Eric Clapton is a proper British musician. Hence, it makes sense why he was asked to write the theme song for a James Bond movie. For a British musician, having the opportunity to write a Bond theme is seemingly a rite of passage. British musicians to complete the feat include Adele, Paul McCartney, Sam Smith, and several others.
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Clapton nearly made that list for the 1989 Bond installment, License to Kill. However, when some plans went astray, Clapton and his work never got the chance to appear in the film. This was of course, a largely missed opportunity, as Gladys Knight’s rendition isn’t necessarily the most memorable Bond tune out there. Though, Clapton’s surely would have been.
Why Eric Clapton & His Cut Never Made The Big Screen
Sometime before the film’s 1989 release, the producers of the film contacted Clapton’s team and offered him the opportunity to write the License to Kill theme song. Subsequently, Clapton and the Bond composer, Michael Kamen got to work, and that is also when the famed Bond guitarist, Vic Flick came into the picture.
In 2009, Flick told Permission To Kill, “It was a call out of the blue. Michael Kamen wanted a dark guitar sound to compliment the melody and extemporization Eric Clapton was going to do on their composition.” “It was good to see Eric again after many years, and it was wonderful to work with those two gifted musicians,” and “Eric played some amazing guitar on the track, and Michael worked out a fine arrangement. I did my thing with a counter theme in the low register,” added Flick.
Despite Flick’s belief in the project, the producers of the film did not see eye-to-eye with Clapton and the rest of the team. Flick recalled, “I waited, Michael waited, and Eric was off doing his thing somewhere in the world. After two weeks came the news that the Bond producers wanted a song as a theme” and “[They] commissioned Gladys Knight and the Pips, and blew out the track that Michael, Eric and I submitted.” Per Flick’s comments, it seems the film’s producers maybe wanted something a bit more poppy and elegant, not bluesy and ruff.
Following the disapproval, the track was lost. To this day, it seems no one has officially found the recording. Concerning the lost track, Flick added, “The one person who I thought knew, Michael Kamen, has since passed away – so the secret has passed with him.” The video below is allegedly the missing track.
Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images
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