The John Barry Seven
| The John Barry Seven | |
|---|---|
| Origin | York, England |
| Genres |
Rock and roll Pop |
| Instruments | various |
| Years active | 1957–1965 |
| Labels |
Parlophone Columbia (EMI) Ember |
| Associated acts | Adam Faith, Russ Conway, Vince Eager, Billy Fury, Peter Gordeno, Shirley Bassey |
| Website | Johnbarry.org.uk |
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.
He 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 and trumpet), Mike Cox (tenor saxophone), 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 John Barry Seven 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 John Barry Seven (JB7) appeared on British TV shows such as Six-Five Special and Oh Boy! during 1957 and 1958, but discontent began spreading through the band. Jack Good proved to be a hard taskmaster on Oh Boy! Rehearsals were lengthy, intense and arduous in order to perfect what was a fast-paced show. When compounded by a tough touring schedule and regular recording commitments, morale began to suffer among the band's members. Some resentment towards Barry simmered to the boil, because he did not have to appear when accompanying other artists on the bill. Add the homesickness caused by travelling to the list of grievances plus irregular work, meant that the band had arrived back home in Yorkshire, by the time that the London-based Barry was in a position to call them south again for a few more dates. Moreover, they were losing a certain amount of work on Oh Boy! resulting in a substantial reduction in wages.
As a consequence, Derek Myers accepted an offer to play with a big band in Scotland. Mike Cox also left; likewise, Fred Kirk (a trained aircraft fitter), after spotting a job in aviation. When Ken Richards announced he wanted to return to Scarborough, Golder felt it was time for him to go too.
Mike Peters and Jimmy Stead (both from Ossett, near Leeds) replaced Kirk and Myers respectively. Peters then introduced the Londoner Dennis King as a replacement for Cox, while Stead brought in Dougie Wright, a drummer with whom he had played in the Leeds-based Bill Marsden Big Band. It meant that with the exception of Barry and Keith Kelly, the original band line-up had disintegrated. Another Leeds lead guitarist, Jack Oliver, lasted a week, before Barry decided to approach Vic Flick, then working with The Bob Cort Skiffle Group. Flick arrived in time to rehearse for an important show at the Metropolitan in Edgware Road on 10 November 1958. The Seven was contracted to perform a 20-minute act as well as backing several other artists, including Marty Wilde. The line-up now read: John Barry (trumpet), Vic Flick (lead guitar), Mike Peters (bass guitar), Keith Kelly (rhythm guitar), Jimmy Stead (baritone sax), Dennis King (tenor sax) and Dougie Wright (drums). For a very short time they experimented with a female singer, Liza Page, the sister of the TV star Jill Day, but this did not prove successful.
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