Can you like Tele's and not like Country Music?

[astro]

I will preface this by saying that I don't play country music.

I play in a loud rock/punk band. In another thread someone said something about most people here being of the country presuasion.

I also think that it isn't possible to like tele's and not at least like some country music? Tele's are so engrained in the culture of country music that if you are familar with the sound and tone of the instrument you have to like at least some country music.

I do.

I can't see a situation where someone would like tele's and not like at least some country music.

[Matt Plescher]

I agree. I don't play country either but I love the old stuff and a lot of the current non slick country out there.

But it seems a lot of folks around here don't like the slick Nashville sound. And you definately can't love the Tele sound and not like more traditional roadhouse country. (at least I don't think)

I like to think that since the Tele is such a versatile guitar, that Tele players would tend to like a broad spectrum of music. But maybe I'm wrong.

Cheers
Matt

[Mark Davis]

Whatever guitar you play shouldnt attach you to some type of music. Kinda like if I play a Strat do I have to automaticly play Hendrix and SRV songs? Of course not.

Same with Teles you dont have to automaticly play Buck and Merle songs

The Piano is most often associated with classical music but you can play rock jazz country on it and it sounds just fine same with guitars.

[John E]

I have to admit, I really am not much of a Country fan... Ok not really at all... Just not my thing, I'm just a Rocker/Jazzer/Funker at heart.

However, Since I joined this site my eyes have been opened waaay wide to the fact that most Country players are MONSTER players...

I'm constantly amazed at members of this site when they post sound clips... Spyder and Baard immediately come to mind because they post quite a bit, but every once in a while a 'lurker" will post some clips and knock my socks off! Scary... Not to mention the "inhuman" guys that I've been made familiar with thanks to the TDPRI, ie. Johnny Hiland, Redd V., Campilongo, Clarence, etc.,etc.,etc....

Whenever I start getting a big head I just listen to some of these guys to humble myself and push me to go further...

Hey I guess maybe I'll know that I'm good when I start to like Country Music

[Raymond]

First of all, Tellys are the only electric guitars I can play. I'm just a living room player who's mainly into rock.
"Officially", I don't like country music. "That' stuff that the wife listen to in the radio"....I think that the so called "pop country" is guilty of this misperception.
But, I "secretly" watch CMT of when I'm zapping I see someone playing a Tele. "No honey, I don't like country, but look: it's a Tele. I'm not even listening to the music, I'm just checking out the Tele for my project..."
But, as John has said, some of the "real" stuff is great. Besides, since I'm also an acoustic player and a wannabe writer, I really appreciate how country songwriters can express so much in song with some simple chords...
So there go, but please don't tell my wife....

[lewis]

Eric Erlandson, one of Drew Barrymore's old flames (who isn't?), put down some great distorted yet defined Tele/Esquire tones on the last Hole album. I still hear them even though it's been a few years.

[Brad]

No, I do not believe you have to like ( or play ) country music to enjoy, play or own a tele. As others so aptly stated, the type of guitar you play does not dictate what style of music you play. In 1980, my main guitar in my top 40 band was an Ibanez AS-200 ( now the John Scofield model ) semi-hollow. I got flack all the time from other players because I did not have the correct "look" and it wasn't a Kramer / Charvel single pickup van halen type guitar. I still played all the crappy songs of the day with my ( as one guy put it ) "Old man jazz guitar". I used a strat with a chorus in my first country band. That is, until the singers dad ( from Kentucky ) told me..."Son, yer geetar soundslikis undawadda". The next week I had put together a parts tele with a hipshot b & g bender. On of the great beauty's of a Telcaster is it's unique sound and versitility. Just think about all the incredible music of different genres that has been recorded with a telecaster. Jazz, County, Rock, Punk, Funk, Sould, Disco, Praise & Worship, Pop, Classical, World, and of course..my favorite.....BLUES! I appreciate how telecasters let the individuality of the player come through.

[lewis]

Eric Erlandson, one of Drew Barrymore's old flames (who isn't?), put down some great distorted yet defined Tele/Esquire tones on the last Hole album. I still hear them even though it's been a few years.

[Maggot]

Not to mention the first Hole album "Pretty on the Inside." Scary tele sounds!

[astro]

I'm not saying that there aren't great artist who use teles that don't play country. I am just saying that I find it hard to believe that there are people who really like tele's and don't at least like some country music.

I can be proved wrong though.

[halouis]

i grew up hating country music ...passionately. mostly because i worked in a country/biker bar + restaurant that featured mostly live country music. our own John E has played this joint recently. so when i was 14ys old up through college i heard it and hated it.

but now I love the good stuff. mostly the classic stuff (Merle, Cash, Waylon, Wille, etc) and some retro stuff like the Derailers. i have no uise for the nuevo-pop country.

that said i cant play a decen t country lick to save my life. I'll leaveiot to the pros. like Astro. I play loud and rude rock w/ some punk flare.

[Dacious]

There's a crossover point not too far back, only 50 years ago, where you can still hear where rock and blues diverged from country. Even in jazz, you can still hear some of those influences. If I could play as good as those guys, I'd love country too!

[ye olde fretmonkey]

hmmm...well, my band (www.gravyboattx.com) is far from being a straight-up country band. We're more in the vein of the Bottle Rockets or Jason and the Scorchers, lots of twang but still rock. That said, the 50s Classic/Peavey Classic combo that I play makes a great counterpoint to our other guitar player (Guild Sl00/Sovtek) and what always delights me is the way I can put the Tele on the rhythm pickup and it'll step right up for the Skynyrd-sounding stuff that we do, just as easily as I can get the chicken-pickin' twang out of it.

They really are a marvelously versatile instrument and that's part of the beauty of em...heck, Ed Bickert used his for jazz and got a convincing jazz-box sound out of it, rather than using a Gibson L5 or whatever.

[Andy B]

I don't play or listen to country music either. Tele's are blues guitars as far as I'm concerned. I've pretty much played them exclusively for the last 20 or so years. None are stock. I mod them to sound, play & look the way I want them to.

[ravenfan]

I like Teles and I don't like country music. I respect the players, their talent level and the tones they get, but that's where it ends. The music form just doesn't appeal to me. Especially the newer stuff that seems to be nothing but top 40 countdown stuff with a pedal steel in the background to get in played on mainstream country stations.

No offense to anyone. It takes... different strokes, it takes... different strokes to rule the world, yes it does

[Kevin]

I have to say that I really dislike most country music with a passion. I always liked Don Williams, Waylon, Willie, and Hank, Jr., though, so I can't say I hate all of it. I even liked the occasional George Jones....

Don't care much for Danny G. or most of the other "tele guys" either.

I like teles cos I think they are the ultimate rhythm guitar for plain ole rock & roll.

[0le FUZZY]

Can you like Tele's and not like Country Music?

<li>NOPE !! --------unless yew really want tew.

[fearofnormalcy]

....but i can't stand country. the only person i like that would be considered country is Johnny Cash, and i'll always argue that he's punk rock.
i play my tele exclusively, and nothing is remotely country, or blues for that matter. i grew up on punk/hardcore (minor threat, circle jerks, bad religion, black flag, husker du, etc.), and now i listen to and play indie/post-punk stuff (fugazi, jawbreaker, death cab for cutie, atreyu, pedro the lion, etc. ). a lot of non-country players use and love the tele.
by the way, the musical differences on this board are a true blessing. i've been led to some great music through some of the people on this board.

[genelovesjez]

I've always liked Telecasters, thanks to guys like Keith Richards and because they're just really cool guitars. The list of country artists I like is very short - more or less just Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash. And I really just associate them with acoutic guitars anyway. I'm definitely not into the chicken pickin stuff that is associated with country electrics, so I guess the answer is YES, you can like Telecasters and not like country.

I like casting against type!

[macc213]

I'm not a big fan of country music although I appreciate it. Teles are very versatile guitars.
I love Blues and Teles and the likes of
Albert Collins, Robin Ford, Muddy Waters and Mike Bloomfield.

[Pedalworld]

I HOPE SO!!!!!!

The only (borderline even) country I like is...


Jr Brown
Mavericks
Dwight Yoakum
old Elvis?

[Aaron Schiff]

Listen to the original "Rolling and Tumbling". However, I suppose that's pretty country, even if it is black and recorded in Chicago. Try Albert Collins. I love country, but my kind of country extends from 1930's Bob Wills to about 1970 and my idea of a great country guitar is a Gibson Super 400 or Epiphone Emperor. A good Tele combines inexpensiveness, simplicity, durability and great tonal flexibility. I use mine for blues, jazz, country and it does a great version of the Gregorian chant "Veni, Veni Emmanuel".

[Mike Better]

Well, I appreciate all you folks not liking country music and all..

But I always appreciated the TDPRI 'cuz it's the only gear site where a sizeable chunk of the population play c&w guitar, and most of the rest can appreciate it..

Mike

[hippietim]

I've never been a big country music fan. However, in recent years I have warmed up to it.

[FraKo]

Originally Posted by astro

I can't see a situation where someone would like tele's and not like at least some country music.

Astro,

I would say I'm neutral. Country music doesn't belong to my personal background, as here - in Italy, and I guess the same happens in most European Countries - country music simply doesn't exist. You can't hear it anywhere, unless you're a fan who strongly wants to find C'N'W records.

That's why isn't that simple to find used Tele's ( :( ) here. But I love this guitar, and though I'm respectful to ev'ry kind of music, I simply do not care about its country tradition. I play jazz, I use to spend 90% of my time on the neck pup: I do not have any country records, too. Not that I'm proud, of course, to miss country music in my musical culture is my fault: but I've to admit that I've got thousands records, most of them are Jazz and classic music, plus some blues (hey, there's a lot of tele's in that field!). I think that your thoughts probably suit most of the TDPRI'ers from the US, but outside your great Country the situation is different, IMHO.

[sjaak]

I agree that in Europe, you don't hear country on the radio (except for Ilse de Lange, or famous Dutch country/pop singer, heheh).
Only recently after listening to Mike Ness' solo album (the singer of Social Distortion) I got interested in some country and I'm now listening to Johnny Cash. Country is not really my music, but once a while some Johnny Cash.....
It's more because of punk and rock bands (The Clash, Dead kennedy's, The Hives) that I got interested in telecasters.

[Nick Fanis]

I live in a country were NOBODY listens to country music!(cause we do have our OWN country music w/ a 2000 year old history I guess....)
Most of the people don't even know who J.CASH is....

BUT I absolutely ADORE country music especially W.NELSON and J.CASH plus a a lot of the current country and americana bands.

I can't play country at all but the only guitar I'll use is a TELE and nothing but a tele on 95% of my projects (I am an active producer and songwriter and have a quite popular band).

To me the telecaster is the epitomy of electric guitar and surely the most versatile guitar EVER made (not to mention the only one that looks that good!)

[T Prior]

First off..I have a very strong opinion, which is shared by many of my Nashville Broadway Tele' slingin' friiends.

The answer of course is NO, you do not need to like , play or associate yourself with Country Music to own and play a Tele'..there are countless of players with a Tele' that are playing everything else but Country..and they will be quick to tell you that.

Keep in mind that this is ok..thank God there are many different styles of music for all of us to play and appreciate. Along with this there is an arsenal of gifted players playing Telecasters in venues other than Country. This is a good thing.

Now back to playing Country Music on the Tele'.

Country Music is not a style..it's a way of life, just like Jazz ,Blues or Classical..if you don't understand, respect and arppreciate the simplicity and the open feel you will not be able to play Country Music on your Tele'. You will play what you think are Country licks and Country songs but you won't be close.

A perfect example of this is the Kid Rock /Cheryl Crow tune "Picture". The guitar solo is pathetic, it is a rock player thinking that he can play Country 'cause playing Country is so easy, like so many think. You just bend a note here and there.

It's out of tune and obvious to a Country picker' that the player is not a Country Boy..The player is playing his guitar, not the song..

But it was a big hit..so what do I know..but it wasn't a hit because of the guitar solo I can assure you of that..

Once you understand, respect, appreciate and love the simplicity of the music then you will be able to play with the feeling required.

Why do you think everyone migrates to Tele' players playing Country licks..? it's because it is very exciting and outside of the boundaries of other forms of music where they are playing Tele's. Listening to some of the top dog Tele' pickers is an experience for sure...

Country Tele' players are not in a catagory of players that settle on a tone..place a stomp box in the signal chain and away we go.."NOT"...they must have the correct tone or they will never be happy. The must hear their Tele' coming thru . We, they, must hear the freshness of the round wound strings or it's a bust...

Very few Country Tele' pickers mask their tone with effects, they simply play their axes, play their licks and burn in the appropriate holes.

Ok here's the big one..

Country players can play Rock, Jazz, Blues, Classical, you name it..And there is a reason,. A true Country player has learned how to listen to a song before playing over it. My guess is that more than 50% of guitar owners playing all sorts of music have never taken the time to really listen to the tunes they are playing..they just play..

Most other catagory players cannot play Country..they think they can..but they cannot. It's not that they don't have the skill or talent, they don't have the "WANNA" factor..Most of my Jazz/Blues oriented player friends think that they are above just playing a simple D chord on the second fret. This is where their problem begins. They cannot play and never will be able to play Country music. They don't get it. They think they already can play Country music..A true blue Country pickin' Tele player will play a whole note D chord on the second fret and immediatley connect with the tone of his or her Tele'...and like it. This is called basic simplicity.

Think of it this way..
Country Music is major key Jazz...

Thats why some folks referred to the Country pickers jamming many years back as "Cow Jazz"...

If you don't understand the tunes, your axe, your amp and how to get the tone out of your Tele', you aint playiin' Country music, at least not today...

tp
40 years on the bandstand with a Tele' and still workin' at it

[Nick Fanis]

Country Music is not a style..it's a way of life, just like Jazz ,Blues or Classical

how true my friend,how true...

the same thing goes for blues,funk and any kind of music in fact.

this is what I'm trying to explain to the bands that I produce: playing IN a style is by far different than actually playing THE style.

when I listen to the countless Greek bands who play in the style of Radiohead and NEVER make it outside of Greece,whine about the injustice done to them I remind them that UK has loads of RADIOHEAD style bands that play THEIR kind of music,the one they were born into,and simply do their thing MUCH better than some Greek copycats !

(my drummer is a Berkley graduate and he told me a great anectode a guitar teacher told the class:

"guys next Monday A.COLLINS will play in the school's theater,he will play the blues,escorting him will be some of my pupils playing blues SCALES!")


how true.....

[sjfoote]

To me, it's all about tone. The Telcaster is capable of producing a a wide variety of tones, all of which I find appealing. While I do like old country music (1950's) it's not because I relate to the lifestyle, or that the players are the best, it's because those records SOUND so good (IMHO). On the other hand I also enjoy how Danny Gatton could make such beautiful mellow jazz sounds come from a tele. Or how about Roy Clark or Jimmy Bryant? Those guys were so smooth, unlike Roy Buchannon who was not smooth, but extremely talented. Duke Robillard nailed the sound also. Once again, I am drawn to those recordings because they sound so good to me.

But 180 degrees out of phase from those examples is the "Relayer" album from YES. Steve Howe got some of the best heavy rock sounds ever recorded with his tele - and I was instantly hooked on that record because it sounded so good.

So yeah, you can really love Telecasters and not be a country music fan......

[Lew UK]

im trying to think of something to say----but i will let my guitar do that whether it be country ,jazz,blues or whatever.i see it all as one and the same,just play true to yourself and the song.

Lew

[openbar]

[boogaloo]

like any particular kind of music to like a Telecaster. The instrument is genius in the fact that it is so simple yet produces (is capable of producing) such a variety of timbres and tones. A study in diversity and economy! As far as country music- I'm a closet fan myself. There were years in my younger days when the thought of liking anything "country" was repulsive to me. Then I began to hear the influences; where the "lines" crossed. How Irish folk music influenced Bluegrass, where "Country" and "Blues" and "Jazz" and "Rock" converge and diverge. My appreciation (OK, you might say "love") of country-influenced music started during my first stint in Texas in the Army. Elvis had just died, and my new friends from the south were listening to Waylon, Willie and the Boys...Charlie Daniels, Hank Williams... Yeah, it changed my mind and I can honestly say now I'm happy about it. I'm a Blues and Classic and Folk Rocker at heart, but there are some country and countrified CD's in 'ol Boogs collection! YeHaw!

['ol hank pank]

Works for me!

[Plastics71]

I too am not a fan of country music. Maybe I can blame my "Yankee" upbringing as well. I don't even know where CMT is on my cable box.
I have been an on again off again hack jumping from alt rock and classic rock for about 16 years now.
All the while plunking away at Teles.

But I respect Country music. Why? Because a half century ago it came down from the hills and over the plains and met up with the mean old man called the Blues and they had a kid named Rock 'n' Roll!!!

It comes down to that simple "Chunka-Chunka" rhythym riff that Chuck Berry has built nearly his entire catalog on. A riff that Keith has used generously with the Stones.

Just like when you learned that A, D and E- the Three Chord Trinity of Rock 'n' Roll- can be used for Wild Thing, Louie Louie. etc etc.....you learn that this "chunka" rhythym can be used anywhere-

Johnny B. Goode
Surfin Safari
Do You Believe in Magic?
Revolution
Once Bitten Twice Shy
Just What I Needed
Rock This Town
Ball and Chain

BUT- it is also used in

Hey Good Lookin
Tulsa Time
Friends In Low Places....
(that's my limitof Country but I have heard a ton of country songs where this riff is used but not sure of the titles- maybe someone can help here)

Point is- all genres have used it, so both country and rock alike have based some of it's best offerings around this important classic riff. Listen to some of the modern or alt rock out there (especially the Strokes, Hives and White Stripes) and you'll find a guitarist resting on this trusty riff somewhere for at least a few bars!!

So, I may not like country but I respect it as our musical cousin.

and FINALLY, this simple riff sounds PERFECT ON THE TELECASTER!!!!!

(phew)

[wes]

It just so happened that some of the finest country guitar players have used Teles. This does not mean you have to like Country music to appreciate the tone and taste of a Tele in the hands of a great country picker. I played a Gretch for many years and loved it's tone for my music, but I never cared for Atkin's style. I happen to be a Les Paul fan, but when I play a Les Paul it has nothing to do with him. It's just a great sounding guitar for all types of music. So, it has little to do with linking a guitar to a certain genre. What sounds best for what you are doing is the right thing.

[jerome]

Anyone who owns a tele must smile when they hear 'ol Don's pickin' on Buck's " Before You Go"...I don't care if you make sound poems about necrophilia.

[JDO]

i say yes, you can like tele's and not like country. that was me. i bought a tele for versatility in mostly rock/blues types of playing. but i can tell you that since i have gotten my tele, i have started listening to some country (the new stuff - i don't know why everyone hates it so much).
so i guess it's kind of a yes turned into a maybe for me.

[Chrismeyer]

MAN! I was under the impression that this board was 99% country fans/players,but I guess this was wrong.
I have to say a few things though.
I was in a Hard rock Band for 9 years(I'm 28),and I loved it,I'd been doing it since I was 10,but about 1996,I began listening to country from Hank Sr.to Faith Hill everything in between.( I do want to say that Kid Rock playing country is just SICK"in a bad way,not sick in a gen-x way")
BUT,now I just started a new country band and it's like the new stuff,but I'm learning the REAL country way of playing,it's just gonna take a while to get there.
I love the new stuff,it's like Melloncamp,or Dylan.I love the fusion of country/rock music with the soul of country.
I just think it's the natural progression of the style.Do you think that Hank sr. ever would have thought that Conway Twitty was "country"?
The thing about country now is there is something for everyone.I LOVE Marty Stuart,Brooks and Dunn,AND Johnny Cash(he's a god),and Glen Campbell,heck,I interviewed Mark Chesnut for a T.V. show and we sat on his bus watching the Glen Campbell hour on his plasma T.V.,and it was all the best of J.Cash,B.Owens,I "Get" the history and submerse myself in it,I'm at wsm650 on the Am dial every saturday night listening to the Oprey,just like the good 'ole days,but CMT kicks A too!
I guess what I'm saying is,Where I thought it was all country,is just all MUSIC!
The Tele truly is the most well thought out guitar in history,from RadioHead to Conway.
Can't all the music just get along????
Glad to be here guy's and gals.

[bri]

It's a matter of practicality largely..... other guitars come off lacking when you try to play country.
Brian