JOHNNY FRIGO JAMES BOND

Our collection of spy cover tunes continues to grow. Everywhere we look, there seem to be hidden treasures that reveal just how much the Spy Boom influenced Caribbean songsters and jazz orchestras looking for a hit record. Our fellow agent Jhalal Drut has been sending me some cool links. Today we share the James Bond Theme as recorded by the Johnny Frigo Sextet. The track was released on Jazz Dance "107" on Orion (LP 107), an album that also included Peter Gunn, The Pink Panther, and Taste of Honey. Frigo also released the James Bond Theme as a single, backing the A side, Heat Wave, by the Bobby Christian Orchestra (Orion OS-1051). Johnny Frigo (1916-2007) was a Jazz violinist and bassist from Chicago. Coming up through WWII and the post-war era, he got to play alongside the likes of Chico Marx and Jimmy Dorsey, and some of his own compositions were recorded by luminaries such as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Bill Evans, and Sarah Vaughn. His Orion records with the sextet featured some cool collage graphic designs (see photos below video). Enjoy!

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