Thunderball (soundtrack)

Thunderball
Soundtrack album by John Barry
Released	1965
Recorded	October 1965
Length	39:11
Label	United Artists
Producer	Frank Collura (reissue)
John Barry chronology
The Knack and How to Get It (1965) Thunderball (1965) Born Free (1966)
James Bond soundtrack chronology
Goldfinger (1964) Thunderball (1965) You Only Live Twice (1967)
Singles from Thunderball
"Thunderball" Released: 1965

Professional ratings

Review scores
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AllMusic

Thunderball is the soundtrack album for the fourth James Bond film Thunderball.

The album was first released by United Artists Records in 1965 in both monaural and stereo editions, with a CD release in 1988. The music was composed and conducted by John Barry, and performed by the John Barry Orchestra. This was Barry's third soundtrack for the series. The soundtrack was still being recorded when it came time for the album to be released, so the LP only featured twelve tracks from earlier in the film; an expanded edition with six bonus tracks was released for the first time when the album was reissued on Compact Disc on 25 February 2003 as part of the "James Bond Remastered" collection. Additionally, the music in the film was unfinished days before the film's release in theatres due to a late change by Eon Productions to use a title song with the same name as the film.

Title theme change

The planned theme for Thunderball was "Mr. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" composed by John Barry and Leslie Bricusse. The title was taken from an Italian journalist who in 1962 had dubbed agent 007 "Mr. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang". Barry felt he could not write a song using the term "Thunderball" so instead he wrote a description of James Bond.

The song was first recorded by Shirley Bassey. There were issues with the length of the track; it was rerecorded by Dionne Warwick as Bassey was not available. It featured a longer instrumental opening, such that the lyrics would not start before the word "Thunderball" appeared in Maurice Binder's title design. The song was removed from the opening credits after United Artists requested that the theme song contain the film's title in its lyrics. Warwick's version was set to appear in the end credits but Shirley Bassey sued the producers resulting in neither version being used in the film. Both backing tracks appeared on different versions of the soundtrack, remade as instrumentals: Bassey's on the High Fidelity LP and Warwick's on the Stereo LP.

Barry teamed up with lyricist Don Black and wrote "Thunderball" in a rush. Tom Jones, who sang the new theme song, allegedly fainted in the recording booth after singing the song's final, high note. Jones said of the final note, "I closed my eyes and I held the note for so long when I opened my eyes the room was spinning."

Country musician Johnny Cash also submitted a song to Eon productions titled "Thunderball" but it was not used. The lyrics of Cash's "Thunderball" describe the film's story.

The producers' decision to change the film's theme song so close to the release date meant that only some of the film's soundtrack had been recorded for release on LP. Adding to the delay issues, Barry had written large amounts of the score around the original theme and woven it throughout the score (along with the recurring underwater "Search For Vulcan" motif). After "Thunderball" was written, Barry wrote, orchestrated, and recorded several new pieces interpolating it.

Though "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" was dropped as the theme song, some of the pieces which included its melody remained part of the score, and it receives full statements twice: by full orchestra and jazz rhythm quartet with bass, drums, guitar, and vibraphone in the track "Café Martinique" (immediately followed by the "Vulcan" cue), and as a wild, bongo-laden cha-cha-cha in "Death of Fiona." The scene which includes the latter takes place at Club Kiss Kiss, and features the bongo drumming of bandleader King Errisson.

Composition

The tune was composed in the key of B-flat minor.

Track listing

1. "Thunderball (Main Title)" – Tom Jones
2. "Chateau Flight"
3. "The Spa"
4. "Switching the Body"
5. "The Bomb"
6. "Cafe Martinique"
7. "Thunderball (Instrumental)"
8. "Death of Fiona"
9. "Bond Below Disco Volante"
10. "Search for Vulcan"
11. "007"
12. "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang"

CD bonus tracks

1. "Gunbarrel / Traction Table / Gassing the Plane / Car Chase"
2. "Bond Meets Domino / Shark Tank / Lights out for Paula / For King and Country"
3. "Street Chase"
4. "Finding the Plane / Underwater Ballet / Bond with SPECTRE Frogmen / Leiter to the Rescue / Bond Joins Underwater Battle"
5. "Underwater Mayhem / Death of Largo / End Titles"
6. "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Mono Version)"

Outside the film

• In 1965, KYW-TV in Philadelphia adapted the "007" track, also used in the film From Russia with Love as its longtime theme for its Eyewitness News format. It went on to be used in other Group W stations in Boston, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and San Francisco for their newscasts.

Parodies / tributes

• In 1996, "Weird Al" Yankovic parodied Tom Jones during the opening theme song of the comedy Spy Hard. Instead of passing out, as Jones allegedly did, Yankovic's head explodes at the opening song's end.
• The opening theme to the Warner Bros. cartoon Duck Dodgers (2003–05), performed by Tom Jones with the Flaming Lips, is a pastiche of "Thunderball".
• Jones sang the theme during Sean Connery's AFI Life Achievement Award ceremony in 2006.
• Jaret Reddick, lead singer of Bowling For Soup, covered "Thunderball" on the 2017 multi-artist compilation album, Songs, Bond Songs: The Music of 007.
• The melody from CD Bonus track 4 is used by My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult on their third studio album Sexplosion! track 5, "Mood No. 6".

See also

• Outline of James Bond

Bibliography

• Burlingame, Jon The Music of James Bond Oxford University Press, 01/10/2012
• Spencer, Kristopher. Film and Television Scores, 1950–1979: A Critical Survey by Genre. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2008