• Source: Vic Flick

Victor Harold Flick (14 May 1937 – 14 November 2024) was an English studio guitarist, best known for playing the guitar riff in the "James Bond Theme".




Early life


Flick was born in Surrey on 14 May 1937. Both of his parents were involved with music – his father taught piano and his mother sang. He began playing guitar when he was fourteen.




Career


In the late 1950s, Flick joined the John Barry Seven who had a hit with his 1961 composition called “Zapata”. His guitar work is prominent on "Hit and Miss", the theme song of the television show Juke Box Jury.
On the Dr. No soundtrack, he was lead guitarist on the track "James Bond Theme". Flick continued to contribute to the James Bond soundtracks from the 1960s through the late 1980s. One of Flick's guitars, a Clifford Essex Paragon De Luxe, on which he played the original "James Bond Theme", was displayed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
Flick worked with many recording artists, including Dusty Springfield, Nancy Sinatra, Cliff Richard, Shirley Bassey among countless others. He played his Vox 12 string guitar on Peter and Gordon's 1964 # 1 record "A World Without Love". He is heard on all of Tom Jones' early hits including “It's Not Unusual” and “What’s New Pussycat?”, and is the guitarist for the number 1 song “Downtown” by Petula Clark. He recorded with Herman's Hermits, playing the distinctive guitar riff in the intro and bridge of "Silhouettes", a 1965 UK Top 5 hit. With the George Martin Orchestra, he plays solo guitar, using his Olympic white 1961 Fender Stratocaster, on the song “Ringo's Theme (This Boy)” of the Beatles' 1964 film “A Hard Day's Night”, heard on the American soundtrack album. He was also the guitarist for Paul McCartney's "Thrillington" album.
Flick also collaborated with Merchant Ivory Productions as composer/music arranger for Autobiography of a Princess (1975), The Europeans (1979), Quartet (1981), and Heat and Dust (1983).
In 1999, Flick worked with composer Nic Raine, backed by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, on the James Bond tribute album titled Bond Back in Action. In 2003, he recorded the album James Bond Now, featuring tracks from James Bond movies and new compositions.
In 2005, he played on the soundtrack of the From Russia With Love video game by Electronic Arts.
On 5 October 2012, Vic Flick was honoured at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for "The Music of Bond: The First 50 Years." He played the "James Bond Theme" to a live audience, on his 1939 Clifford Essex Paragon De Luxe “James Bond” Guitar. He also was interviewed on stage by Jon Burlingame, a writer on the subject of music for film and television. He was also presented with the "Lifetime Achievement Award" in 2013 by The National Guitar Museum for "contribution to the history of the guitar." He was the fourth recipient of the annual award.




Personal life and death


In 1960, Flick married Judith Reavil; they had two children, one of whom predeceased them in 2000.
In 2008, his autobiography, Vic Flick Guitarman: From James Bond to The Beatles and Beyond, was published by Bearmanor Media.
Flick appeared on a 2013 episode of the History Channel show, Pawn Stars, titled "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service". He brought in his 1961 Fender Stratocaster guitar to shop owner Rick Harrison, who, after consulting Jesse Amoroso, settled on a price of $55,000 for the guitar. In 2014, the guitar sold at auction for $25,000. This guitar is owned by a private collector in Melbourne, Australia.
Flick died of complications from Alzheimer's disease at a care facility in Los Angeles on 14 November 2024, at the age of 87.




Musical credits


Through some of London's top recording studios in the 1960's and 1970's like Decca Studios, Vic Flick played on original recordings with many famous musical artists including:

The Walker Brothers – The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)
Englebert Humperdinck – Can't Take My Eyes Off You
Burt Bacharach – Trains and Boats and Planes
Dusty Springfield – I Only Want to Be with You
Herman's Hermits – No Milk Today
B.J. Thomas – Hooked on a Feeling
Cliff Richard – Theme for a Dream
Sandie Shaw – Puppet On A String
Cilla Black – You're My World
Bee Gees – Spicks & Specks
John Williams – Romanza
These song credits were researched in 2023 from Vic's own personal documentation which is also briefly seen on the YouTube video of Vic Flick visiting Pawn Stars in 2013.




Discography


West of Windward – 1968 – Rediffusion
Bond Back in Action (Featured/1999)
James Bond Now (2003)




Notes






References






External links


Official website
Vic Flick at IMDb
Vic Flick discography at Discogs
John Barry Website (review of Vic Flick Guitarman: From James Bond to the Beatles and Beyond)
Guitarist Vic Flick on "Goldfinger" and the James Bond Theme on YouTube
James Bond 007 Theme Tune (original) on YouTube
Vic Flick Interview at NAMM Oral History Library (2014)
Vintage Guitar File – 1961 Fender Stratocaster
Guitarist Vic Flick on Pawn Stars on YouTube

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