For a Solid Body of Work, Fender Rates a Hall of Fame Niche

Now that the hoopla has subsided surrounding this year’s round of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame awards last week, rock fans in Orange County might well wonder whether there is anyone from our own ranks who might qualify for induction.

There are a few possibles:

The Righteous Brothers, out of Santa Ana, have a distant chance of making the Hall of Fame some day, thanks to a string of hits in the mid-’60s that helped define the term “blue-eyed soul.”

And some might think of surf-guitar king Dick Dale as Hall of Fame material, although his impact was more regional than most of the internationally renowned figures who have been graced with Hall of Fame membership to date.

But there really is only one Orange County figure who unreservedly belongs in the Hall of Fame, a man whose contributions literally helped define the very sound of rock ‘n’ roll.

That man is Leo Fender, a gentle 80-year-old who continues to work every day at his G&L; Musical Products factory in Fullerton refining the electric guitar, an instrument that he as much as anyone defined in the first place.

It was here in Orange County in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s that Fender developed his legendary Telecaster, Stratocaster and Precision Bass, the first viable, solid-body electric guitars, and the standard by which all future guitars would be judged. It’s safe to say that the Stratocaster is the single most-copied guitar in the world, and that at least 100 companies will be displaying their versions at this weekend’s convention in Anaheim of the National Assn. of Music Merchants. On top of that, Fender amplifiers set a similar model for all who followed in his wake.

Last year when the Rolling Stones were voted in, Keith Richards used his moments at the mike to voice his debt to Fender: “I’d just like to say Thank God for Leo Fender, who makes these instruments for us to play.”

Leo isn’t a man who seeks awards, but because there are so many people in the Hall of Fame who got there playing the instruments he designed, why not grant him that little nod of formal recognition?

It could happen. Other pioneering non-musicians have been acknowledged by the Hall of Fame, including record executive Ahmet Ertegun (who, coincidentally, happens to be president of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation), Sun Records founder Sam Phillips and Chess Records co-founder Marshall Chess.

Certainly had Fender not come along when he did, others eventually would have stepped into the void and offered their own electric guitar designs. Still, Fender’s tireless enthusiasm and technical creativity let him succeed where others feared to tread.

“A lot of guys were experimenting,” says local historian and musician Richard Smith, who has written dozens of articles on the development of the electric guitar in general and on Fender in particular. “A lot of musicians were making their own guitars . . . (but) Leo just got the jump on everybody because he was really hungry to do something, to create something new after the war.”

When Fender first marketed his now-standard, solid-body guitar design in 1950, other instrument makers ridiculed it as a “plank-like guitar” with little future. But by eliminating the resonances that hampered other designs--essentially amplified acoustic guitars--the solid-body guitar permitted previously unachievable amplification levels, allowing the guitar to step out of the background and become a lead instrument. And similar amplification for the bass gave the rhythm section a far more prominent role.

All this came as the postwar depression was making it financially unfeasible for the big bands of the ‘30s and ‘40s to continue touring, forcing a shift to smaller-sized ensembles. Simultaneously, rural Southern black musicians were moving to Northern cities by the thousands, bringing their music into noisy urban nightclubs where their traditional acoustic instruments simply could not be heard. This, in turn, further accelerated the melding of various musical styles that became rock ‘n’ roll in the early ‘50s.

Before the guitar emerged as a lead instrument, the piano and saxophone had been the focal points of small combos. Besides its musical qualities, the electric guitar provided the perfect rock ‘n’ roll prop: it was physical, phallic and loud.

Buddy Holly probably was the first big-time rocker to be associated with Fenders. But the player who latched on to them early, and created a model for virtually hundreds of guitarists who came later, was James Burton, who could be seen on weekly TV by millions, playing in Ricky Nelson’s band of the late ‘50s on “The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet.”

“James Burton may have been the first rock ‘n’ roll guitar hero,” Smith says. “Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page--almost all the people you think of as guitar heroes attribute their playing to hearing James Burton on Ricky Nelson records. And if you look, you’ll see they all played Telecasters early on, and that’s almost a direct influence from Burton.”

Leo Fender’s contributions didn’t end when he sold his then-booming business in 1965 to CBS Inc. Even CBS’s stipulation that Fender not market any guitars under his name for the next 10 years didn’t stop him from poking, tweaking and thinking about how to build a better rock ‘n’ roll mousetrap. He spent much of that time as the silent partner in Music Man, an equipment manufacturer; since 1980, he has been doing the same thing at G&L; that he was doing 50 years ago: “trying,” as Smith put it, “to create something new.

“Thomas Edison used to say that he could take anything that existed and make it work better,” Smith says. “I think Leo Fender has taken that same approach to guitars.” At G&L;, Fender has received at least two dozen patents for various innovations and refinements, and the company’s booth at the NAMM show is always a mecca for guitar aficionados.

What about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Executive director Suzan Evans says that non-musician candidates are inducted by the organization’s 21-member nominating committee. “It’s not a popularity contest--we’re not looking for 12,000 people writing in casting their votes for the Monkees. We’re just looking for one intelligently written letter.

“If somebody would like to propose someone for induction, I’m the one they should contact,” Evans continued. “As far as I’m concerned, Leo Fender deserves to be in.”

Richard Smith, who knows the Fender story inside and out, says he might be willing to write such a letter. So, who knows, maybe by next year’s awards ceremony, Orange County will send a representative to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

DR, Sherffius’90