Carlos Malcolm

My music and Dr. No-the first James Bond movie

Carlos — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 04:13:50 +0000

Hi John, Regarding my involvement in the making of the “Dr. No”, the first of the James Bond series of movies, as everyone else did, I read of their arrival in Jamaica in the Daily Gleaner. I had just resigned from the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation and established my own production company specializing in music jingles and radio commercials. After they were in production for about a week, I was invited by one of the Jamaican contacts of Eon Productions to meet with Monty Norman, the musical field director of “Dr. No.” Subsequent to my hiring I was told that the producers, Saltzman and Broccoli wanted to capture the ambience of the tropics in the music and I was mentioned as a local composer/arranger who had written two scores for two successful three-hour pantomime musicals and was capable of delivering whatever was required. A five-o’clock meeting was arranged at the Courtleigh Manor Hotel in New Kingston and I was to meet Monty Norman in the main bar. I got there at ten of five and ordered a beer Monty was seated at the other end of the bar in conversation with two men. From the English accent of one of the men, I assumed that he was Monty. Within a few minutes Ronnie, the Jamaican liaison arrived and introduced me to Monty. Five minutes had not passed in the exchange of salutations before Monty reached into his shirt pocket and whipped out a little blue notebook, wire-bound at the top. “What do you think of this!” he said, with a question/statement vocal inflection. In hand-drawn lines Monty had outlined the musical treble and bass clefs on which he written a melody with bass accompaniment. I perused the jottings for a few seconds humming as I went along as an indication “yes, I do read music”. “What is it?” I asked. “It’s the James Bond theme”, he said. “What do you think?” Before answering, I scrutinized the bass line once more to affirm my previous observation. “I like the melody; it has drive and the bass line fits it like a glove but isn’t the motif of the bass line from Henry Mancini’s “Peter Gunn Theme”? Monty raised his eyebrows as we looked at each other for a few seconds. “Won’t get away with it, will I?”he said, “If I were you, I’d change that bass line”, I replied. My observation and suggestion to him established a solid professional relationship between us, which, I am certain, he related to the producer, Saltzman. In my next blog I’ll write about “Three Blind Mice”, the opening song of “Dr. No”.

Carlos — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 02:19:04 +0000

Hi John With the forthcoming release of the new James Bond movie “Quantum of Solace” on November 15^th,, it was announced that the James Bond series of movies have grossed over $100B. “Dr. No” the first production, was mostly filmed in Jamaica. As you know, I was engaged by Eon Production to create, arrange and record using local musicians (including the Byron Lee and the Dragoniers band ) tropical background music for the movie. Some time ago I read that Monty Norman, credited with composing the Dr. No theme song and music for the movie was taken to court three times by others who challenged his total claims. I don’t know the source of the musical jottings in the little blue wire-bound notebook which Monty Norman showed me in the bar of the Courtleigh Manor Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica in 1961, but the jottings were those of the now famous Dr. No Theme with minor third, flatted fifth and all. (After seeing the jottings I made a suggestion re the bass line accompaniment, which I will discuss later).

I would have gladly testified on Monty’s behalf, bearing witness to the fact that I did see his jottings of the Dr. No theme in his little blue notebook at that point in time, but then Monty would have had to testify to the fact that during a Tuesday night steak and beer party which I hosted at a beach flat which I shared with Karl Parboosingh, the painter, at Bull Bay he (Monty) borrowed from me fifty-three pages of scored music (mostly original) which I created from scripted scenarios of various duration (timed in seconds) he gave to me to translate into music. Under the guise of “cross-checking the music against the written scenarios”, Monty appropriated the scores and left Jamaica on the 4:00 a.m. BOAC flight for London. This, after we had both arranged that I pick him up from his hotel in Morgan’s Harbour, near Port Royal, for breakfast at 7:00 a.m., just three hours later.

Your eagerness for me to tell the story of my involvement coupled with the new James Bond release triggered my curiosity to do some research surrounding the making of the movie Dr. No and I ran across the following on the Internet: Monty has had to go to Court three times to defend his composition. Once because a monthly magazine wrote that he had bought the James Bond Theme from a Jamaican for $100! And twice because a weekly musical paper and a Sunday newspaper respectively said that John Barry wrote the James Bond Theme.

Usually the musical score for a movie is created after cinematography. In my case, I saw no rushes of any part of the movie; I worked simply from written scenarios, metered out in seconds and minutes and finally heard much of what I had written played by a symphony orchestra.in London.

As I promised, in a few days I will give you the details of my involvement in creating and recording tropical background music, daily, during the filming of Dr. No.

Carlos — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 00:06:02 +0000

Hi John, The reason you lost track of me and my musical activities is that my wife and I relocated from New York to Miami. My parents had retired and decided to live in Miami, close to Jamaica. I thought it a good idea for my three children to enjoy the benefit of the guidance and tutelage of their grandparents. Over the years you have always asked about the story of my involvement with the James Bond movie, “Dr. No” and what happened. Actually, I became involved with two James Bond productions, “Dr. No” produced by Saltzman and Broccoli in 1962 and “Thunderball”, produced by Kevin McLory, two years later in the Bahamas, in 1964. The two stories carry enough material for two short novels. So I’ll have to present them in two installments In 1958, I was hired by the Jamaican Broadcasting Corporation as Head Arranger/Director in the Variety Department. I participated in the development and wrote music for several show utilizing Jamaican talent: The Our Gang Show, featuring Dame Louise Bennet the great Jamaican folklorist, The Jamaican Hit Parade, a popular music program featuring the top ten tunes for the week sung by the original Jamaican artists, the Lou and Ranny Show, again featuring Dame Louise Bennett and Ranny Williams. In addition to my loaded schedule and the JBC, I was commissioned to compose the music for the libretto Banana Boy, the yearly three-hour pantomime/musical produced by the Little Theatre Movement. The production was very successful and I was again commissioned to compose music for the libretto, Jamaica Way, written by Samuel Hillary. I was also very busy with my own production company which created commercial radio jingles for American and British companies marketing products in Jamaica: Shell Oil, Texaco Oil, Vick’s Vapor Rub Maxwell House Coffee, Berger Paints, Milo Chocolate drink, Charley’s White Label Rum, Sugar Mill Rum and a host of others. I’m not going off on a tangent here, but merely setting the stag for the reasons why I was commissioned by Eon Productions to create tropical background music and to arrange and record with a Caribbeanflavor the music presented to me by the musical director of the movie “Dr. No”. After decades of silence on the matter, in my next blog, I’ll deal in details with the circumstances concerning my involvement in “Dr. No” and in the following blog I’ll deal with the circumstances concerning my involvement in the movie, “Thunderball”. Carlos

Carlos — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:27:06 +0000

Hi Marlon,

I must apologize for the delay in answering your kind note. I have been involved in trying to animate bak2bay6 . I’m still in the process. Eventually, this site will carry the modules which will serve as a learning tool for alternate education for young students as well as ESOL students and Adult Education. The following is an excerpt from our Executive Summary:

BACK TO BASICS (bak2bay6) is a unique alternative learning approach to teaching youths the rudiments of critical thinking processes and applying these principles to acquiring an education in the English language: learning the eight parts of speech and their functions, reading, the mathematical tables, and an introduction to music. All instruction is cradled in original songs and rapping poetry to drum rhythms. I look forward to your continued visitation.

Regards,

Carlos Malcolm

Carlos — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:02:30 +0000

Hi Gael Betant,

Thank you very much for the comments on my music. Sorry I took so long to reply to your kind words but for the past 6 months I have been involved in a project that is just coming into fruition. What country are you from? Did you enjoy the West Indies? Keep checking my web page and tell your friends about it. I have new productions coming there soon.

Regards

Carlos Malcolm

Carlos — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:33:26 +0000

Bill Lymburn // May 30, 2008 at 2:26 pm

Hi Carlos

Hi Bill,

Sorry it took so long to answer your note. I have spent the past 6 months working on a project which is at last coming to fruition. Glad you enjoy the music. Most of my works will be available on my website as well as on CD baby.com. I have never been to Scotland, the land of Sean Connery -James Bond. Hope to get there some time in the neat future. Let’s stay in touch.

Regards,

Carlos Malcolm

Carlos — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:12:59 +0000

Hi Belinda,

Sorry I have been incommunicado for so long a period but I’m still involved in trying to animate “bak2bay6 With a Musical Twist” and present it to a production company that will market it adequately. I’m preparing to present the program to the new Dept. of Ed in Washington. Maybe it will fall favorably on a “fresh” set of eyes and ears in 2009. Valerie sends regards for John. Hope he is well. I hope you established some contacts and had a good time in China. Please say hello to Llodyie for me and let’s stay in touch.

Regards,

Carlos

What I am up to now

Carlos — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 23:18:11 +0000

So good to hear from you again, FC. After so long a silence you probably have several questions about what I been doing after so many years of not hearing about me of my music? Well, I took a long self-imposed sabbatical to dedicate my time and energy to my family. I came off the road touring with my 12-piece band and started a production and music publishing company, CAM Music Producers & Publishers. This allowed me to witness and supervise the growth and development of my three children, Lee, Charisma and Michelle. I spent several years in California writing commercial advertising for a large newspaper and recording commercial jingles for my company. In the late 90s I was inducted Artist in Residence for the State of California by the California Arts Council. It’s a lifetime mentorship program in which the CA Arts Council appoints and pays selected professionals in the performing arts to pass on their skills to the next generation. In addition to other activities, I spent several years working with youths in musical education and general remedial education. Over the years I developed a program I named “Bak2bay6 – with a Musical Twist” which offers foundational tools for an education in the English language to students of grades two through five as well as Adult Ed. and ESOL students (English Speakers of Other Languages). I was invited to Australia in 2006 to deliver a lecture/demonstration on Bak2bay6 at Victoria University in the city of Melbourne. While there I also gave a talk on the Evolution of Reggae music and conducted the 27 piece Melbourne Ska Orchestra at the Prince Albert Ballroom. Both events were very successful.

Over the past year I have been engaged in the process of animating Bak2bay6 – With a Musical Twist. I have recently released a set of piano etudes called, Ten Caribbean Piano Etudes by Carlos Malcolm. The works present another aspect of the Caribbean musical experience and are available in two formats. One format is for listening enjoyment and the second, for academic studies. Besides its function as a regular CD this extended compact disc when placed in a computer functions as a CD ROM. As one listens to the sound files of a piece, the musical score scrolls by on pages which turn in synchronization with the music.

Hello Everybody!

Carlos — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:48:30 +0000

I know you’ve been looking for me. I’m now located in Palm Bay, FL and I look foward to hearing from you all, because I have so much to share with you, musically.