''Thunderball'' is the soundtrack album for the fourth

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

film '' Thunderball''. The album was first released by

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1959, ...

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 original main title theme to ''Thunderball'' was titled "Mr. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang", which was written by John Barry and Leslie Bricusse. The title was taken from an Italian journalist who in 1962 dubbed agent 007 as "Mr. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang". Barry had thought he could not write a song about a vague "Thunderball" term or the film's story, so his song was a description of the character James Bond. The song was originally recorded by

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 vocalists ...

. When there were concerns with the length of the track compared to the needed titles, it was later rerecorded by

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles cha ...

as Bassey was not available and featured a longer instrumental opening designed so the lyrics would not be heard until after the title "Thunderball" appeared in

Maurice Binder Maurice Binder (December 4, 1918 – April 9, 1991) was an American film title designer best known for his work on 16 James Bond films including the first, '' Dr. No'' (1962) and for Stanley Donen's films from 1958. Early work He was born in Ne ...

's title design. Neither version was released until the 1990s. The song was removed from the title credits after United Artists requested that the theme song contain the film's title in its lyrics. When it was planned to use the Warwick version in the end titles Shirley Bassey sued the producers with the result being that neither version was heard in the film and different instrumental versions of the theme appeared on the High Fidelity (Bassey's) and Stereo (Warwick's) soundtrack LPs. Barry teamed up with lyricist Don Black and wrote "Thunderball" in a rush.Spencer, 2008, p. 64.

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 ...

, 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 John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

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 B-flat minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has five flats. Its relative major is D-flat major and its parallel major is B-flat major. Its enharmonic equivalent, A-sharp m ...

Track listing

# "Thunderball (Main Title)" –

contains the " James Bond Theme", originally composed for the ''Dr. No'' soundtrack # "Chateau Flight"contains the " James Bond Theme", originally composed for the ''Dr. No'' soundtrack # "The Spa" # "Switching the Body" # "The Bomb" # "Cafe Martinique" # "Thunderball (Instrumental)" # "Death of Fiona" # "Bond Below Disco Volante" # "Search for Vulcan" # "007"contains "

007 The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

", originally from the ''From Russia with Love'' soundtrack # "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" ;CD bonus tracks # "Gunbarrel/ Traction Table/ Gassing the Plane/ Car Chase" # "Bond Meets Domino/ Shark Tank/ Lights out for Paula/ For King and Country" # "Street Chase" # "Finding the Plane/ Underwater Ballet/ Bond with SPECTRE Frogmen/ Leiter to the Rescue/ Bond Joins Underwater Battle" # "Underwater Mayhem/ Death of Largo/ End Titles" # "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Mono Version)"

Notes

Outside the film

* In 1965,

KYW-TV KYW-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside CW affiliate WPSG (channel 57 ...

in Philadelphia adapted the "007" track, also used in the film '' From Russia with Love'' as its longtime theme for its ''

Eyewitness News ''Eyewitness News'' is a style of television news presentation that emphasizes visual elements and action video, replacing the older "man-on-camera" newscast. History Pioneered by Westinghouse The earliest known use of the ''Eyewitness New ...

'' format. It went on to be used in other Group W stations in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

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and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

for their newscasts.

Parodies / tributes

* In 1996,

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...

parodied Tom Jones during the opening theme song of the comedy ''

Spy Hard ''Spy Hard'' is a 1996 American spy parody film starring Leslie Nielsen (who also executive produced) and Nicollette Sheridan, parodying James Bond and other action films. The introduction to the film is sung by comedy artist "Weird Al" Yanko ...

''. 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. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

cartoon '' Duck Dodgers'' (2003–05), performed by Tom Jones with

the Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals), Derek Brown (keyb ...

, is a pastiche of "Thunderball". * Jones sang the theme during

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 AFI Life Achievement Award ceremony in 2006. * Jaret Reddick, lead singer of

Bowling For Soup Bowling for Soup (abbreviated as BFS) is an American rock band formed in Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1994. The band consists of Jaret Reddick (lead vocals, guitar), Chris Burney (guitar, backing vocals), Gary Wiseman (drums, percussion, backing voc ...

, covered "Thunderball" on the 2017 multi-artist compilation album, ''Songs, Bond Songs: The Music Of 007''."Songs, Bond Songs: The Music Of 007"
/ref> * The melody from CD Bonus track 4 is used by

My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult (often shortened to Thrill Kill Kult or TKK) is an American electronic industrial rock band originally based in Chicago and founded by Groovie Mann (born Frankie Nardiello) and Buzz McCoy (born Marston Daley). ...

on their third studio album Sexplosion! track 5, "Mood No. 6".

References

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 {{DEFAULTSORT:Thunderball (Soundtrack) 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 soundtrack o ...

Film soundtracks 1965 soundtrack albums United Artists Records soundtracks John Barry (composer) soundtracks