Vic Flick, the session musician known for playing the famed guitar riff in the James Bond theme tune, has died. He was 87.
The death was announced by his son Kevin on social media.
Flick, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, died on 14 November.
Born on 14 May 1937 in Surrey, UK, Flick’s foray into music was fairly irregular. After the end of World War II, he joined a band with his father and brother, and did odd jobs before finally deciding to pursue music.
He bought a small Gibson Kalamazoo at 14 and recalled practising on it “until the tips of my fingers bled” in his book Guitarman.
The iconic James Bond theme was recorded in 1962, with Flick playing a key role in shaping the tune as we know it today, along with arranger John Barry and composer Monty Norman.
In an interview, Flick said the music editor wasn’t happy with the first theme that was written.
“I said, ‘Take it down an octave, make it grungy like Beat Girl. Get that sound going.’ That and the brass punched the Bond films to success,” he told Guitar Player magazine in 2021.
Playing the riff on a 1939 English Clifford Essex Paragon Deluxe guitar plugged into a Fender Vibrolux amplifier, Flick recorded the distinctive tune that played in the first James Bond film Dr No and got paid a one-off fee of £6.
“I placed the DeArmond pickup near the bridge. I put a crushed cigarette packet underneath it to get it nearer the strings. That helped to get that round sound. Most important, sound-wise, was the Vox AC15 amplifier. I used it on tour. It wouldn’t let me down – until it fell eight feet into a music pit and disintegrated,” he said.
“[The guitar] was picked up by the mics for the orchestra, and it gave the guitar a mysterious, powerful sound. It was a sound we created, to a certain extent, and it had a bite that they loved. It was all go, go, go from then on.”
Flick went on to perform on the soundtrack of multiple James Bond films, including From Russia With Love and Goldfinger. He also played with Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Tom Jones, Dusty Springfield, and the Beatles.
“I knew Sir George [Martin] when he was working at Abbey Road EMI. He had a bit of an attitude, a bit of, ‘I say, old chap, come on.’ He’d ask the fixers, or contractors, to line up session musicians,” he said.
“Mostly, the Beatles kept apart, sitting at the table in the corner, unlike the session guys who would come in and spread themselves all over the place. I did some special pieces, like ‘This Boy’ theme in A Hard Day’s Night, where I play my Fender Strat when Ringo is walking along the river.”
In 2013, Flick was given the lifetime achievement award by the National Guitar Museum. “We have been proud of our association with him. He will be missed,” a spokesperson said.
Flick is survived by his wife Judy Reavil, son Kevin, and a grandchild.
