Vic Flick

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English guitarist (1937–2024)

title: "Vic Flick" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1937-births", "2024-deaths", "english-session-musicians", "english-pop-guitarists", "english-male-guitarists", "musicians-from-the-london-borough-of-sutton", "people-from-worcester-park", "deaths-from-alzheimer's-disease-in-california", "20th-century-english-male-musicians", "21st-century-english-male-musicians", "21st-century-british-autobiographers", "20th-century-english-guitarists", "21st-century-english-guitarists", "musicians-from-surrey"] description: "English guitarist (1937–2024)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vic_Flick" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary English guitarist (1937–2024) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]

FieldValue
imageVic Flick 1989.jpg
nameVic Flick
captionFlick in 1989
backgroundnon_vocal_instrumentalist
birth_nameVictor Harold Flick
birth_date
birth_placeWorcester Park, Surrey, England
death_date
death_placeLos Angeles, California, U.S.
occupation
genreFilm score
years_active1957–2012
past_member_of
associated_actsLed Zeppelin, Tom Jones, Herman's Hermits, The Beatles, Bee Gees,
::

| image = Vic Flick 1989.jpg | image_size = | name = Vic Flick | caption = Flick in 1989 | background = non_vocal_instrumentalist | birth_name = Victor Harold Flick | alias = | birth_date = | birth_place = Worcester Park, Surrey, England | death_date = | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | occupation = | instrument = | genre = Film score | years_active = 1957–2012 | past_member_of = | associated_acts = Led Zeppelin, Tom Jones, Herman's Hermits, The Beatles, Bee Gees,

Victor Harold Flick (14 May 1937 – 14 November 2024) was an English studio guitarist, prominent in the 1960s and known for playing the guitar riff in the "James Bond Theme".

Early life

Flick was born in Worcester Park, 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

By the mid 1950s, Flick worked regularly in bands at Butlin's holiday camps, where he was seen and recruited by bandleader Eric Winstone for his BBC radio shows. He also joined the Bob Cort Skiffle Group, who toured Britain with Paul Anka in 1957. contributing guitar to the soundtrack of the 1960 film Beat Girl starring Adam Faith. His guitar work is prominent on "Hit and Miss", the theme song of the television show Juke Box Jury.

Flick left the John Barry Seven in 1963 and established himself as one of the leading session guitarists in London. 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.Although maintained by Flick, this was disputed by Karl Green of Herman’s Hermits in an interview on the Sky Arts programme “The British Invasion”. With the George Martin Orchestra, he plays solo guitar, using his Olympic white 1961 Fender Stratocaster, on the song "Ringo's Theme (This Boy)" in 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:

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

References

  1. Barnes, Mike. (19 November 2024). "Vic Flick, Guitarist on the James Bond Theme Song, Dies at 87". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
  2. Lindner, Emmett. (20 November 2024). "Vic Flick, Guitarist Who Plucked the James Bond Theme, Dies at 87". [[the New York Times]].
  3. and he joined his father's dance band.Max Decharne, "The Engine Room: Vic Flick", ''Record Collector'', No.567, February 2025, p.128
  4. He met [[John Barry (composer). 978-0-275-99860-8, p. 31-2
  5. "Juke Box Jury".
  6. "'Songwriters to soundmen. Vic Flick. Part 1.' - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum". Catalog.rockhall.com.
  7. (July 31, 2023). "The Vic Flick Documented List of Song and Movie Credits". Vintage Electric.
  8. Harrington, Patrick and Bobby Graham, The Session Man; The story of Bobby Graham the UK’s greatest session drummer, Broom House, Monmouthshire, 2004 p. 107
  9. "The British Invasion".
  10. "Autobiography of a Princess (1975) - IMDb".
  11. "The Europeans (1979) - IMDb".
  12. "Quartet (1981) - IMDb".
  13. "Quartet (1981) - IMDb".
  14. (2007-03-27). "Bond Back in Action". Silvascreenusa.com.
  15. (2005-09-10). "James Bond 007". Mi6-hq.com.
  16. "The Music of Bond: The First 50 Years | Events Presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences". Oscars.org.
  17. "The National GUITAR Museum Announces Presentation of "Lifetime Achievement" Award to Tommy Emmanuel".
  18. [https://web.archive.org/web/20131215051644/http://www.history.com/shows/pawn-stars/videos/pawn-stars-no-shoes-no-shirt-no-service Pawn Stars: No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service] (archived from [http://www.history.com/shows/pawn-stars/videos/pawn-stars-no-shoes-no-shirt-no-service the original] on 2013-12-15)
  19. "Vic Flick Owned And Played 1961 Fender Stratocaster".

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1937-births2024-deathsenglish-session-musiciansenglish-pop-guitaristsenglish-male-guitaristsmusicians-from-the-london-borough-of-suttonpeople-from-worcester-parkdeaths-from-alzheimer's-disease-in-california20th-century-english-male-musicians21st-century-english-male-musicians21st-century-british-autobiographers20th-century-english-guitarists21st-century-english-guitaristsmusicians-from-surrey