The Last Rhodes

The Rhodes piano (aka the Fender Rhodes) was invented by Harold Rhodes during WWII as a part of therapy for recovering soldiers, which called for cheap and speedily made pianos. The Rhodes produces sound like a traditional piano, by using keys and hammers. However, the hammers strike metal tines instead of stings, which are tuned to the various pitches. An electromagnetic pickup attached to the tines sends the signal through to be amplified. Eventually manufactured by the Fender company, these keyboards became extremely popular in the 70's, and can be heard in many recording by such notables as The Doors, Steely Dan, Herby Hancock and Billy Preston.

The above picture is "The Last Rhodes." This custom 88-key model was handmade by Harold Rhodes and his wife Margit for Jim Wray, who is a fantastic jazz musician living in central Virginia now. Jim gave Harold Rhodes' eulogy and was a close friend of the inventor of that beautiful instrument.

When Jim was living in Malibu, a fire swept through his neighborhood, destroying his home and instruments, including a Rhodes piano. Soon after, Jim was in a local music shop in order to replace the keyboard. He sat down at a Rhodes that was set up in the shop and began playing. As usual with Jim, he started really feeling the piece he was playing, transffering a lot of the sadness from his recent tragedy through his fingers into the song. When he finished, an elderly couple who had been listening came up to tell him how much they appreciated the music. It was Harold and Margit Rhodes!

Jim Wray at the Rhodes.

Upon hearing the story of the fire, they went with Jim to the burnt-out ruins and dug around until they found the original Rhodes faceplate among the ashes. Then, they set to work to build a new piano for Jim, which would be the last for the inventor. He was practically blind by this time, so Margit did most of the soldering for him. Jim loaned us the Last Rhodes for several years, when we were running a music venue in Virginia. So many amazing musicians from all over the country used the piano in their sets, and we were always so thankful for Jim and for the Rhodes' for sharing this piece of music history with all of us!