Guitar, studio wizard Les Paul dies at 94
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Permalink Reply by CHC Network on -
This is one genius that will surely be missed.
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Permalink Reply by PEDRO WYANT on -
Ill never forget how fast my jaw hit the ground in hearing Les Paul for the 1st time. Im old enough to remember the TV show with Mary Ford and delighting in "The World is Waiting for the Sunrise". Guitar playing would never have the same without Les Paul.
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Permalink Reply by CHC Network on
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Rock Hall Issues Statement Regarding Les Paul's Death
Thursday, August 13, 2009 (Cleveland, OH) In response to the death of 1988 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Les Paul, the Rock Hall has issued the following two statements:
“Without Les Paul, we would not have rock and roll as we know it,” said Terry Stewart, president and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. “His inventions created the infrastructure for the music and his playing style will ripple through generations. He was truly an architect of rock and roll.”
“Les Paul was truly a unique human being,” said Jim Henke, vice president of exhibitions and curatorial affairs. “He was an artist who made his mark as a tremendously influential guitarist. He was also an inventor, the man responsible for the solid-body electric guitar and multi-track recording. Few people have accomplished as much as Les did in his legendary career. We will truly miss him.”
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honored Les Paul for the 13th annual American Music Master’s series in Cleveland – November 15, 2008.
About Les Paul
As a player, inventor and recording artist, Les Paul has been an innovator from the early years of his life. Born Lester William Polfus in 1915 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, the first instrument he learned to play was actually the harmonica at age eight. After brief experimentation with the piano, Paul picked up the guitar, not knowing he would one day shape the sound of songs composed by countless musicians around the world. By age 13 he was performing semi-professionally as a country-music guitarist and working diligently on sound-related inventions. With his newfound talent, Paul formed a trio and moved to New York. All the while he busied himself as a bandleader who could play both jazz and country music. After moving to Los Angeles, Paul and his trio backed Bing Crosby, and with Crosby’s encouragement, Paul built his first studio in his L.A. garage in 1945.
His career as a musician, however, nearly came to an end in 1948, when a near-fatal car accident shattered his right arm and elbow. Nevertheless, he instructed the surgeons to set his arm at an angle that would allow him to cradle and pick the guitar. Paul subsequently made his mark as a jazz-pop musician extraordinaire, recording as a duo with his wife, singer Colleen Summers (a.k.a. Mary Ford). Their biggest hits included “How High the Moon” (1951) and “Vaya Con Dios” (1953), both reaching #1.
Over the years, Paul had become frustrated that the audiences were not able to hear his guitar, so he set out to build one that they could. In 1941, he built “the Log,” his first attempt at creating a solid-body electric guitar. He continued to make refinements to this prototype throughout the decade. In 1952, his dream became a reality when Gibson introduced the solid-body guitar that bears Paul’s name. Because of his pioneering work, Paul is often called the “Father of the Electric Guitar.” The Les Paul guitar has become a staple instrument among discerning rock guitarists. This list of musicians associated with the Gibson Les Paul includes Duane Allman, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Billy Gibbons and Jimmy Page.
In 1956, Les Paul introduced yet another technological innovation: the first eight-track tape recorder (designed by Paul and marketed by Ampex). Over the ensuing decades, Paul himself has remained active, cutting a Grammy-winning album of instrumental duets with Chet Atkins, Chester and Lester, and still indulges his inventor’s curiosity in a basement workshop at his home in Mahwah, New Jersey. In celebration of his 90th birthday, a staggering number of musicians came together to record Les Paul & Friends: American Made and World Played.
Les Paul was inducted into the Early Influence category of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. Today, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum has a permanent exhibit “The New Sound: Les Paul and the Electric Guitar” on the Museum’s second floor in the “The Architects of Rock and Roll” room. The exhibit highlights items loaned by Paul, including the first guitar he ever owned, a 1927 Sears Troubador acoustic guitar and many experimental guitars, including a reproduction of “The Rail” made out of a 2 1/2 -foot length of steel rail with a string held down by a screw at each end. In 2008, he was honored at the Rock Hall’s 13th Annual American Music Masters series® event.
Paul performed weekly – at New York’s Iridium Jazz Club – and indulged his inventor’s curiosity in a basement workshop at home in Mahwah, New Jersey up until his death on August 13, 2009. He was 94 years old.
About the American Music Masters® Series
The American Music Masters® series, a co-production of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities at Case Western Reserve University, celebrates the lives and careers of artists who changed the shape and sound of American culture. Each year, the series explores the legacy of one of those pioneering figures in a range of events that includes Museum exhibits, lectures, films, a major conference and a tribute concert benefiting the Rock Hall’s Education Department. Drawing together experts, artists, fans and friends, these events aim to provide new perspectives on some of the most beloved and influential musicians of the past century.
The American Music Masters® series began in 1996 when the museum paid tribute to Woody Guthrie with a 10-day celebration of his life and legacy. Other American Music Masters® series honorees have included: the father of country music, Jimmie Rodgers in 1997; blues legend, Robert Johnson in 1998; rhythm and blues pioneer, Louis Jordan in 1999; the legendary Muddy Waters in 2000; the “Empress” Bessie Smith in 2001; Hank Williams, the first country western superstar in 2002; Buddy Holly in 2003; folk-blues artist Lead Belly in 2004; Sam Cooke in 2005; Roy Orbison in 2006; Jerry Lee Lewis in 2007; and Les Paul in 2008. In November 2009, Janis Joplin will be honored at the 14th Annual American Music Masters series event. Artists who have performed at American Music Masters® include Solomon Burke, Elvis Costello, Aretha Franklin, Chrissie Hynde, Slash, Alison Krauss and Robert Plant.
About the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. is the nonprofit organization that exists to educate visitors, fans and scholars from around the world about the history and continuing significance of rock and roll music. It carries out this mission both through its operation of a world-class museum that collects, preserves, exhibits and interprets this art form and through its library and archives as well as its national educational programs.
The Museum is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. On Wednesdays (and Saturdays through Labor Day) the Museum is open until 9 p.m. Museum admission is $22 for adults, $17 for seniors (60+), $13 for children (9-12) and children under 8 and Museum members are free. When you become a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the world of rock and roll becomes yours to explore. Call 216.515.8425 for information on becoming a member. For general inquiries, please call 216.781.ROCK.
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Permalink Reply by PEDRO WYANT on
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Thanx for the video and bio on LP, Dave. Very educational and enjoyable.
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Permalink Reply by CHC Network on
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Passing along another press release shared with me this afternoon on the passing of guitar and studio giant Les Paul
STATEMENT FROM RANDY BACHMAN
(Bachman Turner Overdrive, The Guess Who)
ON THE PASSING OF LES PAUL
https://app.icontact.com/icp/loadimage.php/mogile/125369/fa54ac6eb0...
TORONTO -- “I am deeply touched by the passing of Les Paul who I first met in 1959. As a guitarist, composer, electronic innovator and inventor, he was beyond genius and there was none other like him. He was a true musical gift from God to the world and spent his life honoring that gift. I proudly play my Les Paul guitars every night on stage and never forget the moments we shared.”
Born in Canada, Randy Bachman has become a legendary figure in the rock and roll world through his talents as a guitarist, songwriter, performer and producer. He has earned over 120 gold and platinum album/singles awards around the world for performing and producing. His song writing has garnered him the coveted #1 spot on radio play lists in over 20 countries and he has amassed over 40 million records sold. His songs have been recorded by numerous other artists and placed in dozens of television, movie and commercial soundtracks. His music has provided a veritable soundtrack of the last thirty years of popular music.
He first scored Billboard radio chart success with his band The Guess Who in 1965 performing the song, Shakin' All Over. They went on to virtually own the pop charts with an unprecedented run of 5 million-selling singles, all the product of the gold plated Randy Bachman-Burton Cummings song writing team. By 1970, The Guess Who had sold more records than the entire Canadian recording industry to that point, even outselling the Beatles that year. Their hits included These Eyes, Laughing, Undun, No Time, No Sugar Tonight and American Woman.
He formed Brave Belt - a country rock outfit in 1970 and experimented with a new musical style and lineup that eventually metamorphosized into Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Unbelievably, Randy's success with Bachman-Turner Overdrive would eclipse his earlier triumphs and give him yet a third run at the pop music charts. Monstrous hits for the band included, Let it Ride, Roll on Down the Highway, Takin' Care of Business and You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet which reached #1 in over 20 countries. Randy's career has been built upon his unstoppable drive to work at creating music. He has released numerous solo albums throughout his career, and has simultaneously worked at producing for other artists. His production/writing work with Canadian rock band Trooper generated gold and platinum records in the 1970's.
Contact:
Randy Alexander
Randex Communications
Telephone: 856-596-1410
Cell: 609-280-6140
Email: randex@randexpr.com
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Permalink Reply by Robert Stanley on -
I loved Les Paul. He was an innovator and pioneer of many recording techniques and effects that we take for granted today. When I saw him on TV when I was a child, I could not figure out how he got those sounds out of his guitar.
His influence as a guitarist is huge. He was Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix nearly two decades before their own great careers began. When I first heard "Purple Haze", I thought to myself "Les Paul" at the closing.
Not least, thank God for Les Paul's design of his namesake guitar. I've played MANY different guitars over the years but I've enjoyed none more than my Les Pauls.
We'll miss him but his impact will be felt as long as people have ears.
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