RIP Les Paul at 94 - The Orange Mane

Wes Mantooth · 08-13-2009, 10:26 PM

Didn't see this anywhere. Had a good run at 94, but still sad. Amazing person, and amazing gift!

Guitar legend Les Paul dies at age 94

Aug. 13, 2009, 11:17 AM EST
NEW YORK (AP) -- Les Paul, the guitar virtuoso and inventor who revolutionized music and created rock 'n' roll as surely as Elvis Presley and the Beatles by developing the solid-body electric guitar and multitrack recording, died Thursday at age 94.

Known for his lightning-fast riffs, Paul performed with some of early pop's biggest names and produced a slew of hits, many with wife Mary Ford. But it was his inventive streak that made him universally revered by guitar gods as their original ancestor and earned his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the most important forces in popular music.

Search: Les Paul
View results for: Les Paul Les Paul guitar line Legacy Recordings Les Paul inventions Paul, who died in White Plains, N.Y., of complications from pneumonia, was a tireless tinkerer, whose quest for a particular sound led him to create the first solid-body electric guitar, a departure from the hollow-body guitars of the time. His invention paved the way for modern rock 'n' roll and became the standard instrument for legends like Pete Townsend and Jimmy Page.

He also developed technology that would become hallmarks of rock and pop recordings, from multitrack recording that allowed for layers and layers of "overdubs" to guitar reverb and other sound effects.

"He was truly the cornerstone of popular music," said Henry Juskiewicz, chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar, which mass produced Paul's original invention. "He was a futurist, and unlike some futurists who write about it and predict things, he was a guy who actually did things."

Paul remained an active performer until his last months: He put out his very first rock album just four years ago, and up until recently played every week at a New York jazz club.

The news of his death prompted an outpouring of tributes from the music world.

"Les lived a very long life and he got to a lot of his goals, so I'm happy for him in that respect. ... At least he realized that he was a legend in his own time while he was alive," said Richie Sambora, Bon Jovi's guitarist and a friend of Paul's, on Thursday. "He was revolutionary in the music business."

Said Kiss' Paul Stanley: "The name Les Paul is iconic and is known by aspiring and virtuoso guitar players worldwide. That guitar is the cornerstone of a lot of great music that has been made in the last 50 years."

A musician since childhood, he experimented with guitar amplification for years before coming up in 1941 with what he called "The Log," a 4-by-4 piece of wood strung with steel strings.

"I went into a nightclub and played it. Of course, everybody had me labeled as a nut." He later put the wooden wings onto the body to give it a traditional guitar shape.

The use of electric guitar gained popularity in the mid-to-late 1940s.

Leo Fender's Broadcaster was the first mass-produced solid body electric on the market in the late 1940s.

Gibson solicited Paul to create a prototype for a guitar, and began production on the Les Paul guitar in 1952. Townshend of The Who, Steve Howe of Yes, jazz great Al DiMeola and Led Zeppelin's Page all made the Gibson Les Paul their trademark six-string.

The Les Paul series has become one of the most widely used guitars in the music industry. In 2005, Christie's auction house sold a 1955 Gibson Les Paul for $45,600.

Paul was born Lester William Polfuss, in Waukesha, Wis., on June 9, 1915. He began his career as a musician, billing himself as Red Hot Red or Rhubarb Red. He toured with the popular Chicago band Rube Tronson and His Texas Cowboys and led the house band on WJJD radio in Chicago.

In the mid-1930s he joined Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians and soon moved to New York to form the Les Paul Trio, with Jim Atkins and bassist Ernie Newton.

Paul started out as an accompanist, working with key artists until he struck out on his own. His first records were released in 1944 on Decca Records. Later, with Ford, his wife from 1949 to 1962, he earned 36 gold records for hits including "Vaya Con Dios" and "How High the Moon," which both hit No. 1.

He had met Ford, then known as Colleen Summers, in the 1940s while working as a studio musician in Los Angeles. For seven years in the 1950s, Paul and Ford broadcast a TV show from their home in Mahwah, N.J. (Ford died in 1977, 15 years after they divorced).

Paul had made his first attempt at audio amplification at age 13. Unhappy with the amount of volume produced by his acoustic guitar, he tried placing a telephone receiver under the strings. Although this worked to some extent, only two strings were amplified and the volume level was still too low.

By placing a phonograph needle in the guitar, all six strings were amplified, which proved to be much louder. Paul was playing a working prototype of the electric guitar in 1929.

His work on recording techniques began in the years after World War II, when Bing Crosby gave him a tape recorder. Drawing on his earlier experimentation with his homemade recording machine, Paul added an additional playback head to the recorder. The result was a delayed effect that became known as tape echo.

Tape echo gave the recording a more "live" feel and enabled the user to simulate different playing environments.

Paul's next "crazy idea" was to stack together eight mono tape machines and send their outputs to one piece of tape, stacking the recording heads on top of each other. The resulting machine served as the forerunner to today's multitrack recorders. Many of his songs with Ford used overdubbing techniques that Paul had helped develop.

"I could take my Mary and make her three, six, nine, 12, as many voices as I wished," he recalled. "This is quite an asset." The overdubbing technique was highly influential on later recording artists such as the Carpenters.

Paul's use of multitrack recording was unique: Before he did it, most recordings were made on a single tape. By recording each element separately, from the vocals to instrumentation on different tracks, they could be mixed and layered, adding to the richness in sound.

"In the old days, if you only had one track, you put a microphone in the middle of the music and hope for the best," Juskiewicz said.

In 1954, Paul commissioned the first eight-track tape recorder, later known as "Sel-Sync," in which a recording head could simultaneously record a new track and play back previous ones.

In the late 1960s, Paul retired from music to concentrate on his inventions. His interest in country music was rekindled in the mid-'70s and he teamed with Chet Atkins for two albums. The duo were awarded a Grammy for best country instrumental performance of 1976 for their "Chester and Lester" album.

In 2005, he released the Grammy-winning "Les Paul & Friends: American Made, World Played," his first album of new material since those 1970s recordings and his first official rock CD. Among those playing with him: Peter Frampton, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Richie Sambora.

"They're not only my friends, but they're great players," Paul told The Associated Press. "I never stop being amazed by all the different ways of playing the guitar and making it deliver a message."

Paul was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2005.

Blueflame · 08-13-2009, 10:31 PM

He was awesomely talented... sucks that he's gone. R.I.P.

Swedish Extrovert · 08-13-2009, 10:38 PM

The Gibson Les Paul = beautiful guitar.

RIP

Wes Mantooth · 08-13-2009, 10:54 PM

This guy was responsible for more audio inventions than anyone other person I can think of. Hell of a guitar player to boot!

Blueflame · 08-13-2009, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MightySmurf

The Gibson Les Paul = beautiful guitar.

RIP

Yes... my Dad (R.I.P.) had a gold one... made circa 1955. Mom still has it ....

on edit: a family member playing that vintage Les Paul...

Disco Man · 08-14-2009, 12:15 AM

The Gibson Les Paul is THE Rock n Roll guitar

TDmvp · 08-14-2009, 12:17 AM

Wow ... just wow ... Rip to a true trend setter

Meck77 · 08-14-2009, 02:20 AM

RIP....

Blue aren't we in "on season" mode? Just sayin...

Blueflame · 08-14-2009, 02:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meck77

RIP....

Blue aren't we in "on season" mode? Just sayin...

Yeah... we are. It's headed to Off Topics.

L.A. BRONCOS FAN · 08-14-2009, 03:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blueflame

Yes... my Dad (R.I.P.) had a gold one... made circa 1955. Mom still has it ....

on edit: a family member playing that vintage Les Paul...

Noice!

I'm diggin' the P-90s!

Just sold a gold top with the mini humbuckers a few days ago - sorta regretting it now.

L.A. BRONCOS FAN · 08-14-2009, 03:37 AM

RIP Les Paul at 94

What a sad day.

We've lost another legend.

Not too many people realize the extent to which Les Paul's ideas were responsible for the way we were able to record the most memorable music of the last 40+ years.

And he was still knocking 'em dead on the guitar and making jaws drop right up until the very end.

Thanks for everything, Les - rest in peace.

Blueflame · 08-14-2009, 03:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

Noice!

I'm diggin' the P-90s!

Just sold a gold top with the mini humbuckers a few days ago - sorta regretting it now.

It is the sweetest guitar to play... gets heavy after a while though.

L.A. BRONCOS FAN · 08-14-2009, 03:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blueflame

It is the sweetest guitar to play... gets heavy after a while though.

And I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that it's worth a fortune today (although I know no amount of money could eclipse the sentimental value.)

Blueflame · 08-14-2009, 03:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

And I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that it's worth a fortune today (although I know no amount of money could eclipse the sentimental value.)

It will probably stay "in the family" for the foreseeable future.

(every one of my kids can play a guitar...although some are more proficient than others...)

broncosteven · 08-14-2009, 10:18 AM

I just picked up some 78's of Les's at an estate sale this summer.

Not to mention that he played a couple times a week in a NY club, I wish I was as active as Les was.

Hogan11 · 08-14-2009, 04:35 PM

Tragic.

Rohirrim · 08-15-2009, 09:18 AM

A long life well lived. Farewell, and thank you for immeasurable pleasures made possible by your innovative mind.

08-13-2009, 10:26 PM	#1
Wes Mantooth Ring of Famer Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 2,443	RIP Les Paul at 94 Didn't see this anywhere. Had a good run at 94, but still sad. Amazing person, and amazing gift! Guitar legend Les Paul dies at age 94 Aug. 13, 2009, 11:17 AM EST NEW YORK (AP) -- Les Paul, the guitar virtuoso and inventor who revolutionized music and created rock 'n' roll as surely as Elvis Presley and the Beatles by developing the solid-body electric guitar and multitrack recording, died Thursday at age 94. Known for his lightning-fast riffs, Paul performed with some of early pop's biggest names and produced a slew of hits, many with wife Mary Ford. But it was his inventive streak that made him universally revered by guitar gods as their original ancestor and earned his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the most important forces in popular music. Search: Les Paul View results for: Les Paul Les Paul guitar line Legacy Recordings Les Paul inventions Paul, who died in White Plains, N.Y., of complications from pneumonia, was a tireless tinkerer, whose quest for a particular sound led him to create the first solid-body electric guitar, a departure from the hollow-body guitars of the time. His invention paved the way for modern rock 'n' roll and became the standard instrument for legends like Pete Townsend and Jimmy Page. He also developed technology that would become hallmarks of rock and pop recordings, from multitrack recording that allowed for layers and layers of "overdubs" to guitar reverb and other sound effects. "He was truly the cornerstone of popular music," said Henry Juskiewicz, chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar, which mass produced Paul's original invention. "He was a futurist, and unlike some futurists who write about it and predict things, he was a guy who actually did things." Paul remained an active performer until his last months: He put out his very first rock album just four years ago, and up until recently played every week at a New York jazz club. The news of his death prompted an outpouring of tributes from the music world. "Les lived a very long life and he got to a lot of his goals, so I'm happy for him in that respect. ... At least he realized that he was a legend in his own time while he was alive," said Richie Sambora, Bon Jovi's guitarist and a friend of Paul's, on Thursday. "He was revolutionary in the music business." Said Kiss' Paul Stanley: "The name Les Paul is iconic and is known by aspiring and virtuoso guitar players worldwide. That guitar is the cornerstone of a lot of great music that has been made in the last 50 years." A musician since childhood, he experimented with guitar amplification for years before coming up in 1941 with what he called "The Log," a 4-by-4 piece of wood strung with steel strings. "I went into a nightclub and played it. Of course, everybody had me labeled as a nut." He later put the wooden wings onto the body to give it a traditional guitar shape. The use of electric guitar gained popularity in the mid-to-late 1940s. Leo Fender's Broadcaster was the first mass-produced solid body electric on the market in the late 1940s. Gibson solicited Paul to create a prototype for a guitar, and began production on the Les Paul guitar in 1952. Townshend of The Who, Steve Howe of Yes, jazz great Al DiMeola and Led Zeppelin's Page all made the Gibson Les Paul their trademark six-string. The Les Paul series has become one of the most widely used guitars in the music industry. In 2005, Christie's auction house sold a 1955 Gibson Les Paul for $45,600. Paul was born Lester William Polfuss, in Waukesha, Wis., on June 9, 1915. He began his career as a musician, billing himself as Red Hot Red or Rhubarb Red. He toured with the popular Chicago band Rube Tronson and His Texas Cowboys and led the house band on WJJD radio in Chicago. In the mid-1930s he joined Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians and soon moved to New York to form the Les Paul Trio, with Jim Atkins and bassist Ernie Newton. Paul started out as an accompanist, working with key artists until he struck out on his own. His first records were released in 1944 on Decca Records. Later, with Ford, his wife from 1949 to 1962, he earned 36 gold records for hits including "Vaya Con Dios" and "How High the Moon," which both hit No. 1. He had met Ford, then known as Colleen Summers, in the 1940s while working as a studio musician in Los Angeles. For seven years in the 1950s, Paul and Ford broadcast a TV show from their home in Mahwah, N.J. (Ford died in 1977, 15 years after they divorced). Paul had made his first attempt at audio amplification at age 13. Unhappy with the amount of volume produced by his acoustic guitar, he tried placing a telephone receiver under the strings. Although this worked to some extent, only two strings were amplified and the volume level was still too low. By placing a phonograph needle in the guitar, all six strings were amplified, which proved to be much louder. Paul was playing a working prototype of the electric guitar in 1929. His work on recording techniques began in the years after World War II, when Bing Crosby gave him a tape recorder. Drawing on his earlier experimentation with his homemade recording machine, Paul added an additional playback head to the recorder. The result was a delayed effect that became known as tape echo. Tape echo gave the recording a more "live" feel and enabled the user to simulate different playing environments. Paul's next "crazy idea" was to stack together eight mono tape machines and send their outputs to one piece of tape, stacking the recording heads on top of each other. The resulting machine served as the forerunner to today's multitrack recorders. Many of his songs with Ford used overdubbing techniques that Paul had helped develop. "I could take my Mary and make her three, six, nine, 12, as many voices as I wished," he recalled. "This is quite an asset." The overdubbing technique was highly influential on later recording artists such as the Carpenters. Paul's use of multitrack recording was unique: Before he did it, most recordings were made on a single tape. By recording each element separately, from the vocals to instrumentation on different tracks, they could be mixed and layered, adding to the richness in sound. "In the old days, if you only had one track, you put a microphone in the middle of the music and hope for the best," Juskiewicz said. In 1954, Paul commissioned the first eight-track tape recorder, later known as "Sel-Sync," in which a recording head could simultaneously record a new track and play back previous ones. In the late 1960s, Paul retired from music to concentrate on his inventions. His interest in country music was rekindled in the mid-'70s and he teamed with Chet Atkins for two albums. The duo were awarded a Grammy for best country instrumental performance of 1976 for their "Chester and Lester" album. In 2005, he released the Grammy-winning "Les Paul & Friends: American Made, World Played," his first album of new material since those 1970s recordings and his first official rock CD. Among those playing with him: Peter Frampton, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Richie Sambora. "They're not only my friends, but they're great players," Paul told The Associated Press. "I never stop being amazed by all the different ways of playing the guitar and making it deliver a message." Paul was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2005.

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08-13-2009, 10:31 PM	#2
Blueflame Miss Congeniality Welcome to Peyton's Place Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: in my cups... lol Posts: 33,037 Adopt-a-Bronco: Randy Gradishar	He was awesomely talented... sucks that he's gone. R.I.P.

08-13-2009, 10:38 PM	#3
Swedish Extrovert President of the Universe Formerly known as mightysmurf Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Highlands Ranch Posts: 14,932 Adopt-a-Bronco: Joel Dreesen	The Gibson Les Paul = beautiful guitar. RIP

08-13-2009, 10:54 PM	#4
Wes Mantooth Ring of Famer Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 2,443	This guy was responsible for more audio inventions than anyone other person I can think of. Hell of a guitar player to boot!

08-14-2009, 12:15 AM	#6
Disco Man Style n Profile Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Denver, Co. Posts: 1,711	The Gibson Les Paul is THE Rock n Roll guitar

08-14-2009, 12:17 AM	#7
TDmvp Ring of Famer Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 8,049	Wow ... just wow ... Rip to a true trend setter

08-14-2009, 02:20 AM	#8
Meck77 Ring of Famer Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 16,308	RIP.... Blue aren't we in "on season" mode? Just sayin...

08-14-2009, 03:37 AM	#11
L.A. BRONCOS FAN Mo' holla fo' yo' dolla! Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: In a bunker in an undisclosed location Posts: 52,694	RIP Les Paul at 94 What a sad day. We've lost another legend. Not too many people realize the extent to which Les Paul's ideas were responsible for the way we were able to record the most memorable music of the last 40+ years. And he was still knocking 'em dead on the guitar and making jaws drop right up until the very end. Thanks for everything, Les - rest in peace.

08-14-2009, 10:18 AM	#15
broncosteven The Kranz Dictum MWA: Flight Director Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Tranquility Base Posts: 29,008 Adopt-a-Bronco: MONEYBALL #38	I just picked up some 78's of Les's at an estate sale this summer. Not to mention that he played a couple times a week in a NY club, I wish I was as active as Les was.

08-14-2009, 04:35 PM	#16
Hogan11 Rock-N-Roll Historian Let's take these SOB's out!!!!!! Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: W.NY.B.C. Posts: 21,300 Adopt-a-Bronco: Floyd Little	Tragic.

08-15-2009, 09:18 AM	#17
Rohirrim Partisan Human Cannonball Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Twixt Hell & Highwater Posts: 48,791	A long life well lived. Farewell, and thank you for immeasurable pleasures made possible by your innovative mind.