rory tele
I’ve loved Telecasters for a long time. The first Tele I bought was a 1968 model that my friend Bobby Evans sold me in ’74. I’d wanted a Tele since I saw Rory Gallagher playing his, when he headlined at the old Colonial Tavern in Toronto in 1973. Rory’s Tele sounded so great for slide guitar, and I loved the plain, basic look of the guitar. I also knew that Syd Barrett played one, so that was good enough for me!
Alan exclaimed “Wow! that looks like an old one, it must be worth a lot of money!” I gave him a kick under the table to be quiet. I told the sellers that I wanted the guitar, but that I could only leave a $10 deposit. I’d come back and pay the $90 balance and pick up the Tele asap. This was in ’74 and there were no such things as ATM’s or e-transfers. Plus it was Sunday night and everything was closed. Alan and I left Miss Ottawa and tried to think where we could raise the $90. I thought of my friend Bobby Evans who lived nearby. (Bobby had a job and always had some cash.)
paul 1975 Green Lake
Paul and john 1973
My first two electrics were a Gibson SG and the ’68 Tele, but I couldn’t afford an amp. My brother John let me plug into the auxiliary input of his Traynor, but every time I’d kick my Big Muff fuzz pedal on, it would hog the power and John’s guitar would cut out. John told me that if I bought another guitar before I bought myself an amp he’d kick my ass!
We drove to Bobby’s house and I asked him to lend me the $90 until the next day. Bobby handed over the cash and we drove back to Miss Ottawa to pick up the Tele. Then we drove back to Bobby’s house with the guitar to examine it. Bobby knew a lot about vintage guitars and we opened up the control cavity to check the electronics. They looked old! We looked at the body — it had been contoured (sort of like a Strat) on the lower left bout and the neck and body had been refinished. There was no identifying decal, which is why the “Frenchman” seller had called it a Pat Pend — the only identifying mark on the guitar was on the bridge, engraved “Fender Pat. Pend.”
bobby & michael GREEN lake
red tele
I have a friend, his name is Alan Mayfield. Back in the day, Alan would look in the local classified ads, and he knew I was always looking for guitars and related gear. One day he called, excited to tell me that he’d found a Tele for sale. The ad said that the guitar was a Fender “Pat Pend” and it was $100! I told Alan that I wanted to look at the guitar and he picked me up in his old 60’s Austin Mini. We drove to the east end of town, to a neighbourhood called Miss Ottawa. We found the address — it was an old, run down apartment building. The couple who were selling the guitar told us that they had been trying to move the guitar for a while (the wife said it was her idea.) They opened a broom closet and inside was a cardboard, fake alligator guitar case. The Frenchman (the seller) laid the case on the kitchen table and opened it. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw what was in the case — a beautiful, fire-engine red Telecaster!
That Tele and I were inseparable. Every jam, rehearsal and gig I did, it went with me. I loved its stinging warm sound. I used only the bridge pickup for slide until much later when I discovered that Rory used the neck pickup most of the time on his Tele for slide.
paul 1975
My first “professional” gig, was in the fall of ’74 in Deep River, Ontario. My Tele went with me, and the gig was rough! Our band was fired after a couple of nights and John saved our bass player from being beat up by a big, redneck town official. The police were called and we were escorted to the edge of town late at night by two police cars with lights flashing — we were told “You all don’t come back to Deep River again!” We did though — we played there in ’77 at the Deep River High School, with our punk rock band, The Action.
In 1980, I went to a blues concert at the Chateau Laurier, in downtown Ottawa. Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker were both playing (I met John Lee for the first time that night — the second time I met him, he kindly taught me how to play boogie in open-A tuning.) Before the concert, I saw Muddy Water’s roadie carrying his famous red Tele backstage. I politely asked the roadie if I could play Muddy’s guitar. He passed it to me — it was almost identical to mine. I’ve never seen two guitars so similar —they were like sister guitars!
Well, it’s been exactly 50 years this month (April 2024) since I bought my old Red Tele. It’s difficult for me to believe all those years have gone by and I still have my beautiful guitar. It’s never needed as much as a truss rod adjustment and has been such a loyal, sweet friend through the years — and all for a hundred bucks!!!
