| Biography | The John Barry Seven was a band formed by John Barry in 1957, after he abandoned his original career path of arranging for big bands. They were the vehicle through which the British public first came to recognise the name of composer/conductor/arranger John Barry, years before there were any James Bond movies for him to score. They are so distinct a part of his career, and their work so separate from the work for which he ultimately became best-known, that they rate a separate chapter in music history, especially as Barry was not an active member of the group for its last three years. Though they are only a footnote in Barry's overall career, for seven years The John Barry Seven were among the two or three busiest and most successful rock & roll bands in England, their only rivals the Shadows.
Barry contacted three musicians with whom he had served in the army and three local musicians and invited them to join his new band. The first line-up was: John Barry (vocals & trumpet), Mike Cox (tenor-sax), Derek Myers (alto-sax), Ken Golder (drums), Fred Kirk (bass guitar), Ken Richards (lead guitar) and Keith Kelly (rhythm guitar). For a short time the JB7 became John Barry & The Seven when he introduced a vibraphone player, John Aris, but by the time the band began recording for EMI (Parlophone) the experiment had been abandoned. The band's line-up underwent numerous changes until 1965 when the band folded. |