''Goldfinger'' is the soundtrack of the 1964 film of the same name, the third film in the James Bond film series, directed by Guy Hamilton. The album was composed by John Barry and distributed by EMI. Two versions were released initially, one in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, which varied in terms of length and which tracks were within the soundtrack. In 2003, Capitol-EMI records released a remastered version that contained all the tracks within the film.

Background

John Barry had composed the previous James Bond soundtracks for '' From Russia with Love''. Due to Barry's increased "compositional depth" as seen through the soundtracks he produced since ''From Russia with Love'', movie producers

Albert Broccoli Albert Romolo Broccoli ( ; April 5, 1909 – June 27, 1996), nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career. Most of the films were made in the United Kingdom and often filmed at ...

and

Harry Saltzman Herschel Saltzman (; – ), known as Harry Saltzman, was a Canadian theatre and film producer. He is best remembered for co-producing the first nine of the ''James Bond'' film series with Albert R. Broccoli. He lived most of his life in Den ...

allowed him to write the theme song for '' Goldfinger'' in addition to the soundtrack. Barry created the melody of the song before drafting the lyrics with the help of

Anthony Newley Anthony Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest leadin ...

and

Leslie Bricusse Leslie Bricusse OBE (; 29 January 1931 – 19 October 2021) was a British composer, lyricist, and playwright who worked on theatre musicals and wrote theme music for films. He was best known for writing the music and lyrics for the films '' Do ...

. The theme was first sung by Newley at a demo session on May 14, 1964 in. At the behest of Barry,

Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular vocalist ...

was chosen to sing the track. On Bassey, Barry was quoted saying "Nobody could have sung it like her; she had that great dramatic sense." The theme was recorded on August 20, 1964 after an all-night session in the recording studio. The session was produced by EMI in-house producer

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the ...

, who also was the Beatles' producer at the time. Guitarist

Vic Flick Vic (; es, Vic or Pancracio Celdrán (2004). Diccionario de topónimos españoles y sus gentilicios (5ª edición). Madrid: Espasa Calpe. p. 843. ISBN 978-84-670-3054-9. «Vic o Vich (viquense, vigitano, vigatán, ausense, ausetano, ausonense): ...

, who played on the track, recalled at a 2012 Academy of Motion Pictures salute to the music of James Bond that Bassey was having difficulty getting a proper take. Martin spoke to her and then over the recording baffle her brassiere came flying. She nailed it on the next take. Session musicians on the Bond films were separately relegated to the instrumental score versions of songs, while the main musicians (on Goldfinger:

) were given the main film theme song to solely record, to be featured at the beginning of the film. Notably, two of the session musicians were

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...

and

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...

, who together would be the founding members of

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ...

. Co-producer

is said to have hated the song as too old fashioned for 1960s youth culture and only agreed to use it when persuaded by

Originally, Newley recorded a version of the theme song, but it was later re-recorded with Bassey's voice for the film and soundtrack album. In 1992, Newley's version was released for the 30th Anniversary of James Bond on film, in the compilation collectors edition '' The Best of Bond... James Bond''. The score was composed by Barry, making this his second, credited Bond score. The score makes regular use of instrumental arrangements of the title theme, as well as the Bond theme from '' Dr. No'' used in the

gun barrel sequence The gun barrel sequence is a signature device featured in nearly every List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' film.Cork, John & Scivally, Bruce (2002). ''James Bond: The Legacy''. Boxtree, 46. Shot from the point of view of a presumed assassin, ...

. The score makes heavy use of brass. The distinctive music for Goldfinger's henchman, Oddjob, makes use of repeated strokes on a metallic anvil. Metallic chimes are also heard in many scenes associated with Oddjob or gold, notably that in which the dead golden girl is discovered. The very effective use of music and various sound effects in the film won it an

Academy Award for Best Sound Editing The Academy Award for Best Sound Editing was an Academy Award granted yearly to a film exhibiting the finest or most aesthetic sound design or sound editing. Sound editing is the creation of sound effects (such as foley). The award was usually ...

. The album reached 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200 the first James Bond soundtrack to do so, and spent 70 total weeks on the chart, but for reasons that remain unclear, received no

RIAA certification In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets.

Versions

Two versions of the soundtrack were released. The American version lasted close to 30 minutes and contained 11 tracks. It lacked the four songs discussed above but contained the instrumental rock guitar version of the title theme song not found on the British LP. The instrumental was in the style of the John Barry Seven's instrumental hits in Britain. The British record contained 14 tracks but lacked the title instrumental found on the US album and lasted around 38 minutes. In 2003, the soundtrack was remastered and all the tracks originally released were compiled onto one album that contained fifteen tracks and over 41 minutes of music. The remastered version was released through Capitol-EMI records.

Reception

Gillian Garr, a writer for ''Goldmine'' reflecting on the album in 2013, found the album to be "less satisfying today", but stated the theme song was one of the "best-ever Bond theme songs." ''Film Score Monthly'' writer Darren MacDonald found the remastered edition to be the best score of the James Bond series, giving it five out of five stars. MacDonald wrote that the score was "big and ballsy, mainly jazz and orchestral fusion, with Shirley Bassey belting out the fantastic title song." He added that the remastered edition's sound quality was "impeccable".

Chart positions

Track listing

Credits

*Project manager: Herb Agner *Creative director: Michelle Azzopardi *Composer, conductor, primary artist: John Barry *Primary artist, vocals:

*Liner notes: Jeff Bond *Composer, lyricist:

*Project manager: Wendy Brueder *Producer, reissue producer: Frank Collura *Remastering: Bob Fisher *Guitar, soloist:

*Art direction, design: Peter Grant *Orchestra contractor: Sid Margo *Lyricist:

*A&R: Gregg Ogorzelec *Engineer: John Richards *Saxophone, soloist: John Scott Source:

Aftermath

Following the success of her performance on the title track,

sang the title songs for two later Bond films, '' Diamonds Are Forever'' and '' Moonraker''. John Barry used the ''Goldfinger'' theme on his 1965 ''John Barry Plays Goldfinger'' album that featured

Robert Brownjohn Robert Brownjohn (August 8, 1925 – August 1, 1970) was an American graphic designer known for blending formal graphic design concepts with wit and 1960s pop culture. He is best known for his motion picture title sequences, especially '' From R ...

artwork.

References

Footnotes Citations Bibliography * {{Authority control Soundtrack albums from James Bond films

Soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...

1964 soundtrack albums EMI Records soundtracks John Barry (composer) soundtracks