Leo Fender – The Quiet Giant Heard Around The World
by Phyllis Fender and Randall Bell
After reading the book, I wanted to learn more and interviewed Phyllis Fender and Randall Bell. First and foremost, Phyllis Fender is an absolute delight, and her charm, and her humor, come across in her personal stories about Leo. Together with Randall Bell, PhD, they have created an interesting book about Leo Fender, a man who changed the world for guitarists and the world of music with his inventions.
Described as a "tinkerer" who went to school for accounting before turning a hobby of fixing things into a lifetime career, Leo was someone who was interested in how things worked, how he could make them better, and improve the music for musicians. Interesting to note is that Leo, the man who created Fender guitars and changed the world of music, was not a musician, he had sight in only one eye due to an accident on his family’s farm as a child, and was partially deaf due to an accident at work.
Randall Bell and Phyllis Fender
Speaking with Phyllis, she said that the inspiration for the book came from her desire to show the private Clarence Leo Fender (1909-1991), the one that she knew, from the public Leo. When Phyllis, a charming fireball of energy, married widowed Leo in 1980 (his wife Esther had died of cancer in 1979), a shy, quiet man, whose only "children" were his guitars and who was totally absorbed in his work, he instantly became a stepfather, son-in-law, uncle, and grandfather, who grew to love her large family.
When Phyllis met Randall Bell, whose father had worked for the Fender company, he encouraged her to write the book, during which they had a lot of fun, which comes shiningly across with interesting stories about Leo at work, his love for musicians and his interaction with them, her travels with Leo around the world, and the family-man Leo.
Leo Fender founded his company, Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company in 1946, and sold it in 1965, due to a prognosis that he was very ill and did not have long to live. Like everything Leo did, he surprised the doctors, and lived. For guitarists, a Fender guitar, including the Telecaster® and the Stratocaster® has long been a status symbol for guitarists Jimi Hendrix, The Jacksons, Buddy Holly, Jimmy Page, Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, David Gilmour, George Harrison, Jeff Beck, and the long list goes on. Through his creations, he changed not only the way rock guitarists played, but also changed the world for country western musicians as well.
Healthy again and wanting something to do, Leo went on to create another company, G & L, with George Fullerton, once again adding to the world of music with his iconic designs and inventions. Leo Fender has indeed left his mark on the world, he received a Country Music Association Pioneer Award in 1981, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rock Walk of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and received a posthumous Technical Grammy® in 2009.
Whether you are a guitarist, just love music, are a "tinkerer," or are looking for an entertaining read, Leo Fender: The Quiet Giant Heard Around The World by Phyllis Fender and Randall Bell, is sure to delight. In closing, still writing about music, at every performance I go to now, I always look for Fender guitars.
If you are going to be in Fullerton, California, be sure to visit the City of Fullerton Museum to experience their Leo Fender Gallery to learn more about: Leo Fender: Life and Legacy. As an added treat, Phyllis Fender is a docent in the Fender Gallery where she tells stories about Leo and how he loved to laugh, and said that when the gallery is full of people having fun and laughing, she thinks, Leo, this is for you.
On November 17, 2017, Phyllis, along with Randall Bell will be at the museum for their launch and book signing of Leo Fender: The Quiet Giant Heard Around The World written by Phyllis Fender and Randall Bell.
For information on visiting the museum, please visit the website: www.cityoffullerton.com/museum
City of Fullerton Museum
301 North Pomona Avenue
Fullerton, California 92832
United States
Website: www.cityoffullerton.com/museum
Telephone: +1-714-738-6545
Leo Fender: The Quiet Giant Heard Around The World is published by Leadership Institute Press and is available in hardcover on November 1, 2017. ISBN-10: 0996793143, ISBN-13: 978-0996793148. $24.95.
The book is available for purchase on Amazon.
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