The main signature theme of the James Bond films have been used in every official Eon Productions Bond movie since Dr. No in 1962, and has been used as an accompanying fanfare to the gun barrel sequence in every James Bond film since From Russia With Love in 1963. Well, except one (they opted not to use it in the 2006 film series reboot Casino Royale). Still, this theme is nothing less than one of the best known instrumentals of our time.
The James Bond Theme was written by Monty Norman, who has successfully defended twice in courts against claims from John Barry that he wrote it. Barry is however credited with arranging the piece.
The theme was recorded on 21 June 1962, using five saxophones, nine brass instruments, a rhythm section, and crucially: a solo guitar. The distinctive guitar part is often referred to as The James Bond Guitar Theme.
The man who played that solo guitar and breathed life into the famous Bond guitar theme is Victor “Vic” Flick, born in Surrey in May 1937. The dramatic flair and overall tone was completely down to the guitarist.
Flick was already well familiar with Bond music writer and arranger John Barry, having joined the John Barry Seven in 1958. Barry had formed the band after abandoning his original career path of arranging for big bands. Flick quickly made his mark by writing and playing many well-known guitar riffs with them – such as the theme for the popular TV show Juke Box Jury, as well as for the BBC show Drumbeat.
Eventually he left the group in 1962 due to increasing demands on his time as a session player outside of the group. This might have been a wise decision. It was his renown (and availability) as a session player that led Vic Flick to be hired to play a guitar based theme for the first Bond-movie, Dr. No.
Flick’s very guitar lines are really what most of us think of when we think of the James Bond Theme. His parts were originally recorded with the 1939 English Clifford Essex Paragon Deluxe guitar, plugged into a Fender Vibrolux amp.
His technique and unique way of inserting tension into into his playing made his performance extremely suitable for the Bond series. Other guitar players would no doubt have been able to play the theme well, but as each guitar player has their own feel, who knows if something else would have felt similar? It was the uneasiness in Flick’s playing that made the producer’s ears perk up and put it all over the first movie. A different take might not have led to the same adaption.
The initial Bond recording session may have brought Flick fame (eventually), but it didn’t make him rich. His payment was a one-time amount of £6 British Sterling. With a royalty-based deal he would have been a wealthy man today.
What the session did do was open doors to future work, including a lot of continued work on the Bond film series. Flick continued to contribute to the James Bond soundtracks from the 1960s through the late 1980s, firmly establishing himself as the guy who reliably could conjure up that unique feel of the James Bond guitar lines in various forms.
Outside of Bond, Flick was frequently in demand as a session player until he stepped down from session work in 1983. For a while this led him to be featured on several UK pop records, particularly in the 1960s.
He was also proud of his association with The Beatles, contributing to the soundtrack of the A Hard Day’s Night and Help! films. In the former, he performed Ringo’s Theme (This Boy) on his famous Olympic white 1961 Fender Stratocaster (the same model that Hendrix had and played upside down), which can be heard in the background during Ringo’s scenes on the riverbank. In Help!, he even appears briefly on camera, playing a pastiche of the Bond guitar theme, no less!
He also performed on hit albums with Herman’s Hermits, Bee Gees, Tom Jones, Cliff Richard, Paul McCartney, Lulu, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Nancy Sinatra, Dusty Springfield, Walker Brothers, Burt Bacharach and too many others to mention.
While Flick wasn’t involved in newer Bond movies from the mid-90s onward, he was far from forgotten. Flick was invited to play on the soundtrack to the From Russia With Love video game by Electronic Arts, released in 2005.
On 5 October 2012, 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 on his 1939 Clifford Essex Paragon De Luxe ‘James Bond’ Guitar to a live audience, and was interviewed on stage.
In 2013, he was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by The National Guitar Museum for “contribution to the history of the guitar.” He was the fourth recipient of the award.
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