James Bond Theme

Composed by Monty Norman (with arrangements for film provided by John Barry and others), the piece has been used as an accompanying fanfare to the gun barrel sequence in every Bond film. The theme has accompanied the opening titles twice, as part of the medley that opens Dr. No and then again in the opening credits of From Russia with Love . It has been used as music over the end credits for Dr. No, Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, The World Is Not Enough, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre. Monty Norman wrote and composed the music and received royalties from 1962 until his death in 2022. Norman collected around £600,000 in royalties between 1976 and 1999. For Dr. No, Norman scored the film and the theme was arranged by John Barry, who would later go on to compose the soundtracks for eleven James Bond films. Courts have ruled that the theme was written by Norman, despite claims and testimony by Barry that he had actually written the theme. Norman consequently won two libel actions against publishers for claiming that Barry wrote the theme, most recently against The Sunday Times in 2001. Norman describes the distinctive rhythm of the guitar in the first few bars of the James Bond Theme as "Dum di-di dum dum". He said that it was inspired by Bad Sign, Good Sign, a song he composed for a musical adaptation of V. S. Naipaul's novel A House for Mr Biswas, set in the Indian community in Trinidad. Norman showed the manuscript music for A House for Mr Biswas in a filmed interview and sang its lyrics. The James Bond Theme was originally recorded on 21 June 1962, using five saxophones, nine brass instruments, a solo guitar and a rhythm section. The guitar motif heard in the original recording of the theme was played by Vic Flick on a 1939 English Clifford Essex Paragon Deluxe guitar plugged into a Fender Vibrolux amplifier. Flick was paid a one-off fee of £6 for recording the famous James Bond Theme motif. John Barry, who was paid £250 for his work, was surprised that this theme appeared so often in Dr. No. He was told by Noel Rogers, the head of United Artists Music, that though the producers would not give him any more money or a writing credit they would get in touch with him if there was ever another Bond film made.For every Bond movie which John Barry scored, he orchestrated a slightly different version of the Bond theme, as can be heard during the gun barrel sequence. These specialised Bond themes often reflected the style and locations featured in the movie, and the actor playing Bond.

Monty Norman (né Noserovitch; April 1928 – July 2022) was a British film score composer. A contributor to West End musicals in the 1950s and 1960s, he was an Ivor Novello Award and Olivier Award winner and a Tony Award nominee. Monty Norman is best known for writing the signature theme of the James Bond franchise.

‍