John Barry Mason (12 July 1935
– 16 April 2021) was an English singer and songwriter. A leading songwriter of the
1960s
File:1960s montage.png, Clockwise from top left: U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War; the Beatles led the British Invasion of the U.S. music market; a half-a-million people participate in the 1969 Woodstock Festival; Neil Armstrong and Buzz ...
, he wrote the bulk of his most successful songs in partnership with
Les Reed. Mason gained many
gold and platinum awards for his work including five
Ivor Novello Awards, the most recent of them in 1998.
Life and career
Mason was born in
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington ...
, eldest son of Phyllis née Hart, and journalist, Cecil Mason, who died when Barry was nine. He had a younger brother, Max, and two half-sisters, Lynn & Diane, by his mother's second husband, an American GI. He grew up in the village of
Coppull
Coppull is a village and civil parish in Lancashire, England. It is part of the Borough of Chorley, lies around above sea level. Its population is around 8,000, having been counted at 7,959 in the 2011 Census. It is bounded by Whittle Brook, C ...
, near
Chorley
Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came ...
in
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...
. His songwriting credits included three
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
number ones, "
Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)", "
The Last Waltz
''The Last Waltz'' was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. ''The Last Waltz'' was advertised as The Band's "farewell concert a ...
", and "
I Pretend", as well as "
Here It Comes Again", "There Goes My First Love", "A Man Without Love", "
Winter World of Love
"Winter World of Love" is a song recorded by Engelbert Humperdinck, which was released on his eponymous album and as a single in 1969. " "Now That You are Gone", "Rowbottom Square", "
Delilah
Delilah ( ; , meaning "delicate";Gesenius's ''Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon'' ar, دليلة, Dalīlah; grc, label= Greek, Δαλιδά, Dalidá) is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. She is loved ...
", "Love Is All", and "You Just Might See Me Cry".
His songs have been
recorded by
Tom Jones
Tom Jones may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer
*Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist
*''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...
,
Dalida,
P. J. Proby
P. J. Proby (born James Marcus Smith; November 6, 1938) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor.
Proby recorded the singles " Hold Me", " Somewhere", and "Maria". In 2008, EMI released the greatest hits album '' Best of the EMI Years 1961 ...
,
David Essex
David Essex (born David Albert Cook; 23 July 1947) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. Since the 1970s, he has attained 19 Top 40 singles in the UK (including two number ones) and 16 Top 40 albums. Internationally, Essex had the most ...
,
The Drifters
The Drifters are several American doo-wop and R&B/ soul vocal groups. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, formed i ...
,
Rod Stewart
Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...
,
Petula Clark
Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades.
Clark's professional career began during the ...
,
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signin ...
,
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...
,
Engelbert Humperdinck,
The Fortunes
The Fortunes are an English harmony beat group. Formed in Birmingham, the Fortunes first came to prominence and international acclaim in 1965, when "You've Got Your Troubles" broke into the US, Canadian, and UK Top 10s. Afterwards, they had ...
,
Charles Aznavour
Charles Aznavour ( , ; born Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian, hy, Շահնուր Վաղինակ Ազնավուրեան, ; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a French-Armenian singer, lyricist, actor and diplomat. Aznavour was known for his dist ...
,
Tony Christie
Anthony Fitzgerald (born 25 April 1943), known professionally as Tony Christie, is an English musician, singer and actor. He is best known for his recording of "(Is This the Way To) Amarillo", a double UK chart success.
Career 1960s to 1970 ...
,
Connie Francis
Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937),
known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...
,
Mireille Mathieu
Mireille Mathieu (; born 22 July 1946) is a French singer. She has recorded over 1200 songs in eleven languages, with more than 122 million records sold worldwide.
Biography and career
Early years
Mireille Mathieu was born on 22 July 1946 in A ...
,
Barbra Streisand
Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...
,
The Dave Clark Five
The Dave Clark Five, also known as the DC5, were an English rock and roll band formed in 1958 in Tottenham, London. Drummer Dave Clark served as the group's leader, producer and co-songwriter. In January 1964 they had their first UK top ten sin ...
,
Cliff Portwood,
Malcolm Roberts,
Our Kid and Ashley Maclaine.
Mason credited his start in songwriting to his first hit in 1960 as a producer. "I met this boy called
Tommy Bruce
Tommy Bruce (16 July 1937 – 10 July 2006) was an English rock and roll singer who had most of his success in the early 1960s. His cover version of " Ain't Misbehavin'" was a number 3 hit in the UK Singles Chart in 1960.
Life and career
H ...
and I spent my last few pounds making a demo of him singing an old Fats Waller song,
Ain't Misbehavin' – and he had a hit (No.3, UK, 1960). Suddenly, I was his manager, not knowing anything about the business. But the important thing was, I was in the business." Mason and Reed wrote a song for
Kathy Kirby
Kathy Kirby (born Catherine Ethel O'Rourke; 20 October 1938 – 19 May 2011) was an English singer, reportedly the highest-paid female singer of her generation. She is best known for her cover version of Doris Day's " Secret Love" and for re ...
, "I'll Try Not to Cry", as part of ''
A Song for Europe
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...
1965'', the BBC's contest to choose the United Kingdom entry for that year's
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
in Naples.
The song was beaten by "
I Belong". "The Last Waltz" became a million-selling UK number one for Humperdinck in September 1967.
In 1968, the duo scored another UK number 1 hit with
Des O'Connor
Desmond Bernard O'Connor (12 January 1932 – 14 November 2020) was an English comedian, singer and television presenter.
He was a long-time TV chat-show host, beginning with ''The Des O'Connor Show'' in 1963, which ran for ten years. He a ...
's recording of "I Pretend".
Mason and Reed also wrote "Who's Doctor Who", a novelty song recorded by ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' star
Frazer Hines
Frazer Simpson Frederick Hines (born 22 September 1944) is an English actor. He began his career as a child actor and appeared in ''A King in New York'' (1957) with Charlie Chaplin. He later played Jamie McCrimmon in ''Doctor Who'', appearing i ...
in 1967, but it failed to chart. They also wrote "
Marching on Together" (aka "Leeds! Leeds! Leeds!"), the
anthem
An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...
of
Leeds United F.C.
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
His last chart topping song was "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes), for session group,
Edison Lighthouse
Edison Lighthouse are an English pop band, formed in London in 1969. The band was best known for their 1970 hit single "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" recorded in late 1969.
Career
Before the name Edison Lighthouse, they were known as ...
, in January 1970.
He was the major songwriter for the English singer
Declan Galbraith
Declan John Galbraith (born 19 December 1991) is a British musician. He is best known for his 2002 hit single, " Tell Me Why", which peaked at #29 in the UK Singles Chart.
Early life
Galbraith was born on 19 December 1991, in Hoo St Werburg ...
for his first album ''
Declan'' (2002), including the hit "
Tell Me Why" (No. 29 in
UK) and "Till the Day We Meet Again".
He founded his own publishing company, Barry Mason Enterprises Ltd.
Mason was a frequent guest on the
BBC1
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
panel game
A panel show or panel game is a radio broadcasting, radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates. Celebrity panelists may compete with each other, such as on ''The News Quiz''; facilitate play by non-celebrity conte ...
''
Pop Quiz'', hosted by
Mike Read
Michael David Kenneth Read (born 1 March 1947) is an English radio disc jockey, writer, journalist and television presenter. Read has been a broadcaster since 1976, best known for having been a DJ with BBC Radio 1, and television host for musi ...
.
He was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(MBE) in the
2020 Birthday Honours
The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...
for services to music.
Personal life
Barry Mason had two daughters, Aimi and Maggie and a son, Tyler. He died in April 2021, survived by his sisters Lynn and Diane and long-term partner Vanessa Martin.
Discography
Albums
*''The Songwriter'' (1976),
Magnet
A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, ...
*''The Singer and the Songs'' (1978), Magnet
References
External links
Barry Mason official website*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Barry
1935 births
2021 deaths
people from Wigan
English male singers
English songwriters
Ivor Novello Award winners
Castlebar Song Contest winners
Members of the Order of the British Empire
Musicians from Lancashire