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A Musical Legend, Les Paul, Dies At 94

By Steve_in_KC on August 16, 2009 at 11:45 PM in Current Affairs

Les Paul, a modern musical genius, passed away Thursday (August 13, 2009) at the age of 94. He was the ultimate guitarist, still playing for live audiences while in his 90s. If you don’t know about Les Paul, you should take a few minutes to enrich your cultural understanding of what this man did for modern music.

Besides being a virtuoso guitarist, he was an inventor. His innovations include the electric guitar.  That alone should easily be enough to make him a modern legend. Without electric guitar, forget Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Led Zepplin, and every rock band ever.

He also invented multi-track recording. Without that, you would have never heard singers harmonize with themselves.  Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band would never have been possible. And that’s just scratching the surface.

Let’s not forget a simpler invention of Les Paul: tape delay echo. This was a staple of the rock sound, from Elvis to… well, everybody! It gave that “singing in the shower” sound to many vocalists, guitarists, and just about everything recorded since the 1950s.

As a rock musician myself, I could go on showering this man with praise all day and all night. But others have already done a much better job than I could, while preserving some of the best guitar playing ever produced.

Please do yourself a favor. Put on your earphones or crank up the speakers, and enjoy the timeless work of a brilliant musician, a lighting-fast guitarist, and a world-changing inventor. I hope you’ll start with the classic hit below, “How High The Moon,” performed with his lovely wife and musical partner, Mary Ford. Mary arranged all her own vocal parts and harmonies. They were quite a musical couple! They recorded this masterpiece the year I was born: 1951. This clip from TV was recorded in 1954.

Now here’s the full song that was featured above, but with a different segment of the intro by Alistair Cooke.

Here are some other Les Paul clips I’m sure you’ll enjoy!

CLIP ONE

CLIP TWO (ends with “How High The Moon” without the intro in the clip above

CLIP THREE

  • Patrick Henry

    Thanks for this Tribute for Les Paul..I Loved the guy…He is playing now with a great bunch of Musicians and singers in Heaven..

    Thanks Les, for making Life more enjoyable..

    you were the Best…

  • jwrjr

    The pleasant surprise is the wide range of people who recognize Paul’s contributions. (Not that much of a surprise, really, but pleasant anyway.)

  • Diana L. C.

    Steve in KC,

    Thanks for the tribute to Les Paul.

    I have always been most jealous of people with musical ability. It seems to me to be one of the most special gifts.

    My kids always knew how much I loved music, though I couldn’t create it in any way. I am totally tone deaf (but not in the way Obama is).

    But my love of music at least allowed me to think past all the negative attitudes of family and friends who thought I might be encouraging my second son to have “unrealistic” goals. I bought his first acoustic guitar, helped him drive all over finding the special electric he wanted next. I’ve helped with all kinds of musical equipment purchases, even more guitars. He and his band have been together since they were all fourteen and first started practicing in my unfinished basement. I’ve been able to attend many of the shows they’ve performed in small venues around Denver. It’s not the type of music Les Paul makes, and not the type most of us geezers listen to. But it makes me so proud that, while he holds down a full-time “realistic” job, he won’t give up his love for making music.

    • pm317

      I have always been most jealous of people with musical ability. It seems to me to be one of the most special gifts.

      My thoughts exactly. But many don’t know the gift they hold in their hands which is very sad (like my sister and her son :( ) I am an avid listener of everything that sounds good but hold a special passion for classical music. I didn’t know about Paul until I heard about his death last week.

    • brodie

      Good for you! My mother did those things for me when I was a young musician, but my father never lost an opportunity to tell me what an idiot I was for playing rock music. I repaid my mom’s kindness by taking care of her in her later years. What goes around, comes around. Support your talented children- we need all the art & music we can get in this world!

  • VRWC – Long time no post Dept.

    I cannot remain silent. MEMORIAL CONCERT! Les Paul had the right stuff.

  • Tricia Spiegel

    What a great photo! I will remember him like this.
    Thanks for the wonderful post honoring a special talent.

  • Linda Anselmi

    Thanks for the education, Steve. As a lover of rock, I’m ashamed to confess I had no clue as to his major influence.

    In a odd coincidence, on Aug 14th a rock guitar documentary “It Might Get Loud” opened. Unfortunately I don’t live where it opened.

    the new documentary It Might Get Loud perhaps the closest thing to a master class in rock guitar around. The film is a mashup of the techniques, styles, and inner drives of three of the most influential players of the past 50 years. The filmmakers interviewed Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, the Edge of U2, and Jack White of the White Stripes in their hometowns and then sat them down on a soundstage with their rigs and axes.

    “It Might Get Loud” Trailer
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl9iS2egnC0

    • pm317

      Wow, thank Linda. I will look for it in our neighborhood theater. I love “rock” guitar especially of the Led Zepplin variety. I didn’t know Jimmy Page looked so ordinary/normal(?) for the extraordinary sounds he makes with his guitar.

      • Steve_in_KC

        pm317 wrote: ” I didn’t know Jimmy Page looked so ordinary/normal(?) for the extraordinary sounds he makes with his guitar.”

        I’m grinning, trying to picture how you must have imagined him looking! Maybe Johnny Depp’s character in Pirates of the Carribean? Including the smoldering moustache tips? :D

        • pm317

          :)
          At least he should wear some “stupid” clothes and a nose ring, right?

  • oowawa

    Steve, thanks for this fine tribute to Les Paul and Mary Ford. I still listen to them all the time, and I am continually amazed by how fresh they still sound. “How High the Moon,” “Runnin’ Wild,” “Blow the Smoke Away,”–all gems. “Vaya Con Dios” still breaks my heart.

  • Patience

    Thanks for this article about Les Paul, Steve!

    My mother was a professional musician so music has always been a big part of my life. While I loved hearing her play the piano, my second favorite instrument is the guitar, whether acoustic or electric. Les Paul will forever remain a giant in the industry — it’s hard to think of any other musician who came close to his inventiveness.

    And his longevity as a performer is nothing short of astounding. I can’t imagine having such supple, dexterous fingers at age 90! I have to admit though that my Number One favorite jazz guitarist is Joe Pass. And I probably reach for recordings of Mark Knopfler in his Dire Straits days playing Fender guitars more than any of the other rock greats. I love David Gilmour, Jimmy Page and Jimmy Hendrix but I guess I’m getting too old to listen to them as often (or as loudly) as I used to. Hearing Knopfler pick and strum through “Local Hero/Wild Theme” is downright heavenly.

    • Diana L. C.

      My son always played Fenders, not the Les Paul guitars. But he knew a lot about them.

      At any age, you can adjust to “young” musical tastes. My son’s band is–well the usual comparison his audience makes to compliment them is that they sound like Tool.

      I’ve heard their music for so many years that I can now tell the difference between good music of their type and the really amateurish versions.

      It worked out for me as a teacher, too, because listening to their music made it possible for me to surprise some of my students when they thought–rightly so–that I was really old. I would just recite some lyrics (leaving out any bad words) that they were sure I wouldn’t know.

  • oowawa

    How can the Almighty Spam Filter object to a short sweet comment about Les Paul & Mary Ford? Inscrutable, like life in the universe.

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