08

Total Pages: 543

ISBN-13: 1509824049

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

'A heartbreaking, myth shattering biography . . . Fiegel's fine, all-encompassing tome restores much of the great woman's dignity' Mojo The greatest white female singer ever' is how Boy George described pop icon Cass Elliot, the sixties diva who was at the epicentre of US popular culture and music during the Californian hippy movement. Hailed as America's answer to the Beatles, the Mamas and the Papas' hits such as 'California Dreamin' and 'Monday Monday' became the soundtrack of a generation. Cass's uniquely emotive voice, charismatic wit and outsized multicoloured kaftans singled her out as a popstar who refused to conform to traditional female stereotypes. When she left the Mamas and the Papas, she immediately had a top ten hit with her debut single, 'Dream a Little Dream of Me' and became the queen on Los Angeles society. Her Beverly Hills villa was the scene of legenday parties, becoming the second home of stars such as Jack Nicholson and Grace Slick, but there was a darker side to her fame - after years of continuous dieting and drug addiction, she died mysteriously in London at the age of 33. Including interviews with Cass's friends and family, co-band members Michelle Phillips and Denny Doherty, and many of the famous names who knew her, this is both an insightful biography of an extraordinary singer, and a fascinating glimpse into free-living, free-loving ideals of the sixties as the optimism of the flower-child generation was crushed by the Vietnam War.

John Barry
John Barry

Author: Geoff Leonard

Publisher:

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 9781904537779

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In this text, this astonishing 50-year career is at last celebrated in all its musical facets. The authors draw on their own experience and on conversations with those who've known John Barry since his formative years.

Film and Television Scores, 1950-1979
Film and Television Scores, 1950-1979

Author: Kristopher Spencer

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2014-01-10

Total Pages: 378

ISBN-13: 0786452285

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Hollywood film scores underwent a supersonic transformation from the 1950s through the 1970s. This genre-by-genre overview of film and television soundtrack music covers a period of tremendous artistic and commercial development in the medium. Film and television composers bypassed the classical tradition favored by earlier screen composers to experiment with jazz, rock, funk and avant-garde styles. This bold approach brought a rich variety to film and television productions that often took on a life of its own through records and CDs. From Bernard Herrmann to Ennio Morricone, the composers of the "Silver Age" changed the way movie music was made, used, and heard. The book contains more than 100 promotional film stills and soundtrack cover art images.

Licence to Thrill
Licence to Thrill

Author: James Chapman

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2024-04-18

Total Pages: 329

ISBN-13: 1350211117

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In this new edition of Licence To Thrill, James Chapman builds upon the success of his classic work, regarded as the definitive scholarly study of the history of the James Bond film series from the first picture, Dr No (1962), to the present. He considers the origins of the films in the spy thrillers of Ian Fleming and examines the production histories of the films in the contexts of the British and international film industries. This edition includes a new introduction and chapters on Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015) and No Time to Die (2021). Chapman explores how the films have changed over time in response to developments in the wider film culture and society at large. He charts the ever-evolving Bond formula, analysing the films' representations of nationhood, class, and gender in a constantly shifting cinematic and ideological landscape.

American Cinema of the 1960s
American Cinema of the 1960s

Author: Barry Keith Grant

Publisher: Rutgers University Press

Published: 2008-02-11

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 0813544718

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The profound cultural and political changes of the 1960s brought the United States closer to social revolution than at any other time in the twentieth century. The country fragmented as various challenges to state power were met with increasing and violent resistance. The Cold War heated up and the Vietnam War divided Americans. Civil rights, women's liberation, and gay rights further emerged as significant social issues. Free love was celebrated even as the decade was marked by assassinations, mass murders, and social unrest. At the same time, American cinema underwent radical change as well. The studio system crumbled, and the Production Code was replaced by a new ratings system. Among the challenges faced by the film industry was the dawning shift in theatrical exhibition from urban centers to surburban multiplexes, an increase in runaway productions, the rise of independent producers, and competition from both television and foreign art films. Hollywood movies became more cynical, violent, and sexually explicit, reflecting the changing values of the time. In ten original essays, American Cinema of the 1960s examines a range of films that characterized the decade, including Hollywood movies, documentaries, and independent and experimental films. Among the films discussed are Elmer Gantry, The Apartment, West Side Story, The Manchurian Candidate, To Kill a Mockingbird, Cape Fear, Bonnie and Clyde, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Midnight Cowboy, and Easy Rider.

James Bond - The Secret History
James Bond - The Secret History

Author: Sean Egan

Publisher: Kings Road Publishing

Published: 2016-02-25

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 1786060698

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

James Bond entered the world in 1953 with the novel Casino Royale by Ian Fleming. Since then, the British secret agent codenamed 007 has become the biggest media phenomenon of the modern age, surpassing and outlasting previous cultural icons such as Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan and The Saint. Bond has conquered all forms of media - from books, films and radio to comic strips and video games - while inspiring a tidal wave of merchandise and a legion of imitators. Although the world has changed almost beyond recognition since his debut, his continuing relevance is affirmed by the multiple generations who have thrilled to his exploits. This book for the first time provides the full enthralling story of how the espionage fantasies of a rather melancholy journalist came to captivate the world. It exposes the setbacks behind the triumphs, from Fleming’s increasing boredom with his own creation to regular crises over re-casting of the cinematic Bond and legal battles in the 1990s that almost destroyed the film franchise. With the help of Bond scholars, Fleming intimates, Bond film crew and others, James Bond: The Secret History shows how the man with the Licence to Kill overcame every hurdle to become the greatest fantasy hero of all time. With a foreword by Jeremy Duns

Hammer Film Scores and the Musical Avant-Garde
Hammer Film Scores and the Musical Avant-Garde

Author: David Huckvale

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2014-01-10

Total Pages: 238

ISBN-13: 0786451661

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Music in film is often dismissed as having little cultural significance. While Hammer Film Productions is famous for such classic films as Dracula and The Curse of Frankenstein, few observers have noted the innovative music that Hammer distinctively incorporated into its horror films. This book tells how Hammer commissioned composers at the cutting edge of European musical modernism to write their movie scores, introducing the avant-garde into popular culture via the enormously successful venue of horror film. Each chapter addresses a specific category of the avant-garde musical movement. According to these categories, chapters elaborate upon the visionary composers who made the horror film soundtrack a melting pot of opposing musical cultures.

Historical Dictionary of British Cinema
Historical Dictionary of British Cinema

Author: Alan Burton

Publisher: Scarecrow Press

Published: 2013-07-11

Total Pages: 586

ISBN-13: 0810880261

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

British cinema has been around from the very birth of motion pictures, from black-and-white to color, from talkies to sound, and now 3D, it has been making a major contribution to world cinema. Many of its actors and directors have stayed at home but others ventured abroad, like Charlie Chaplin and Alfred Hitchcock. Today it is still going strong, the only real competition to Hollywood, turning out films which appeal not only to Brits, just think of Bridget Jones, while busily adding to franchises like James Bond and Harry Potter. So this Historical Dictionary of British Cinema has a lot of ground to cover. This it does with over 300 dictionary entries informing us about significant actors, producers and directors, outstanding films and serials, organizations and studios, different films genres from comedy to horror, and memorable films, among other things. Two appendixes provide lists of award-winners. Meanwhile, the chronology covers over a century of history. These parts provide the details, countless details, while the introduction offers the big story. And the extensive bibliography points toward other sources of information.

The Encyclopedia of Film Composers
The Encyclopedia of Film Composers

Author: Thomas S. Hischak

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2015-04-16

Total Pages: 837

ISBN-13: 1442245506

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

For more than a century, original music has been composed for the cinema. From the early days when live music accompanied silent films to the present in which a composer can draw upon a full orchestra or a lone synthesizer to embody a composition, music has been an integral element of most films. By the late 1930s, movie studios had established music departments, and some of the greatest names in film music emerged during Hollywood’s Golden Age, including Alfred Newman, Max Steiner, Dimitri Tiomkin, and Bernard Herrmann. Over the decades, other creators of screen music offered additional memorable scores, and some composers—such as Henry Mancini, Randy Newman, and John Williams—have become household names. The Encyclopedia of Film Composers features entries on more than 250 movie composers from around the world. It not only provides facts about these artists but also explains what makes each composer notable and discusses his or her music in detail. Each entry includes Biographical material Important dates Career highlights Analysis of the composer’s musical style Complete list of movie credits This book brings recognition to the many men and women who have written music for movies over the past one hundred years. In addition to composers from the United States and Great Britain, artists from dozens of other countries are also represented. A rich resource of movie music history, The Encyclopedia of Film Composers will be of interest to fans of cinema in general as well as those who want to learn more about the many talented individuals who have created memorable scores.