V.A. - "James Bond Greatest Hits" Vinyl, LP, Compilation, UK, 1982 (Liberty)

As our deeper pleasures are being taken away from us, James Bond is a treasure of passions that are buried deep into the cinema goers consciousness.  The appeal of Bond is a man who serves a common good for his culture, but also never eliminates the joys of the flesh and the alcohol.  In other words, he has a win-win situation.   Most of us customers only have a win-lose-win something in our lives, and Bond can express one who has it all.  The treatment of the world is not based on fact, but on desire, and therefore seeing a Bond film is like being on a vacation.  But one that only lasts for two hours or so.   Equally important to the entire Bond package, is the music.  John Barry served his master (Bond) as well as to the customer.  It's hard not to hum or whistle the Bond theme or whatever the main title song was of that time of that particular Bond film. 

The truth is, the best part of a James Bond film is the first 15 minutes.  Here you get the action sequence that is usually fantastic, and then the great montage that announces the title, and of course, the mixture of Monty Norman's Bond theme, mixed in with Barry's music.   To be honest, one can leave the theater after the opening and be pleased like after having a great meal.  The rest of the product is tourism, women, fight scenes, and the character (each different by various actors playing Bond).  The next best thing after seeing the film is having the soundtrack albums.  In 1982, Liberty Records put together a great compilation of Bond theme songs as well as some of its wonderful incidental music used in the films.   My personal favorites are "From Russia With Love" by Matt Monro, with lyrics by Lionel Bart (one of the more fascinating characters to come out of the 1960s music world) and John Barry.  And of course, "Goldfinger" sung by Shirley Bassey, written by Anthony Newley, Barry, and Leslie Bricusse.  Which by the way, I strongly recommend that you find Newley's recording of "Goldfinger," because it's incredible.

There are other in-depth Bond compilations out there, but this one is a favorite because it was the first for me, and second, Barry and others have done their best work, regarding serving the master, that is James Bond. 

Lionel Bart - "Bart For Bart's Sake" Vinyl 10" Album, 1959 (Decca)

My obsession with London pop culture before The Beatles hit the scene goes overdrive in certain periods in my life.  Reading Andrew Loog Oldham's memoirs as well as others, one name comes up again and again, and that's Lionel Bart (1930-1999).   Bart was the ultimate insider of the British music and theater world.  He also was a painter, so he had a foot in the visual art world as well as in the theater in West End of London and beyond.  And of course, he's famous for his musical "Oliver."

Bart, who never learned to read or write music, wrote "Living Doll" for Cliff Richard, as well as writing "From Russia With Love," the central theme of the Bond film.  One of the interesting aspects of Bart's work is the use of the Cockney language or accent in his lyrics.  Apparently used in his first  'solo' album "Bart For Bart's Sake."  Released in 1959, this is Bart right in the middle of the Rock n' Roll presence in the U.K.  Artists like Tommy Steele and Cliff Richard becoming the British wave, due to Elvis not touring the U.K.  This is not a rock n' roll album, but a set of songs from the Theater, but all from the source that's Lionel Bart. 

"Bart For Bart's Sake" is a superb snapshot of London showbiz, but with the presence of satire, and again, the use of Cockney rhymes and accent. Also noted, is his awareness of the album format, which he gives every song here an introduction of sorts, even commenting to the listener you're on side two of the record.  Most of the songs on this 10" album come from an obscure Bart musical - but clearly, makes commentary on the sexual landscape of that culture.  It borders on the "Carry On..." films of the late 50s and 60s.  It's a total performance piece, with a strong presence of Laurie Johnson's arrangement, who is famous for the (British) Avengers TV series soundtrack.   This is very much the root of the swinging 60s, which Bart fully participated in with great force, but with some destructive side-effects on his mental and physical health.  

Bart knew everyone from Larry Parnes (the ultimate music manager of his time) to David Bowie.  He had his finger on the pulse of London music culture, and now, sort of a cloudy individual of that world - especially in the United States.   I suspect that if someone wrote a full biography on Bart, it would be one of the great showbiz biographies of them all. 

The Andrew Oldham Orchestra - Plays Lionel Bart’s Maggie May

The Andrew Oldham Orchestra - Plays Lionel Bart’s Maggie May

CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Japan, 2013

Decca

I didn’t even know that Plays Lionel Bart’s Maggie May existed, when some years back I walked into a small Shinjuku record shop, and there it was!  It was close to $50, and way too much for me to buy at the time.  Of course, I thought of that record whenever I closed my eyes at beddy-time.  So there was at least five years of regrets about passing up on this album, and very few people knew of it.  The most famous Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra album was their first one, which was Rolling Stones’ covers.  The Lionel Bart album was a weird one for me, because it was devoted to one songwriter, Lionel Bart, and one of his shows, who for most Americans, would be king obscure.   Which makes this album fascinating on a lot of levels.  Oldham was a friend and someone who looked up to Bart as both a music businessman as well as a music hustler of sorts.  He played the game, but I think the game won in the end.  Nevertheless he was a key figure in British rock before The Beatles broke big.  He wrote songs for Cliff Richard and most famously the musical “Oliver.”  

Here Oldham, John Paul Jones, and others, turns on their magic to the tunes from “Maggie May.” I don’t think there is an official OST of this musical or if it is, disappeared into vinyl heaven.  So this is what we take into existence, and thank god for the Japanese, they re-leased it with not only mono mixes, but stereo as well.  Plus 11 bonus cuts.  

The mono version of this album is the one to hear over and over again.  It’s classic Oldham vibe.  For instance, “It’s Yourself” has a killer lead bass sound, very Jet Harris.  But the stereo version, the bass is practically gone!  Nevertheless it’s a cool album, and this CD collection is incredible, mostly for the bonus cuts, which to be honest, are the highlights of this set.   

The rest of the album is recordings from around this time (1964) from the Andrew Oldham and Immediate Records world.  Totally essential songs like “Each and Every Day of the Year” (Jagger & Richards) and “All I Want Is My Baby” (Oldham & Richards) sung by Bobby Jameson and simply incredible recordings.   Not sure if the purpose was for the publishing end of the music business, but Jagger and Keith came up with wonderful tunes.  The other stand out by them is “(Walking Thru’ the) Sleepy City”, performed by The Mighty Avengers, but gawd, what a fantastic song.  The best $28 spent on a CD in my lifetime!