Despite garnering unflattering nicknames like "the snow shovel," "the boat paddle," and "the plank" for its simplicity and no-fuss design when it was introduced to the public in 1951, the Fender Telecaster has proved to be an incredibly versatile instrument that morphs depending on who is playing it.
Across various genres, from rock to country to blues to funk to indie and beyond, the Tele has been at the center of popular music for decades. On its 75th birthday, let’s look at the guitar-slingers who took the Tele to new places and made it their own.
Albert Collins
Known as The Master Of The Telecaster, Albert Collins was both blues legend and wild-eyed showman, picking out licks on his 1966 Custom Tele, usually in an open tuning, with a capo on the neck. Check out this live clip from 1990 – few guitarists could look and sound this cool with their guitar slung so high, and with a dodgy-looking strap casually hooked over their right shoulder.
Muddy Waters
They call him the father of modern Chicago blues, a guitarist who traveled north from his home in the south, bringing his electrified version of the Delta blues with him and creating a whole new genre in the process. And Muddy Waters did it all on his distinctive red 1957 Telecaster that he nicknamed The Hoss. Here he is doing Honeybee, from 1970.
James Burton
He’s a guitarist who has played a big part in the music careers of not one, but two guys named Elvis – Presley and Costello. James Burton also played on what is often regarded as the first Telecaster-fueled Top 40 hit, Suzie Q by Dale Hawkins. The guitar that is most associated with him is his paisley-patterned Tele, and you can see him almost setting it alight with his lightning-fast picking in this live clip with Presley in Las Vegas in 1970.
Steve Cropper
Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay by Otis Redding; In The Midnight Hour by Wilson Pickett; Soul Man by Sam And Dave; Green Onions by Booker T. & The M.G.s. The list of ’60s soul hits fueled by guitarist Steve Cropper goes on and on. And after being immortalized as part of the band in The Blues Brothers movie in 1980, his star kept shining for decades, his trusty Tele as constant companion. Watch him make it strut and sing in this performance of Green Onions, playing to what looks like the squarest audience of 1967.
Keith Richards
Some reports estimate that Keith Richards owns around 3,000 guitars. He once quipped, "Give me five minutes and I can make them all sound the same." One of his most prized is the butterscotch Telecaster Eric Clapton gave him on his 27th birthday that he named Micawber, after a Charles Dickens character in David Copperfield. You can hear the man they name The Human Riff give it a workout on songs like Honky Tonk Women and Brown Sugar.
Jimmy Page
Led Zeppelin’s legendary guitarist may be strongly associated with the Les Paul, but on the band’s debut album, and later on one of the most famous guitar solos of all time – in Stairway To Heaven – Jimmy Page used his beloved 1958 Telecaster. The guitar was gifted to him by Jeff Beck, his former bandmate in The Yardbirds, and he famously painted a dragon on the body. It just about breathes fire in this performance of Dazed And Confused from 1969.
Bruce Springsteen
Has any other guitar absorbed as much sweat as Bruce Springsteen’s Telecaster? Well, let’s backpedal a little. This guitar is called The Mutt for good reason. It has a Telecaster body and the neck of an Esquire, the precursor to the Tele. When he appeared on the cover of Born To Run, leaning on Clarence Clemons with that guitar prominently displayed, Fender couldn’t have got better advertising if the brand had paid for it. Here’s The Boss taking The Mutt for a walk in 1978.
Prince
We all know Prince was a genius. If anyone ever doubts his guitar playing skills, just direct them to the solo he plays on his Tele on While My Guitar Gently Weeps for George Harrison’s posthumous induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2004. You can see the looks of disbelief on the faces of Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and George’s son Dhani. At the end he simply throws the guitar in the air and nonchalantly walks off stage like it was no sweat. Where it lands? Nobody knows.
Joe Strummer
There may be cooler images from the ’70s than Joe Strummer in the video for London Calling, slashing at his 1966 Telecaster like it has just insulted his mother, on a cold night along the banks of the Thames while steam issues from his mouth and he snarls about a post-apocalyptic London – but none immediately come to mind.
Wilko Johnson
He had one of the most unorthodox playing styles, first with Dr. Feelgood and later as a member of Ian Dury’s band The Blockheads, using the back of his fingernails to scrape the strings of his battered black Tele in a frantic blur. But damn, it sure was effective. This 1975 live clip of Dr. Feelgood is living proof, with Wilko in full flight while intensely marching backwards and forwards like a man possessed.
Chrissie Hynde
Whether she was making it jangle on Brass In Pocket or letting it roar on Precious, Chrissie Hynde did it all on her blue 1965 Telecaster. She bought the guitar in New York and has said the paint job reminded her of a Corvette. This footage from 1980 at Hammersmith Palais in London show off both Hynde and her Tele to full effect. You can tell that even Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols, who gets up to guest with them, is in awe.
Jonny Greenwood
Never underestimate what a Telecaster can do in the right hands. Especially when those hands are attached to Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead. Unorthodox does not even come close to describing the startling squeals and skronks he can get out his Tele, as he performs insane bends and attacks the strings like a madman. Check out this 1997 live TV version of Paranoid Android, which veers from lullaby to apocalypse within the space of a few minutes.
PS – please, do not imitate Jonny and do this to your Telecaster.
