Thunderball is the soundtrack for the 4th James Bond film of the same name.

The soundtrack was released by United Artists Records in 1965. 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 not finished by the time the film was released in theatres and only featured 12 tracks, roughly only the first half of the film; the last seven tracks were released for the first time when the soundtrack was issued on CD on February 25, 2003. The music in the film was unfinished days before the release of the film in theatres due to a late change by EON Productions to use a title song with the same name as the film.

The original title theme to Thunderball was titled “Mr Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang,” which was written by Barry and Leslie Bricusse. It was taken from an Italian journalist who in 1962 dubbed agent 007 as “Mr Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.” Barry had thought he couldn’t write a song about a vague “Thunderball” term or the story of the film, so his song was a description of the character of James Bond.

The song was originally recorded by Shirley Bassey, but was later rerecorded by Dionne Warwick. Both versions were not released until the 1990s. The song was removed from the title credits after producers Albert R Broccoli and Harry Saltzman were worried that a theme song to a James Bond movie would not work well if the song did not have the title of the film in its lyrics.

Barry teamed up with lyricist Don Black and wrote “Thunderball” which was sung by Tom Jones who, according to Bond production legend, fainted in the recording booth when 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.” Like “Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”, the lyrics of “Thunderball” are a description of Bond’s character.

Country musician Johnny Cash also submitted a song to EON productions titled “Thunderball” but it wasn’t used. The lyrics of Cash’s “Thunderball” describe the story of the film.

The producers’ decision to change the film’s theme song so close to the release date required Barry led to the delay issues with the soundtrack, as 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. Barry’s scores included a track which gave the film’s theme song a full statement in the form of a sensitive, slowed-down instrumental ballad, often played over a romantic moment or a scene set in a nightclub or casino; he re-arranged “Thunderball” as a lush, subtly jazzy orchestral piece in the easy listening style that was popular at the time.

Though “Mr Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” was dropped as the theme song, however, 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, it should also be noted, takes place at Club Kiss Kiss. Because Thunderball’s score had, essentially, two main themes to work from, as well as the “Search For Vulcan” cue and the “James Bond Theme,” it is arguably the richest of the early Bond scores, thematically speaking.

Track listing

1. “Thunderball” — Tom Jones
2. “Chateau Flight”
3. “The Spa”
4. “Switching the Body”
5. “The Bomb”
6. “Cafe Martinique”
7. “Thunderball”
8. “Death of Fiona”
9. “Bond Below Disco Volante”
10. “Search for the Vulcan”
11. “007”
12. “Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”
13. “Gunbarrel / Traction Table / Gassing the Plane / Car Chase”
14. “Bond Meets Domino /Shark Tank / Lights out for Paula / For King and Country”
15. “Street Chase”
16. “Finding the Plane / Underwater Ballet / Bond with SPECTRE Frogmen / Leiter to the Rescue / Bond Joins Underwater Battle”
17. “Underwater Mayhem / Death of Largo / End Titles”
18. “Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” — Dionne Warwick

See also:

• Bond films: Soundtrack
• Thunderball: Film