“It came out exciting, almost attacking, which fit the James Bond image”: Vic Flick, who played the Bond theme guitar riff, dies aged 87

It’s one of the most famous guitar riffs of all time - the twanging open E string riff in the James Bond theme. And the man who played it was Vic Flick.

Vic passed away on 14 November, and is remembered as “a musicians’s musician”.

It was his connection to composer John Barry that led to his part in the Bond theme. Vic had performed in The John Barry Seven, and in 1962, when Barry was hired to work on the soundtrack to the first Bond movie, Dr. No, Vic was the guitar player he turned to.

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The theme song was written by Monty Norman and rearranged by Barry with the guitar riff front and centre. Vic recorded it on a 1939 English Clifford Essex Paragon Deluxe guitar plugged into a Fender Vibrolux amplifier.

Vic would later recall: “It had an edge to it, sort of a dynamic sound. I overplayed it – leaned into those thick low strings with the very hard plectrum, played it slightly ahead of the beat, and it came out exciting, almost ‘attacking’, which fit the James Bond image.”

In an interview with Guitar Player magazine, he attributed the “mysterious, powerful sound” to the plectrum and strings he used. “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. It was a sound we created, to a certain extent, and it had a bite that they loved.”

Astonishingly, Vic received a modest one-off payment for his services: £6.

Later on, his work for the Bond franchise continued. Mist famously, he played on the theme song to Goldfinger, sung by Shirley Bassey.

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As a highly respected session musician, Vic played on an array of hit songs including Tom Jones’ It’s Not Unusual and What’s New Pussycat? and Petula Clark’s Downtown. He also appeared on the track Ringo’s Theme (This Boy) for The Beatles’ 1964 movie A Hard Day’s Night. And among the artists he worked with were Eric Clapton, Dusty Springfield, Cliff Richard and Jimmy Page.