Vic Flick, the man behind James Bond’s legendary guitar riff, dies aged 87

Session guitarist Vic Flick, who played the famous guitar riff on the James Bond theme, has died aged 87 his family has announced.

The musician, who played on the Dr No soundtrack with The John Barry Seven in 1962, also backed some of the biggest recording stars in the world including Dusty Springfield, Shirley Bassey, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Tom Jones, and Paul McCartney.

His son Kevin Flick shared on Facebook: “With great sadness my mother – Vic’s wife Judith, his grandchild Tyler and I must announce that my father Vic Flick passed away peacefully last Thursday and so ending his battle with Alzeihmers [sic].”

In lieu of flowers, the family said “donations to the charities St Judes and Alzeihmers [sic] are welcomed”.

Written by Monty Norman and arranged by John Barry, the original James Bond theme song — with its iconic twangy guitar riff — was inspired by Norman’s previous composition Good Sign, Bad Sign. When the producers of Dr No found Norman’s compositions were not working for the first James Bond film, Barry — then one of the biggest names in British pop music — was brought in to collaborate with the composer to make it more contemporary.

Flick was a key player in the John Barry Seven, with his guitar featuring heavily in many of their hits, and his riff became integral to the famous Bond theme song.

“That sort of heavy guitar sound made [John Barry] very happy,” Flick said in Jon Burlingame’s The Music of James Bond book. “It had an edge to it, sort of a dynamic sound. I went to his apartment, we talked about it and worked out what to do.

“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.”

The riff was played by Flick on an acoustic guitar through an amplifier which was then picked up by other microphones in the studio, giving it its unique sound. He was paid 7 pounds, 10 shillings for the session, and would go on to contribute to the first five Bond films as part of John Barry’s orchestra, including playing guitar on Shirley Bassey’s Goldfinger theme.

The authorship of the song became the subject of a long-running legal dispute between Norman and Barry, with Norman eventually recognised as the true author of the song.

Summing it up later, Flick said: “I would say it’s part Monty Norman’s talent, John Barry’s and mine, all put together. When you’re hearing it, you know it’s a James Bond movie.”

For th 2021 James Bond film No Time To Die, The Smiths’ Johnny Marr played the legendary riff on Hans Zimmer’s remake of the theme, and he summed up the piece of music’s legacy saying: “Growing up as a British boy in the late 60s, 70s, 80s, to me, the Bond theme should have guitar in it – especially the John Barry stuff.

“The sound of it to me, the guitar riff. It’s a super thrill to do it.”

Flick later returned to the series to play on the soundtrack for 1989’s Licence to Kill, for which he recorded an unused Bond theme song with Eric Clapton and composer Michael Kamen that resurfaced in 2022.

Alongside his work on the James Bond theme song, Flick was famous for playing on Ringo’s Theme (This Boy) in the 1964 The Beatles movie A Hard Day’s Night, and for playing on the Tom Jones hit It’s Not Unusual.

In 2013, Flick was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by The National Guitar Museum.

Victor Harold Flick: 14 May, 1937 – 14 November, 2024.