Roland Shaw (born Roland Edgar Shaw-Tomkins; 26 May 1920 – 11 May 2012) was an English

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

musical arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

, and

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

leader. Shaw was born in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

and attended the

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...

. He served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

in World War II leading RAF No 1 Band of the Middle East Forces. Following wartime service he arranged music for

Ted Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...

Mantovani Annunzio Paolo Mantovani (; 15 November 1905 – 29 March 1980) was an Anglo-Italian conductor, composer and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' stat ...

and many others. The popularity of Shaw's arrangements of Bond themes led to ''More Themes from the James Bond Thrillers'' for the release of '' Thunderball'' with tracks from both albums released on a 1965 UK album called ''James Bond in Action''. In 1966, his orchestra released a compilation entitled ''Themes for Secret Agents''. In 1967 ''Themes from the James Bond Thrillers Vol.3'' (released in the UK as ''More James Bond in Action'') followed the release of '' Casino Royale'' and '' You Only Live Twice''. Shaw came back in 1971 with a double album ''The Return of James Bond in Diamonds Are Forever'' (released as a single album in the UK as ''The Phase 4 World of Spy Thrillers'') for the release of

Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...

's return as Bond in '' Diamonds Are Forever''. Shaw recruited 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) ...

to repeat his guitar playing on the ''Gypsy Camp'' track. Shaw arranged the music in several films and composed the scores for '' The Secret of My Success'' (1965) and '' Straight on Till Morning'' (1972).

Notes

References

* Dellar, Fred CD Liner Notes ''James Bond in Action'' (2008)

External links

*
Shaw at Spaceage Pop_Shaw's_James_Bond
_music_recordings.html" ;"title="James Bond"> Shaw's James Bond
music recordings">James Bond"> Shaw's James Bond
music recordingsbr>Shaw's credits
amphonic.com; accessed 13 March 2017. 1920 births 2012 deaths English bandleaders Easy listening musicians Royal Air Force officers {{UK-musician-stub