5 NOTABLE NON-ROCK BAND BITS OF ELECTRIC GUITAR PLAYING

James Bond Theme

British guitarist Vic Flick is the guy who provided the tension-filled twang that became the prototypical spy riff. Devised for the first Bond film ‘Dr. No’ in 1962, it fits in well with the Dick Dale-style picking of that era.

There’s some controversy regarding who wrote it. The tune is credited to Monty Norman, who was hired to do the full soundtrack. Norman was replaced by John Barry, who went on to become one of the great film composers. Norman has successfully sued anyone who questioned his authorship of the number, but there has been speculation that Barry touched it up somewhere along the line. (A couple of Barry’s other Bond melodies - ‘You Only Live Twice’ and ‘Diamonds are Forever’ - have been sampled in hits by Robbie Williams and Kanye West).

Rockford Files Theme Guitar Solo

A terrific television theme with a badass hard rock guitar breakdown in the middle. The guitar part has a very 1970’s Southern California feel to it, a bit like an Eagles sound, except with some real muscle. Mike Post composed the theme, but I don’t know who the guitarist is.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

The guitar takes over from the main theme about 16 bars into this tour de force movie piece. It adds a fitting toughness to the sound, and brings the melody to a climax.

Performed in 1966, presumably by some session player in the employ of composer Ennio Morricone, it features the reverb-soaked picking that characterized the surf guitar sound.

Spiderman Theme

Listen carefully and you can hear some groovy 16th note guitar doubling up the bass line. It really gives a superb tune some added zest. It sounds like the guitarist is palm-muting the strings a bit to help it mesh with the bass. A blend of taste and panache.

Exciter Boy Theme

Excellent Eastern-influenced pseudo-psychedelic wah-wah guitar refrain composed for short-lived British animated kids show. (Note that the voice of Exciter Boy nemisis Ivory Stinger was performed by Pallenbergs guitarist/vocalist Una Kahani).