Vic Flick(1937-2024)

Vic Flick was born in Worcester Park, Surrey in 1937. His interest in music started in his early teens, when he joined a band led by his piano-playing father; a band that also included his brother on saxophone and a neighbour on violin. Although he could already read music and play the piano, he felt the band was missing one vital ingredient, a guitar, and so he decided to take up the instrument. At that time - the mid-fifties - the guitar was not the universal instrument it has since become; in fact it was really only used as a rhythm instrument in big bands. Flick only took four lessons, but with the added benefit of many hours of listening to records and practising, he soon became good enough to take his place alongside his father and brother in their band. His first attempt at a professional career saw him with Les Clarke and his Musical Maniacs at a Butlin's Holiday Camp in Skegness. After a winter's worth of unemployment - interrupted only by a sporadic gig or two - he decided to link up again with his brother Alan. They agreed to form the Vic Alan Quintet, and successfully auditioned for a summer season at another Butlin's, this time in Clacton. The resident bandleader was a big name indeed, Eric Winstone, and at the auditions he quickly realised that Flick was a rare bird indeed, a young musician who could actually read music.

Before long, Flick found himself working, not only with his own Quintet, but also with Winstone's band throughout the entire engagement at Butlin's. So impressed was Winstone with Flick, he offered him more work afterwards for gigs and broadcasts for BBC radio. Flick's name soon became synonymous with a certain slick professionalism, technical expertise and an easy-going nature, and it must have come as no surprise in the business when he was asked to join the Bob Cort Skiffle group, as a replacement for Ken Sykora on guitar. When the Cort group got a good break as support act to a JB7 backed Paul Anka on his nationwide UK tour during the winter of 1957, the meeting of two musical minds was inevitable. Eight months down the line, Barry's phone call invitation for him to join the John Barry Seven changed his life forever. It was the classic offer he couldn't refuse, and almost before he had put pen to paper, he was deep in rehearsals for a 20-minute spot at the Metropolitan. Five days after what was a successful debut, Flick made his first appearance on On Boy! as a fully fledged member of the band. It was the first of many TV appearances.

The guitar became a feature of the band's act and also their recordings for EMI's Columbia label at Abbey Road Studios. Studio 2 was a regular location, and at times Flick felt he was almost living there, such was the workload. He has special memories of recording 'Hit And Miss', forever embedded in the minds of all who recall those times as the signature tune to an early Saturday night pop icon, the BBC's Juke Box Jury. He also remembers the recording of 'Walk Don't Run', for which Barry was keen to produce a guitar sound completely different to the one produced on the American original by the Ventures. To achieve it, Flick used a Bigsby tremolo arm attachment to sustain a distinctive vibrato effect. As he didn't possess one, he had to borrow from the other guitarist on the session, Eric Ford. To this day, Flick still believes that the take that was eventually chosen - the one that found itself in the Top Ten some weeks later - was the one on which he had over-done the tremolo!

The recording of the John Barry album, Stringbeat, was another turning point in his career. Guitar featured prominently throughout the fifteen-track album and his ability was noted by several of the violinists on the session, who doubled as "fixers" (orchestra contractors). Soon he found himself heavily in demand to play on sessions for other artists, work which became so time-consuming he was forced to leave the JB7 in 1963, having led the band on stage for a couple of years.

He also developed his writing skills and when session work began to dry up in the late seventies, he began arranging and writing for TV and film. He worked with composer Richard Robbins on some of his assignments for James Ivory & Ismail Merchant, and solo projects included the score for Autobiography of a Princess and Sir Ivor. His biography, Vic Flick, Guitarman, was published in August 2008.

Vic Flick married Judy in 1960 and they had two children. The couple live in Las Vegas, Nevada.