Dewells "Dee" Barton Jr. (September 18, 1937 — December 3, 2001) was an American composer, arranger, and jazz multi-instrumentalist. He was known for his association with the Stan Kenton Orchestra and his work in big band. He was also known for his film scores, frequently collaborating with Clint Eastwood.

Dee Barton was born in Houston, Mississippi, in 1937. The family moved to Starkville, Mississippi, in 1941. His father became the band director at Starkville High School. "My dad brought home an old E flat mellophone and at the age of three I figured out the fingerings on it," said Barton. Barton later took up the trombone. He practiced in the school band room for 10 hours a day, and was able to help when his father was ill. Barton was able to take over his father's work and teach all of his classes for two years to keep the Starkville High School job running.

Barton went on to attend Murray State University and after that North Texas State University where he was a member of the famed One O'Clock Lab Band under Gene Hall and Leon Breeden. In 1957 Barton already had a reputation and wanted to study composition at North Texas State University but had no money. Dr. Gene Hall, head of the department of music, arranged a full scholarship for Barton.

Barton early on had an ambition to join the Stan Kenton Orchestra. He first met Kenton backstage at a concert in 1953 when Barton was 15. "Stan was very strange in one sense," said Barton. "He never forgot the name of anybody I ever saw him meet. I didn't see him until two years later when I'd grown some. So I was surprised when he called me by name."

Determined then to get away from Mississippi, Barton went on the road in 1956 with Ralph Marterie's big band. "He was not a kind man, and it was a most unpleasant experience that almost turned me against the road altogether." He left the band in New York three weeks later and replaced an absent trombonist in the Maynard Ferguson Big Band. He also worked with the Charlie Spivak band during that time.

While Barton was attending school, Stan Kenton came to teach at a music clinic at North Texas State University in August 1959. Kenton became very familiar with Barton's playing and writing abilities. In 1961, at the age of 23, Barton joined Kenton's orchestra in the trombone section. His compositions Waltz of the Prophets and Turtle Talk were recorded as part of Kenton's Grammy award-winning album Adventures in Jazz. He served on three other major Capitol releases in the trombone section. Barton also acted as a substitute for Kenton's drummer on occasion and in June 1962 he gave up a trombone chair and became the band's drummer recording on Adventures in Time in September 1962, as well as four subsequent Kenton releases. He eventually left the band in late 1963 to pursue a wider music career in Los Angeles. He returned for short tours in 1967 worked with Kenton as drummer and arranger on the album The World We Know and Finian's Rainbow (1968). The highlight of Barton's tenure with Kenton came on the Capitol release Stan Kenton Conducts the Jazz Compositions of Dee Barton where he is showcased as both composer and drummer.

Barton moved to Los Angeles and eventually wrote the scores for more than 50 Hollywood films. In his spare time he ran a big band that played regularly at Donte's, a North Hollywood night-club. It was there Clint Eastwood heard Barton's music, eventually commissioning him to write the scores for the films Play Misty For Me (1971), High Plains Drifter (1973), Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) and Every Which Way But Loose (1978). Barton also contributed to the writing for five other Eastwood films, including Dirty Harry (1971) and Magnum Force (1973). Barton worked as a music consultant for Frank Sinatra, the Rolling Stones, Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett, John Lennon and others. He helped Jimmy Webb with the composition of MacArthur Park and later wrote an arrangement of the tune for Stan Kenton.

In 1973 Barton moved to Memphis TN to become musical director for the William B. Tanner Company (recording studio, media, jingle writing). He worked there until 1988 when he left to work independently and teach seminars at schools. During that decade, he also scored several films for Earl Owensby Studios, a low-budget B-movie studio based in North Carolina.