Songwriter, Singer. He is remembered for his penning of numerous commercially-successful, popular hits (collaborated with Les Reed) for a wide range of artists. Born John Barry Mason, he was raised in the English village of Coppull in Lancashire. He pondered a career in entertainment as a singer or actor and following his National Service, he began in the industry as an understudy for Albert Finney with the Royal Court Theatre. He broke into motion pictures when he sang the Adam Faith hit "What Do You Want?" in a scene from the film "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning" (1960). He wrote and recorded the singles "Over the Hills and Far Away" (1966), "Misty Morning Eyes" (1966) and "Rowbottom Square" (1967) which were co-penned by Les Reed, prior to fully focussing on songwriting. Among the results of their partnership were the singles "The Last Waltz" recorded by Engelbert Humperdinck which achieved a number 20 placing on the American Pop Charts in 1967, "Delilah" recorded by Tom Jones which achieved a number 15 placing on the American Pop Charts in 1968 and "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" recorded by Edison Lighthouse which achieved a number five placing on the American Pop Charts in 1970, in addition to gold record status. He was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his contributions to music in 2020.
Songwriter, Singer. He is remembered for his penning of numerous commercially-successful, popular hits (collaborated with Les Reed) for a wide range of artists. Born John Barry Mason, he was raised in the English village of Coppull in Lancashire. He pondered a career in entertainment as a singer or actor and following his National Service, he began in the industry as an understudy for Albert Finney with the Royal Court Theatre. He broke into motion pictures when he sang the Adam Faith hit "What Do You Want?" in a scene from the film "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning" (1960). He wrote and recorded the singles "Over the Hills and Far Away" (1966), "Misty Morning Eyes" (1966) and "Rowbottom Square" (1967) which were co-penned by Les Reed, prior to fully focussing on songwriting. Among the results of their partnership were the singles "The Last Waltz" recorded by Engelbert Humperdinck which achieved a number 20 placing on the American Pop Charts in 1967, "Delilah" recorded by Tom Jones which achieved a number 15 placing on the American Pop Charts in 1968 and "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" recorded by Edison Lighthouse which achieved a number five placing on the American Pop Charts in 1970, in addition to gold record status. He was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his contributions to music in 2020.
Bio by: C.S.
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