.... this has been.
No sooner have I almost recovered from the shock of having Jet Harris sign our website guestbook than I get an email from another Sixties musician who was, and still is, a hero to many guitarists of a certain age.
Vic Flick is perhaps best known for his legendary guitar work with John Barry on the James Bond Theme. John Barry was impressed with the way he managed to combine showmanship with an amazing technical ability.
By 1960 he had become on-stage leader of the Seven, as Barry worked his way to composing more music off stage, and less touring with the group. Flick's debut track as a composer was the outstanding "Zapata" including his highly innovative signature "fade-intro" sounds.
Writing new music, and increasing time as a session player, made him a highly sought after freelance artist, even as he toured with the Seven until August of 1963. Flick has worked alongside Burt Bacharach, Herman's Hermits, Tom Jones, Henry Mancini, Jimmy Page, Cliff Richard, Diana Ross, Nancy Sinatra, and countless more legendary recording artists. Flick, who resides today in Santa Monica, California, has written for television and films since those British recording studio days, serving variously as both composer and conductor.John Barry-scored films also relied often on Flick's lead work, including six of the first seven "Barry Bonds" for United Artists. Flick's memorable Spanish guitar strains for "From Russia with Love's" splendid gypsy camp battle and dance scenes, for one notable example, bring the film much of its provocative moody feel when combined with Ted Moore's haunting cinematography and Sean Connery and cast's stellar onscreen performances. Flick's work on banjo gave a peppy feel to the "Goldfinger" soundtrack, which set numerous milestones as the most popular movie soundtrack album ever recorded, and the Barry/Bricusse/Newley title track is well covered here.For the top recognisable tune of modern times, John Barry had but a few short days to arrange and record "The James Bond Theme" with his Seven plus an orchestra, getting a phone call on a Saturday and cutting the first take the next Wednesday, just three weeks before "Dr. No" opened in 1962 to enchanted audiences worldwide. Flick's lead on the tune helped drive three generations and half of the world's population to see the Bond movies.
You can catch up with all the latest news about Vic on his excellent website at http://www.vicflick.com/ . I found the sound files containing reminiscences from the Sixties session scheme especially fascinating. You can find them here.
I have also reproduced his email to Vintage Sixties Live in full here
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