Greatest moments in Tele history

[zooropamofo]

Originally Posted by RomanS

Hmm, didn't Luther mostly play Jazzmasters by the time the Folsom Prison gig was recorded?
But I agree, Luther Perkisn joining Johnny Cash with a Tele is ideed one of the greatest moments in Tele history!
ANother one:
Jimmy Bryant joining Speedy West, as one of the first Tele players live on stage ever.

I've seen him with the Jazzmasters around that period, but I was under the impression that he was using the Esquire. I could very well be wrong.

[bowman]

Hey, I saw that PBS Roy Buchanan broadcast, too. I loved it, but it didn't quite have the same outcome for me... :)
My greatest Tele moment is when I finally bought one - why did I wait so long?

[Jim Campilongo]

Bowman -

I think the PBS special changed a lot of lives for the "better". Kind of the Telecaster version of the Beatles on Ed Sullivan.

Glad you saw it way back then too.

[Telemarkman]

Originally Posted by Jim Campilongo

Bowman -

I think the PBS special changed a lot of lives for the "better". Kind of the Telecaster version of the Beatles on Ed Sullivan.

Glad you saw it way back then too.

Living in Norway, I didn't see the Roy TV special until a couple of years ago, when a friend downloaded it from the internet. I think it's a gem, and Roy's rendition of "Misty" must be the definitive version.

Jim, I can hear by your playing that Roy means a lot to you too !

[alabama blues]

Brent Mason's fateful meeting with Chet Atkins and early days in Nashville (a great story told elsewhere in these pages). Country music has never sounded the same since.

[cowboytwang]

Originally Posted by Chris S.

When Mr. and Mrs. Rich had a son they named Don. CS

You must be speaking of Mr. and Mrs. Ulrich naming their son Don(Ulrich was his real last name).

[Jeffscreamedcorn]

Originally Posted by clem trout

When Bill Frisell first got "those sounds" out of "that guitar." And, happily, he still is.

Bill's first choice was an SG LP Jr. Then he went though a Cline period, and only in the last couple of years has he been with the teles.

[Targ]

Originally Posted by Heather Anne Peel

Keith Richards is most definitely a Tele player, and has played many Teles besides the Custom and his neck humbucker Micawber Tele! In my opinion, he's the best Tele player for Rock 'n Roll and the whole reason I got into Teles (and many others, I assure you!). That said, I think "Exile On Main Street" was a watershed Tele moment. Keith, the Tele and open G all at once, whew. The album kicks off with Keef riffing on his Tele in stereo, and it's freakin' brilliant! Springsteen arriving on the scene with his Esquire is certainly another great moment. James Burton strapping on his Paisley Tele with Elvis. Joe Strummer brandishing a Tele with the Clash. Mark Mothersbaugh riffing on one on Devo's "Satisfaction" on SNL in 1978. All great moments. Elliot Easton's "My Best Friend's Girl" licks and solos, classic. There's many great Tele moments. Cropper, Clarence White, Don Rich, Muddy Waters, Albert Collins, Danny Gatton, Louie Shelton and dozens of others gave us great Tele moments, too. Actually, any moment when anyone plays a Tele of any kind is a great Tele moment. And finally the Telecaster Custom is definitely a Tele. So is the Tele Deluxe. Those are my main Teles, and they are Telecasters. Leo Fender would have agreed, he was an open-minded guy who designed great guitars. Too bad there's some narrow minded thinking surrounding what is a Tele. I think that goes against the very idea behind Mr. Fender's creations. But, hey, these are my opinions. If you don't agree, cool, whatever. Peace.

Whew, What she said

[bendingtens]

[quote]For me, 1982, Albert Collins playing in a bar in Austin (sorry anti-'buckered tele peple, but AC rules). A Quad Reverb on 11, a '66 cap neck tele , and a 100' (200'?) guitar chord. He jumps off the stage, on to the top of the bar, takes a shot of Bourbon, walks down the length of the top of the bar, takes another shot, jumps off the top of the bar, out the door of the bar, and into the back seat of a convertable Caddy in the parking lot. QUOTE]

I saw him do that one time at Antone's. Showmanship at its best.

Afterwords, Clifford Antone led me backstage, introduced me to Albert, and Albert signed this 50's Stella guitar of mine. Then he tuned it to open Fm, and layed into that thing.

As he played, Albert's wife or girlfriend said, "Are you going to tell everyone that Albert Collins played your guitar?"

I said, "Absolutely."

And I've been telling that story for 20 years.

[Cheesehead]

[quote=bendingtens;738765]

For me, 1982, Albert Collins playing in a bar in Austin (sorry anti-'buckered tele peple, but AC rules). A Quad Reverb on 11, a '66 cap neck tele , and a 100' (200'?) guitar chord. He jumps off the stage, on to the top of the bar, takes a shot of Bourbon, walks down the length of the top of the bar, takes another shot, jumps off the top of the bar, out the door of the bar, and into the back seat of a convertable Caddy in the parking lot. QUOTE]

I saw him do that one time at Antone's. Showmanship at its best.

Afterwords, Clifford Antone led me backstage, introduced me to Albert, and Albert signed this 50's Stella guitar of mine. Then he tuned it to open Fm, and layed into that thing.

As he played, Albert's wife or girlfriend said, "Are you going to tell everyone that Albert Collins played your guitar?"

I said, "Absolutely."

And I've been telling that story for 20 years.

All these Albert Collins stories are giving me goosebumps -- making me feel a bit Frosty!

[Davey265]

got Jimmy Bryant to play one of those newfangled Telecasters?

[Sargeslide]

I gotta agree with Camplilongo, that was awesome, So was seeing DG on ACL, what an amazing player. A awesome tele moment for me was seeing Los Lobos live, and Caesar and David both come out with Teles, one a Blackguard, the other a custom, and they tear apart "Politician"

Watching the afore mentioned JC on youtube doing "watch you drown", simply amazing, thank you sir!

Sargeslide

[Alamo]

Originally Posted by Heather Anne Peel

Keith Richards is most definitely a Tele player, and has played many Teles besides the Custom and his neck humbucker Micawber Tele! In my opinion, he's the best Tele player for Rock 'n Roll and the whole reason I got into Teles (and many others, I assure you!). That said, I think "Exile On Main Street" was a watershed Tele moment. Keith, the Tele and open G all at once, whew. The album kicks off with Keef riffing on his Tele in stereo, and it's freakin' brilliant! Springsteen arriving on the scene with his Esquire is certainly another great moment. James Burton strapping on his Paisley Tele with Elvis. Joe Strummer brandishing a Tele with the Clash. Mark Mothersbaugh riffing on one on Devo's "Satisfaction" on SNL in 1978. All great moments. Elliot Easton's "My Best Friend's Girl" licks and solos, classic. There's many great Tele moments. Cropper, Clarence White, Don Rich, Muddy Waters, Albert Collins, Danny Gatton, Louie Shelton and dozens of others gave us great Tele moments, too. Actually, any moment when anyone plays a Tele of any kind is a great Tele moment. And finally the Telecaster Custom is definitely a Tele. So is the Tele Deluxe. Those are my main Teles, and they are Telecasters. Leo Fender would have agreed, he was an open-minded guy who designed great guitars. Too bad there's some narrow minded thinking surrounding what is a Tele. I think that goes against the very idea behind Mr. Fender's creations. But, hey, these are my opinions. If you don't agree, cool, whatever. Peace.

Well said, Heather.
I couldn't agree more.

it was '73 when I first saw the Stones and Keith Richards with his Micawber live. That did it to me.

[Hafner]

Originally Posted by Alamo

Well said, Heather.
I couldn't agree more.

it was '73 when I first saw the Stones and Keith Richards with his Micawber live. That did it to me.

I am one of those narrow-minded creatures ...

[Cheesehead]

+2 Keith Richards and Exile on Main St. Greatest blues album ever recorded.

[Cheesehead]

Originally Posted by Davey265

How about when Leo Fender got Jimmy Bryant to play one of those newfangled Telecasters?

"Giving a Fender to Jimmy Bryant was like starting a prairie fire. Soon we couldn't make enough of them." George Fullerton

[Hafner]

Originally Posted by Cheesehead

+2 Keith Richards and Exile on Main St. Greatest blues album ever recorded.

Rolling Stones a Blues Band ?
Oh I forgot, I am narrow-minded ...

[Telewringer]

Originally Posted by Cheesehead

"Giving a Fender to Jimmy Bryant was like starting a prairie fire. Soon we couldn't make enough of them." George Fullerton

I agree Leo handing Jimmy that Tele back in the 50's at a club in LA
was the real moment that a Tele was given to a certified master
and turned into the the fine insturment that we hear today. Jimmy
was up on a playing level with Les Paul, and Merle Travis back then, and
he took that Telecaster and made it smoke.

From there on the other great moments happened re. Buck and Don,
James Burton doing Mary Lou, Albert Lee working with Emmylou and Ricky Skaggs, and of course Brent Mason Meeting Chet Atkins and getting into the studios and changing the rules on all of us, but the biggie was Leo and
Jimmy Bryant.

[Paul in Colorado]

I don't know if this story is 100% true but it goes something like this...

Clarence White was in the studio and he wanted to play a lick but it required three hands to do it, so he asked Gene Parsons to bend the string behind the nut as he played the lick. And they started thinking, "Is there some way we could do this mechanically...?"

Another great day in Telecaster History:

Jeff Beck plays an Esquire with the Yardbirds and is pictured on the cover of the US album "Having a Rave Up with The Yardbirds." That was when the Telecaster became cool in my neighborhood.

[TelZilla]

Originally Posted by Heather Anne Peel

Keith Richards is most definitely a Tele player, and has played many Teles besides the Custom and his neck humbucker Micawber Tele! In my opinion, he's the best Tele player for Rock 'n Roll and the whole reason I got into Teles (and many others, I assure you!). That said, I think "Exile On Main Street" was a watershed Tele moment. Keith, the Tele and open G all at once, whew. The album kicks off with Keef riffing on his Tele in stereo, and it's freakin' brilliant! Springsteen arriving on the scene with his Esquire is certainly another great moment. James Burton strapping on his Paisley Tele with Elvis. Joe Strummer brandishing a Tele with the Clash. Mark Mothersbaugh riffing on one on Devo's "Satisfaction" on SNL in 1978. All great moments. Elliot Easton's "My Best Friend's Girl" licks and solos, classic. There's many great Tele moments. Cropper, Clarence White, Don Rich, Muddy Waters, Albert Collins, Danny Gatton, Louie Shelton and dozens of others gave us great Tele moments, too. Actually, any moment when anyone plays a Tele of any kind is a great Tele moment. And finally the Telecaster Custom is definitely a Tele. So is the Tele Deluxe. Those are my main Teles, and they are Telecasters. Leo Fender would have agreed, he was an open-minded guy who designed great guitars. Too bad there's some narrow minded thinking surrounding what is a Tele. I think that goes against the very idea behind Mr. Fender's creations. But, hey, these are my opinions. If you don't agree, cool, whatever. Peace.

+1 to that. Keef not a Tele player? Blasphemy!

[The Amazing Phil]

I'd say Led Zeppelin I, one album, one amp, one guitarist, dozens of different sounds, great music. Doesn't get any better for me.

[Hafner]

Originally Posted by TelZilla

+1 to that. Keef not a Tele player? Blasphemy!

The RS with beloved "Keefy" ist just an average Rock band, that came up with the old genuine Rhythm and Blues tunes (the first two LPs), with an average lead guitarist, he could play any other guitar, e.g. Gibsons as in the early years, nothing special, and that ugly Humbucker gives him the rest, IMHO.
The only album I can listen to is "Aftermath", that is not bad. And in the early seventies I missed Brian Jones a lot (died 3th June 1969).

[Heather Anne Peel]

Sorry, Hafner, but there a lot more to Keith than the humbucker tone. Examples? Here's a few: "Rocks Off", "Tumbling Dice", "She's So Cold", "Let Me Go", "Beast Of Burden", "Almost Hear You Sigh"