Guitarist and innovator Les Paul dies at age 94

Comment

Comment by Roy Kallas on August 19, 2009 at 4:37pm

I have been a fan of Les Paul ever since I was a kid watching the Les Paul and Mary Ford Show on TV. My favorite albums are the ones he did with Chet Atkins and other guitarists. It was great seeing the specials on him still playing up on till the end. He will always be one of my favorite musicians of all times.

Comment by Sean on August 18, 2009 at 11:51pm

Thanks to Les for making music history. His inventivness has earmarked the future of music for many years to come with the invention of the electric guitar. I admit that I know little about him, but upon hearing of his death, I can't ignore the personal impact he made on me personally. His invention of the electric guitar prompted many of my influences to pick one up and create some of the coolest sounds in modern music and I'm gratefully indebted to the man's contribution. Where would we be in music without the insight of Les Paul? Not to mention the influence the man's guitars have had on electric guitar design, both technically and aesthetically speaking!

Comment by earnest pouncey on August 14, 2009 at 5:30pm

Dan
enjoyed the clip from namm. Les was a legendary innovator and we were all blessed that he had such an interest in his inventions. Often genius is seen as insanity as some people thought in his early days when he was trying to market some of his inventions such as his idea of the log guitar that eventually morphed into the famous guitar we know as the Les Paul . He certainly will be missed but his legend will endure forever. I was most impressed with how warm and down to earth individual he seemed to be I never saw him play but have heard his recordings all my life. My dad had a les paul and mary ford record and recall how different the music was compared to the country and western that he usually listened to . Thanks for the memorial and we should all celebrate his life and his contributions he was a model at how to live. I just hope that if I live to 94 that I am still playing guitar with the same youthful enthusiasm that we have when we first take up the instrument. Thanks for everything Les rip.

Comment by Jeff Williams on August 13, 2009 at 5:08pm

Oh dear, what a loss. Such a genius. He invented the electric guitar, sound on sound recording, and multi-track recording. ( and he played a mean guitar too ) .. I had plans to go to NYC to see him .. i'm so very upset ..
RIP Les .. we'll miss you .. :(

Jeff

Jeff Williams
http://www.jeffwilliams-usa.com

Comment by Dan Gabel, Editor & Group Publisher on August 13, 2009 at 4:34pm

Cool clip, Kent. Thanks for sharing that. Here's a clip of Les Paul from NAMM's oral history project, in an interview from 2001. He was always innovating, and apparently even did experiments with his dog when he was a kid. www.namm.org/library/oral-history/les-paul

Comment by Kent Babcock on August 13, 2009 at 4:18pm

I just read the NYT obituary. Very informative. I had to do a search for some recordings of Les and Mary and found this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPZrgebMLAw

What a player.