I believe Clarence was originally a ’54, but Gene Parsons did a lot of work on it, even crafted a lot of the parts himself I have no idea what the song was, and a B-string bender in the Johnny Cash band was useless because it didn’t fit his style – but that guitar was back out there amongst the world.” “I was in Johnny Cash’s band at the time, and the first appearance that Tele made was when we did Saturday Night Live. You bought Clarence White’s famous Telecaster in 1980, paying his widow $1,450. It was an absolutely informative period of my life.” We’re in theatres and nice halls these days – but I wouldn’t take anything from that rough and rowdy honky-tonk experience. “I don’t remember chickenwire myself, but I know it’s an absolute fact that some of those juke-joints had that stuff. There was a place in Waco, Texas, that was really rough. I remember there was a redneck honky-tonk in Mississippi and there were two Doberman Pinschers on short leashes, with crazy guys with crazy looks in their eyes, just daring anyone to try something. I remember there was a redneck honky-tonk in Mississippi and there were two Doberman Pinschers on short leashes, with crazy guys with crazy looks in their eyes, just daring anyone to try somethingĭid you ever have cause to test that theory? There are some hair-raising stories about honky-tonks that put up chickenwire back in the day to protect the bands from flying bottles… Isn’t there even a piece of footage of Keith whacking a guy with his guitar on stage? Telecasters made good weapons, too.” He said, ‘In the honky-tonks, we needed something that was louder than the crowds.’ And then, like Keith Richards once said, sometimes you needed a weapon. Why do you think the country scene fell in love with the Telecaster? I love the sound of both those guitars, but it’s two different planets, two different universes – and I’m a Tele guy.” Y’know, I appreciate the Stratocaster, but I really can’t do it justice. That’s all it needs because it’s just a great guitar. “I mean, one of my favourite guitars I have is a 1952 Esquire – it was owned by Mick Ronson – and that only has one pickup. It doesn’t bother me that it’s got no top cutaway or third pickup. Sometimes you get in a car and say, ‘This is my car.’ Or put on a coat and say, ‘That’s my coat.’ The Telecaster, it just fits my hands. What is it about the feel and sound of a Tele that works for you? There’s a kid in Arkansas who bought that guitar.” I really didn’t know how to work the B-Bender, but it got me started. I wanted it to look like and sound like Clarence’s guitar. So I took that guitar down to Sho-Bud Steel Guitar Company in Nashville and Shot Jackson, the owner, he put a B-string bender in it for me. I was trying to learn how to play like Clarence White from The Byrds. What was the very first Tele you ever owned?
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