The Fender Rhodes Documentary

Ben Bove · October 11, 2011, 10:16:22 PM

After many long years of complete dedication, my partner Gerald McCauley and I have completed the book and feature documentary on the Fender Rhodes electric piano:

Our mission was to bring together some of music's most respected recording artists, to discuss how this piano shaped the music they created, and how the Fender Rhodes was a major factor in the electronic instrument revolution. The documentary is brought to life by inside stories and live performances of many keyboard greats, and through them a true historical testament to the Fender Rhodes is captured. A special thanks to all the artists for their support and appearance on this film:

Michael Bearden George Benson Stanley Clarke Chick Corea
D'Angelo Eumir Deodato George Duke Larry Dunn
Donald Fagen Ronnie Foster Rodney Franklin Dave Grusin
Don Grusin Ellis Hall Herbie Hancock Onaje Allan Gumbs
Lalah Hathaway Rami Jaffee Bob James Quincy Jones
Ramsey Lewis Jeff Lorber Robin Lumley Ray Manzarek
Les McCann Marcus Miller Steve Molitz John Novello
David Paich Jerry Peters Greg Phillinganes James Poyser
Patrice Rushen Joe Sample Lenny White Maurice White
Vince Wilburn Jr. Allee Willis

The almost 300 page color book is published through Hal Leonard books, and is available in many retail outlets such as Barnes and Noble, as well as Amazon online. It has many never-before-seen photographs of these artists as well as Rhodes history. The book includes the exclusive Blu-Ray HD version of the documentary features film, while the standard DVD version is available on www.fenderrhodesstory.com separately.

A great thanks to everyone from CBS Musical Instruments who gave their time and input for the film including John McLaren Jr., John McLaren Sr., and Steve Grom. I have to give a special thanks to Steve Woodyard, for being an invaluable resource, expert, and friend on everything Fender Rhodes. The same thanks to Mike Peterson as well for his help and input.

My appreciation goes out to James Garfield and Freddan Adlers for pioneering Fender Rhodes history, and creating a community to gather enthusiasts at FenderRhodes.com. Their work has been fundamental in keeping people connected and interested in Fender Rhodes pianos.

Thank you to Jim Wray and Mark Daniel for their contributions to the film. Thank you to John Novello for providing his audio narration archives. Thank you to Carol Rhodes-Rice and Patricia Rhodes.

We could not have imagined the overwhelming support from the music community on this project. I can only hope this film can also educate and influence lives where we can share in this story together. Please visit www.FenderRhodesStory.com to request a DVD copy or a digital MP4 download, and follow us on twitter / facebook for upcoming webisodes and other bonus material. We appreciate the donation.

I hope that my contributions over the years on this forum and dedication to Fender Rhodes have played a small roll in keeping some of these pianos alive and well. I also hope that this community remains connected so we can all continue the legacy of Harold Rhodes and his electric piano. Thank you to everyone!

Sincerely,

Benjamin Bove
www.fenderrhodesstory.com

YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/FenderRhodesStory
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/fenderrhodes.story
Twitter - http://twitter.com/RhodesStory

musomarc · October 12, 2011, 02:14:18 AM

Hi,
What a find and great story!
Thankyou from a Rhodes lover in Australia! Great to see someone who has researched and compiled this great historical and informative story with pics and artists on a keyboard that has shaped music for over 50yrs.
Can't wait to get my copy and watch the DVD, and yes I have gladly contributed the suggested $ to cover costs!
Thanks again.
musomarc

leon- · October 12, 2011, 04:22:22 AM

Ben,
Happy to have paid the cover costs and look forward to getting the DVD.
All the best from England.
Leon

Abraham · October 12, 2011, 06:00:53 AM

Great! Payment done, cant wait to get my hands on this! I would love a link so I could stream it while it arrives

pianotuner steveo · October 12, 2011, 07:53:00 AM

This sounds excellent, Ben! payment sent. I can't wait!

Dan Belcher · October 12, 2011, 10:06:28 AM

Sent my donation in a few days ago. Can't wait to get my copy!

Dote · October 12, 2011, 02:39:04 PM

Hi Ben,

thanks for all your effort making this docu happening. I sent my donation and look forward to watching the documentation.

Thanks again!

Domnik

Fred · October 13, 2011, 09:25:36 AM

Sent mine... Can't wait!

kphlx2000 · October 13, 2011, 05:16:47 PM

Can't wait to get my copy of the DVD!

Kenneth

Ben Bove · October 13, 2011, 06:08:38 PM

Thanks for the support guys!

kphlx2000 · October 13, 2011, 06:10:12 PM

Can't wait to get the DVD!

Kenneth

Dan Belcher · October 13, 2011, 07:35:59 PM

Well crap. I'm in the same boat as Kenneth! According to my computer's DVD player, the disc is blank.

Edit -- Already got replies from Ben and Gerald that they're sending me a new copy first thing today. That was quick!

Ben Bove · October 13, 2011, 09:13:51 PM

Hey guys thanks for the replies, our manufacturer said it's possible a few blanks or defective discs are created in a large production run. If anyone has any problems with the disc please send me an email to benbove@hotmail.com and we'll immediately send you another copy.

Thanks very much!

pianotuner steveo · October 16, 2011, 08:58:30 AM

Wow! I got my copy yesterday. perfect timing,since my drummer and bass player came over last night, and we watched it together. This is very well done, Ben! One of the best documentaries I have ever seen. I loved your ' Hitchcock moment' towards the end. It must have been awesome to interview all of your keyboard heroes. I have only met one of those artists that you interviewed and that was great, although a bit nerve wracking since I was his tech for a day.

Excellent job! Now you need to raise the price for non forum members and sell it on Amazon, etc.

Then, you need to work on a supplement (or a seperate documentary) touching on Wurlitzers more, and Hohners, etc.!

swenz · October 16, 2011, 11:55:16 AM

Got mine yesterday and had no problems with it. Very well done Ben, I'm very impressed with the number of famous artists that you interviewed. Must have been a lot of fun to do. I really enjoyed watching it and my 14 year old daughter enjoyed it as well. Not too many 14 year old girls really appreciate the Rhodes but she does!

pianotuner steveo · October 16, 2011, 02:37:27 PM

I am also very impressed with how professionally put together this is, the audio quality, the video quality, the editing, fantastic!

AfroNick · October 16, 2011, 05:03:28 PM

Hi I'm new on this forum but if you don't mind a suggestion I would happily have a download link and pay some donation for bandwidth/server costs through paypal or whatever then its less effort than a DVD especially with some of the aforementioned issues people have posted - it might even give the movie a wider audience! Don't worry if you have already considered and cant. I bought some music production tutorials like that cheaper in fact if not i will just take you up DVD offer :-D

Ben Bove · October 17, 2011, 11:42:03 AM

Thanks very much for the compliments! It's been a long process and we made sure to do it right. All the audio was captured direct from each Fender Rhodes so that we could eliminate any room noise etc. that might affect the performances.

As far as the digital download yes we have considered this avenue, though it's not currently available in this format. We may figure this out for the future if enough people are requesting it. Thanks again!

parisiano · October 17, 2011, 02:20:06 PM

Hi I just did my donation

I'm looking forward to receiving it.

Have a good day

Vince from France

kphlx2000 · October 19, 2011, 11:21:20 AM

Ben and Gerald, I received my DVD on Monday and WOW! This DVD is GREAT! The sound, video quality, concept, everything about this DVD is GREAT! Very well done guys and thank you for having the guts to develop and put out this DVD.

Kenneth

Dan Belcher · October 19, 2011, 09:48:12 PM

Finally got to watch it tonight. That was a very, very enjoyable two hours!! Unbelievably well done, and it really touched on so many key Rhodes moments through the years.

pianotuner steveo · October 20, 2011, 07:48:21 AM

I only wish that you miked the two people who sang along when they were playing. i forgot who it was, but the one guy did a Stevie impersonation, and it was awesome!

Abraham · October 20, 2011, 08:31:06 AM

I wish mine had arrived already... Im so jealeous of your comments

So what's the expected delivery time to Spain?

Last time I got a wurlie shipped from the states it took 5 days only, and that thing was big...

David Aubke · October 20, 2011, 11:03:40 AM

Quote from: pianotuner steveo on October 20, 2011, 07:48:21 AM
I only wish that you miked the two people who sang along when they were playing. i forgot who it was, but the one guy did a Stevie impersonation, and it was awesome!

The other was Patrice Rushen.

David Aubke · October 20, 2011, 11:21:46 AM

Quote from: pianotuner steveo on October 20, 2011, 07:48:21 AMi forgot who it was, but the one guy did a Stevie impersonation, and it was awesome!

Incidentally, I've forgotten who that guy was as well. I recall it being a bit unclear because the segment was about a certain player but just as that performance started, the narration was about Gerald McCauley. From the profile shot, I couldn't tell who was at the keys.

But nitpicking aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the production. Learned a little about the Rhodes that I haven't read anywhere else and was introduced to some players I was not previously familiar with.

Ben Bove · October 20, 2011, 04:15:17 PM

Thanks very much for the comments

Greg Phillinganes was playing, he was in Wonderlove as Stevie's keyboard player for a number of years, and says he was the actual Rhodes player on that song. Take a look at his credit list:
http://allmusic.com/artist/greg-phillinganes-p114162/credits

Is one of the most significant keyboard session players, on many huge records: Songs in the Key of Life, Michael Jackson Off the Wall / Thriller, and hundreds of other records.

As far as shipping to Spain, let me know when it arrives interested to know how long it takes! Thanks

pianotuner steveo · October 20, 2011, 07:23:03 PM

No wonder ( no pun intended) that his playing sounded exactly like the record, but his singing sounded like Stevie also.

I always assumed that Stevie did all of his own Keyboard tracks.

Dan Belcher · October 21, 2011, 08:42:42 AM

I too was surprised by how good Greg Phillinganes' Stevie Wonder voice sounded. I've heard him play for years on assorted things (love his work on the Rhodes on Donald Fagen's Nightfly album) and even saw him backing Boz Scaggs a couple years ago, but I hadn't heard him sing before.

Quote from: pianotuner steveo on October 20, 2011, 07:23:03 PM
No wonder ( no pun intended) that his playing sounded exactly like the record, but his singing sounded like Stevie also.

I always assumed that Stevie did all of his own Keyboard tracks.

Me too. Learn something new every day I suppose!

Cormac Long · October 21, 2011, 10:51:39 AM

He has an amazing voice.. he sang with Eric Clapton mid-80's and into the 90's. You'd see plenty of videos on Youtube with him, Clapton & Phil Collins.

He also toured last year with Herbie Hancock. I went to see them in the Grand Canal Theatre, Dublin. Herbie introduced Greg as his second piano player. He made a big deal of having managed to get Greg on tour with him because he is often in demand.

Of all the songs he sung that night.. his un-mic'd performance of Imagine was amazing.. what a set of pipes that man has!

480 · October 27, 2011, 01:24:37 PM

Payment sent

Thanks to bjammerz for so many great article about the Fender Rhodes repair

Adrian
Denmark

Alan Lenhoff · October 27, 2011, 09:11:59 PM

Just watched mine tonight...

Ben, you did a fantastic job of capturing how this instrument engaged -- and inspired -- a generation of fabulous artists, and is being passed along to a new generation. You could feel the love and joy as they sat down at the keyboard. There's really nothing like it.

I now have a long list of Rhodes albums to discover for the first time.

Thanks so much for sharing this with us.

Alan

Cormac Long · November 01, 2011, 11:41:11 AM

Just got my PAL-encoded DVD this morning.. worked like a treat Ben.

Well done guys.. beautifully put together and an absolute joy to watch.

I also loved the use of the Fender Rhodes style on the artist names... took me a while to notice it.. but a classy touch.

Abraham · November 01, 2011, 03:04:16 PM

Got my copy 2 days ago... I have watched this 2 times already! Plus I came back to replay some chapters again. I really enjoyed every second, I find this documentary itself to be a piece of the rhodes story also. I wish I could ever met some of the people interviewed. You can see on their faces they really enjoy being involved in such a project, as they really feel love and respect for these keyboards.

We already had that Miles documentary with Chick Corea and Herbie, we got George Duke involved with softwares emulating Rhodes Keyboards, but this film goes way beyond anything we could expect... Patrice Rushen was lovely, Greg Phillinganes was a discovering to me, Bob James was great, also the man playing "free" by Deneice Williams whose name I can't remember right now... I hooked up some songs & faces and I really enjoyed this.

If you don't have your copy already, don't miss this one. I found it so INSPIRING, so it was enough talk and I'm going back to PLAY MY RHODES!

leon- · November 02, 2011, 06:28:02 AM

Mine arrived in the post yesterday (UK). Ended up switching off the football match last night and watching the DVD.
Was not disspointed - its something that needs to be watched again and again.
Really good work Ben.

Cormac Long · November 02, 2011, 08:23:09 AM

Anyone notice George Duke's Rhodes with what looked like a metal flat top and then a clavinet on top in a perspex case?

I wonder was this for interference purposes from the clav.

I also assume the clavinet was this one with the custom pitch bend.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kazeEqmd7Ss

Ben Bove · November 04, 2011, 12:30:28 PM

Thanks very much for the compliments, I'm glad to hear it's been meaningful for everyone because it sure was very meaningful for us to put it together!

BlondeB3 · November 04, 2011, 07:48:50 PM

Really tasteful, informative and entertaining film Ben, major kudos to you and your collaborators!

Geoff in Australia

quietmouse · November 06, 2011, 01:44:26 PM

I just can't figure out how you were able to put together such a fantastic visual and sonic film, loaded with great interviews, edited perfectly, and not charge more than you do for it. I thoroughly enjoyed it. This film really fills a void.

Thank You

P.S. Thanks for the fast shipping too.

Chris Carroll · November 14, 2011, 11:38:35 AM

The Fender Rhodes story is truly a cool documentary and monumental milestone of Fender Rhodes History- It is smartly directed and produced. Hats off to you Ben- The only thing I would have liked to seen more of is the changes the piano went thru and any input the artists may have had on this. Questions to the artists like which years they preferred, stories of particular pianos and finally maybe some technical insight. It was a real joy to watch and I highly recommend it.

All the best with everything,

Chris

Ben Bove · November 15, 2011, 02:13:44 PM

Thanks! Yes we did have more technical insight from the engineers, but most of the musicians didn't even remember which models they owned or from what years they came... i.e. one artist said he used the Rhodes on every session in the early 60s... and the Rhodes wasn't even around then so, we had to monitor the accuracy

. Generally when I asked them what their favorite Rhodes was, they would say "one that works." So then there's that haha. It was unanimous though that all the artists preferred the suitcase models.

I may put together a separate resource of the evolution of models, just because there are so many confusing cosmetic vs. internal changes.

tommy rhodes · November 30, 2011, 10:29:05 AM

Hi.

Great! Payment done from Italy!

The Real MC · December 03, 2011, 07:43:20 PM

Got my DVD last night. Incredible job on the project, superb sound and editing. My guitar playing brother even watched some bits of it. I've been playing rhodes since 1978 and there were some artists I had not heard before. I love a good story, especially the one about George Duke borrowing Chick Corea's rhodes in the the early days before the two knew each other, and George loving the piano so much that he "pounded the bejeesus out of it" and returned it to Chick with half the tines busted. I busted a gut when the editing went back to Chick's look of restrained disgust as he recalled that episode!

Well worth the price, every rhodes enthusiast should have a copy of this DVD!

arX · December 05, 2011, 03:56:51 AM

I finally got my issue of this. Will be watching it soon and give my thoughts.

Peacefrog35 · December 07, 2011, 10:05:06 AM

This is seriously a must have the the Rhodes enthusiast. Thank you for doing this, it was done so well that I know I'll be watching it over and over!

The Real MC · December 20, 2011, 09:00:37 PM

Quote from: dresdner353 on November 02, 2011, 08:23:09 AM
Anyone notice George Duke's Rhodes with what looked like a metal flat top and then a clavinet on top in a perspex case?

I wonder was this for interference purposes from the clav.

I also assume the clavinet was this one with the custom pitch bend.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kazeEqmd7Ss

Yup that's the castlebar modification. Not many around.

Anyone notice that when Ramsey Lewis is playing his Rhodes that the piano is NOT PLUGGED IN?

drcarver · December 21, 2011, 05:59:32 PM

Just submitted my donation. Can't wait to see it!

polyvoks · December 29, 2011, 05:27:46 PM

just saw mine

it's absolutely fantastic ; thousands congrats for that ,
no doubt that this documentary will be historic

greetings from france

olivier
http://olivier-grall.yusynth.net/

drcarver · December 30, 2011, 10:33:39 PM

Had the day off today, and finally got a chance to watch it. REALLY great documentary! Thanks a million for making this.

Loukas · January 03, 2012, 07:42:25 AM

Just order a copy . Greece is waiting for that. Thanks Ben for all your dedication to the Rhodes.

Ben Bove · January 03, 2012, 07:10:19 PM

Quote from: The Real MC on December 20, 2011, 09:00:37 PM

Anyone notice that when Ramsey Lewis is playing his Rhodes that the piano is NOT PLUGGED IN?

Someone has a keen eye! That piano was on location in a studio, and had an XLR output out of the back. Very strange... I guess for a studio they wanted an XLR bypassing the preamp. So it was direct to the board, out the back.

Thanks again everyone for the compliments