The Fendermen

The tale of the Fendermen ranks among those music-business accounts that strain belief yet remain entirely factual. It involves guitarists Jim Sundquist and Phil Humphries, who arrived on the same day and month in separate towns and first encountered each other only as teenagers. Both caught by the rock'n'roll impulse, they formed a duo whose name derived from the Fender guitars they ran through a single shared amplifier. In local bars, crowds reacted most strongly to their brisk, rockabilly-styled version of Jimmie Rodgers' "Mule Skinner Blues," complete with playful yodels and fiery guitar runs. A regional promoter urged the pair to cut the number without drummer or bassist; the track first appeared on Wisconsin's Cuca label, then was re-recorded for Minnesota's Soma imprint. Unexpectedly, the single spread across the country and reached the Top Ten in 1960. Humphries and Sundquist recruited a local drummer, took to the road in support of their major success, and eventually completed a full album before the duo split two years later. Though remembered as a one-hit wonder act, the Fendermen produced vigorous, high-energy rock'n'roll and supplied one of rockabilly's final bursts during an era crowded with teen idols.