I am so saddened to hear about Bill. I will always remember his wide smile, his distinctive voice and his laugh. He was a very special person to so many people.
When I was around Bill, he would tell me stories about hanging with my dad and Speedy West in the ’50s. He told me about one night at the Palomino Club—they liked to play practical jokes and have fun. Dad and Speedy had gotten new Cadillacs, and during one of their breaks, dad went out and pulled some wires off of the engine in Speedy’s new car. Speedy tried and tried to figure it out and finally called a tow truck. Well, as Speedy and his new car were being towed away, Bill, dad, and some other guys were all laughing their heads off.
They were young and having fun, playing music and getting it done, dreaming about doing it for the rest of their lives—Bill lived his dream, raised a family in between, and left his mark on the world of music!
God bless Bill Carson.
Chris Gill
One year at winter NAMM, Fender had a concert in the evening that featured Bonnie Raitt and a few others. At the end of that particular day, Susan Carson approached me and asked if I would accompany Bill back to his hotel room. He had a mild cold and, as Susan explained, was not really looking forward to an evening of loud music. As I was meeting friends for dinner and had not planned to attend the show anyway, I gladly accepted and together we grabbed a ride back to the hotel. With about 90 minutes to spare before I had to meet my friends I walked with Bill back to his room where, to my surprise, he invited me in.
“Chris,” he said, “do you ever drink any of the hard stuff? I think Susan has some vodka in here (sorry Susan!)—I’ll go get some ice.”
With that he left with the ice bucket, then promptly returned and filled two small plastic cups with some ice and a couple fingers of vodka. Bill made himself comfortable, sitting upright on the edge of one of the beds, propped a pillow up against the wall, threw a leg up and proceeded to reel off 40 years or so of his Fender “life and times” experiences. Needless to say, I was on the edge of my seat for the next hour and a half.
Bill, it was my extreme pleasure.
Scott Carson
My father was an extraordinary soul, and a very loving and caring parent. He provided well for the family and gave so much fatherly advice and wisdom. The three most important things he preached to me growing up were the value of a dollar and working to earn it, the repercussions of waste and the importance of an education. He was somewhat “old school” in raising us kids, and we did have to work hard for our allowance; not to mention picking our own willow switch off the tree when we got out of line—I quickly learned not to get out of line!
One time, when we were living in Greenbrier, Tenn., he had given me some chores to do as he left for Springfield airport to do some flying. We had a Cessna 172 and a Baby Ace, which is a single-seat parasol airplane powered by a 1940s-vintage 65 horsepower Continental power plant. This was Dad’s favorite to fly at that time, which was around 1973. After he left, I gathered up the neighborhood kids and decided to get a baseball game going on in our pasture and put off doing the chores for a while. About an hour later, my father flies toward our farm, and just above the tree line he pulls the throttle back, comes right up on me in stealth mode, throws a tomato at me and hits me upside the head! He yelled, “Get your ass to work now!” Of course, all the other kids laughed and ran.
This was just one of many wacky things he has pulled on me. He was also something of a Dr. Dolittle; nurturing animals of all kinds back to health, such as geese, squirrels, possums, doves, crows and other critters, with of course the exception of cats, which he didn’t like too much (my poor Peanut—I’ll have to tell ya about that one sometime!).
I remember, when I was a little boy, I use to run in the room when I heard him play his guitar. He played so effortlessly and so smoothly, in a style that was like no other. When Fender moved us out to Nashville, Tenn., where he became a district sales manager, he traveled a lot, and I was fortunate to go with him on some of his business trips. Even though I was just a youngster, one thing that I will always remember is that no matter what honky-tonk music store we went in, everyone greeted him as if he were part of their family! I could tell he was very respected and loved by many in the music industry.
As I got older, I was also fortunate to go to many NAMM events and again saw how many people were so drawn to him. He was filled with so many stories and has no doubt touched the lives of so many people in sharing them, not only within the Fender organization but also with friends and neighbors alike. I wish to thank everyone on the Fender staff for your kind words and your friendship, and for the love you’ve given to my father throughout the years. I think I can speak for everyone now in saying that whenever we all look at or play a Strat® or eat a watermelon, we will all feel Bill Carson’s spirit. God Bless!
Scott Carson
Randy Williams
As a Fender representative, (Bill) would occasionally come into one of the music stores in Birmingham, Ala., where I worked. I was just 16 and did stock work and repaired guitars. He was a very nice and interesting man. I am glad to have been able to meet him. I know he will be sorely missed by many. My heartfelt condolences to his family.
Steve Grom
I remember traveling with Bill and Susan back in about 1988 to visit a potential Sunn lighting dealer in Alabama. We were heading back to their place in Nashville, with Bill behind the wheel of his Lincoln town car. As we raced down the interstate, Bill looked at his watch (it had just turned 5 p.m.), pulled into the next rest stop, opened the trunk, pulled out his “traveling” bar and mixed two killer martinis for the two of us. His instructions to Susan were “You drive; we’ve got some more work to do back here.”
It was always a wonderful adventure to travel with the Carsons.
I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with many of the great Fender legends—Bill Carson, Bill Schultz, Freddie Tavares and Harold Rhodes. The music world owes these people a tremendous debt for creating the ultimate musical tools.
Steve Grom,
Fender Vice President Quality Assurance
