To celebrate 75 years of the Fender Telecaster, Guitar World assembled a riotous group of Tele superfans – who just happen to be pro players in their own right – to decide whom and what they are carving into the side of a mountain in tribute to the guitar that changed the world.
Who’d be carved into your Telecaster Mount Rushmore?
Mike Campbell: James Burton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. But also Mike Bloomfield because he killed it on that first Paul Butterfield Blues Band album [self-titled, 1965]. I wore out that record. He burned that Telecaster all over the place there. He’s the main one who turned me on to that sound.
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John 5: Jerry Reed – and Brent Mason because he had that weird-looking Tele and was a huge inspiration to me. Jerry Donahue, who I love so much with those behind-the-nut bends, and, of course, Keith Richards.
John Osborne: Brent Mason introduced a lot of people to the Tele by what he did – and is still doing – on these country records. Then Vince Gill, Danny Gatton and Steve Cropper. Bonus pick? Albert Lee.
Joanne Shaw Taylor: Albert Collins is an absolute legend, and his vibrato is one of the most distinctive in the history of the instrument. Then Prince, one of the most underrated players ever. Keith Richards; I don’t think there’s a guitar player alive who’s come up with as many iconic riffs as Keef. And Jeff Buckley, who gets overlooked, but he created some beautiful guitar parts in his short career.
Greg Koch: Jimmy Bryant because he’s the O.G. James Burton because he was the first and finest of the poultry pluckers. Albert Collins because he was a true original with the tone and chops of doom. Roy Buchanan, just because. And Danny Gatton, because, because… [Laughs]
Kirk Fletcher: Prince, Bobby Womack, Eddie Hinton, Albert Collins, Reggie Young, Cornell Dupree, David Spinozza, Al McKay, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Jesse Ed Davis, John Leventhal, Roy Buchanan, Roy Nichols, Brent Mason, Guthrie Trapp, Mike Stern – and I definitely still missed a huge amount. And, hands down, Robben Ford!
Keith Urban: James Burton, Keith Richards, Ray Flacke and Brent Mason.
Brent Mason: Jerry Reed, James Burton, Roy Nichols and Danny Gatton.
Jim Weider: Roy Buchanan for his tone, touch and expression; James Burton for his fingerpicking style with country bends; Steve Cropper for his rhythm playing, which set the standard; Jesse Ed Davis for his touch, tone, feel and liquid bends.
Hugh Cornwell: James Burton epitomizes the Tele. Then there’s Steve Cropper, a lesson to us all in longevity, and Wilko Johnson. His style was so unique.
J Mascis: D. Boon from Minutemen for being lovable, energetic, trebly and inventive. Keith Richards… just riff after riff, song after song, and cool solos. “Cousin” Kenny Vaughan from Marty Stuart’s band for his ripping country and rock licks and always serving the song. And Terry Reid. I loved seeing him with a Tele in his hand at Glastonbury [1971].
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram: Prince for the way he approached the guitar. Albert Collins for that icy, cutting tone. “Frosty” says everything you need to know. It’s raw, direct and unmistakable. Cornell Dupree for taste and feel. The way he sits in a groove is unreal.
He shows you how musical a Tele can be without ever overplaying. Keith Richards – the riff side of it. Open tunings, rhythm playing, just that attitude. He made the Tele sound like a band by itself. Roy Buchanan and Danny Gatton stretched the instrument in ways that still don’t make sense. Honorable mentions to Bill Kirchen and Freddie Stone!
Graham Coxon: Wilko Johnson and Albert Lee. And then Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. Albert Lee was insane because he was 16 and playing with all these people, like the Everly Brothers, doing that chicken pickin’. And Frank Black from the Pixies, because Surfer Rosa was amazing.
Jimmy Page played the Stairway to Heaven solo on a Tele – and how incredible is that?
John 5
But there’s also Paul Weller, David Gilmour and George Harrison, who you saw playing that solid-rosewood monstrosity at that point where they seemed to be allowed to play something other than Rickenbackers and Gretsches through Vox amps. [Laughs]
Marty Stuart: Clarence White, Roy Nichols, Luther Perkins, James Burton, Ralph Mooney, Don Rich and Jimmy Bryant – all with a fun, accessible California vibe. Living in Mississippi, I could close my eyes and see palm trees when those guys played.
There was a cool factor. They could dazzle you, but they could also lay low with three notes. I’ve heard the songs a thousand times over, but they still light my heart up the same way they did the first time I heard ’em.
What are your favorite Tele riffs or solos?
Mike Campbell: My first thought is me going to the first Led Zeppelin record – all those riffs on Dazed and Confused and Good Times Bad Times.
John 5: Jimmy Page played the Stairway to Heaven solo on a Tele – and how incredible is that? And I love those Rolling Stones songs where Keith Richards plays a Tele, like Honky Tonk Women, and when Jerry Reed did Jerry’s Breakdown on a Tele.
Greg Koch: The Nightrider by Jimmy Bryant & Speedy West, Ice Pick by Albert Collins, Albert Lee’s solo on Dave Edmunds’ version of Sweet Little Lisa, Roy’s Bluz by Roy Buchanan and any version of Danny Gatton doing Harlem Nocturne.
Brent Mason: Two More Bottles of Wine, which has Albert Lee soloing on Emmylou Harris’ single. Workin’ Man Blues, specifically James Burton’s solo and intro. Alabama Jubilee, but the original version with the Jerry Reed intro and solo. Goodnight, Irene with Jerry Reed’s solo and intro.
And Honky Tonk Night Time Man with Roy Nichols’ solo. All these tunes inspired me to play a Tele as a kid. I also watched my Uncle Terry play his white Tele with his blackface Super Reverb and coil cord. With tons of reverb!
Kirk Fletcher: Rainy Night in Georgia by Brook Benton, I’m in Love by Wilson Pickett and Memphis Soul Stew by King Curtis, but I like the live Fillmore version with Cornell Dupree and the studio version by Reggie Young.
Done Change My Way of Living by Taj Mahal with Jesse Ed Davis, Natural Anthem by Jesse Ed Davis, Frosty by Albert Collins, Jesus Just Left Chicago by ZZ Top, Sweet Dreams by Roy Buchannan, Swinging Doors by Merle Haggard, Start It Up by Robben Ford and so many more!
Keith Urban: Guitars & Cadillacs by Dwight Yoakam (Pete Anderson on guitar), Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen (with Brian May playing the solo), Country Boy and Chattahoochee by Alan Jackson (featuring Brent Mason) and Highway 40 Blues by Ricky Skaggs.
Taylor Goldsmith: Brown Sugar by the Stones, Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen, Paranoid Android by Radiohead, Breakdown by Tom Petty, Mama Tried by Merle Haggard and Let It Be by the Beatles.
Jim Weider: Paul Burlison’s Train Kept-a-Rollin’ with that thumb and first finger; Roy Buchanan’s Sweet Dreams, which is so beautiful and melodic; Jesse Ed Davis on Jackson Browne’s Doctor My Eyes – his solo, tone and double-stop bends. Any live James Burton with Elvis Presley, any Ricky Nelson with his pick-and-fingers country bends, and Clarence White doing the Byrds’ Eight Miles High live with his B-bender.
J Mascis: Happy by the Stones. It’s got a ripping riff right outta the gate, and it goes on from there. Communication Breakdown by Led Zeppelin because it’s punishing and awesome. Last Word by Youth Brigade for its buzzsaw mayhem. American Girl by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers because it’s classic, and the lead at the end is magic. Cut by Minutemen because it’s relentless and piercing, yet harmonic.
Hugh Cornwell: James Burton’s solo on Ricky Nelson’s Just a Little Too Much. I had the record in my teens, and the solo was my favorite part of the song. You can’t get a more perfectly composed solo.
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram: The live While My Guitar Gently Weeps by Prince. It didn’t feel like he was playing a Tele; it felt like he was playing everything at once. [Ed. Note: Prince is actually playing a Hohner Madcat in that classic 2004 video. There was a Tele on the scene, but it was played by Jeff Lynne.] Plus Frosty by Albert Collins, Hey Joe by Roy Buchanan, Brown Sugar by the Stones and Hot Rod Lincoln by Bill Kirchen. They’re all from different worlds, and that’s kind of the point.
Joanne Shaw Taylor: Iced Over by Albert Collins, Grace by Jeff Buckley, Prince’s While My Guitar Gently Weeps – and Jumpin’ Jack Flash and Tumbling Dice by the Rolling Stones.
Graham Coxon: Country Boy by Head Hands & Feet with Albert Lee. He’s just going insane. I’ll send that off to people because it makes people happy, and it’s just brilliant. And then there’s early Zeppelin, where Jimmy Page had that Dragon Tele. This was before he got his Les Paul and all his sperm were going nuts. [Laughs] And then, early Eric Clapton with the Yardbirds.
That stuff… what an experience that would have been to get that flipping amp and just dime it. As far as others, in America – in Nashville – there are people. Those people will read this and think, “Who is this asshole, Graham Coxon?” And those people are playing Teles properly, you know, just doing it nicely.
Marty Stuart: If you go to Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Three, there are several versions of Folsom Prison Blues, but if you go to the live recital version, what Luther Perkins played on that takes me back to when I was nine and got my first guitar. It reminds me of everything I love about the guitar. Merle Haggard’s Workin’ Man Blues with James Burton playing the solo; if they recorded that song one more time, it would not have sounded the same. They caught lightning in a bottle.
Clarence White’s solo on This Wheel’s on Fire from Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde – go figure that one out! [Laughs] Love’s Gonna Live Here by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos. If [Buckaroos guitarist] Don Rich had lived – same as Clarence White – there’s no telling where he would have taken it.
Why do you play a Tele?
John 5: When kids are growing up, they see something and are drawn to it. I saw that guitar and loved it. I had an acoustic when I was six, but then I saw the electric guitars on Hee Haw. I was like, “Wow!” They looked so shiny – and the shape… I didn’t think there was any other shape for an electric guitar besides a Telecaster. They all used Teles on that show, and I was so taken aback by it.
It was the only Fender that was available to me in my formative years, and it just so happened to be the perfect tool for what I do
Greg Koch
Greg Koch: It was the only Fender that was available to me in my formative years, and it just so happened to be the perfect tool for what I do. I love other guitars, but the Telecaster and its variants are always home for me. If I have to bring one guitar into the breach, that’s the one I’m reaching for.
Brent Mason: It’s perfect for any situation. Whether it’s country, rock, jazz, blues… the tone, the pickups, the wood all play into its character. And it’s practically indestructible!
Keith Urban: It’s like meat and potatoes, and it’s built to take any player’s style, from a light touch to beating the hell out of it.
Joanne Shaw Taylor: I started on a Strat, and while I still enjoy it for rhythm parts, I prefer the Tele for its bite. That and its versatility seem to suit me best.
Jim Weider: It was popular in the ’60s and used by the guitar heroes I watched, like Steve Cropper, James Burton, Rick Nelson, Jeff Beck, Robbie Robertson and Roy Buchanan. I also loved – and love – the look and feel of the Tele.
J Mascis: I just like the leads I play on a Tele better than other guitars. It sounds more inspired and less generic.
Graham Coxon: It’s light, and it seems to disappear when you play it. I was this Les Paul person when I was young, and it felt kind of sharp, and it was hurting my ribs. Then, in the early days of Blur, while we were recording the first few records with [producer] Stephen Street, he had this lovely old Tele, and I was like, “This is so comfortable.”
I didn’t have to think about bruised ribs. I’ve never used Teles nicely. I’ve put them through tons of pedals to get what I need out of them, but it’s such a beautiful and easy instrument to play, so that’s why I used them, just as a tool to get the sounds I needed. But I’ve realized that proper Tele players don’t really do that. [Laughs]
Marty Stuart: When I was falling in love with guitar and putting my first band together when I was nine, I’d look around on TV and magazine covers, and it was the guitar my heroes played. I just wanted to get into the parade, wear cool cowboy clothes and boots, play a Telecaster through a Fender amp and play the kind of songs that I loved.
