Les Paul RIP

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I met les paul at AES NYC a few years back. I had a broken arm at the time. We compared arm injuries. He was going over how he had his set so he could still play guitar. I joked that I had mine set so I could move a fader. He was a joy to talk to and just one of those guys you hung on to every word. R.I.P Lester, you will be missed.
 
lespaul_jpg_595x325_crop_upscale_q85_jpg_595x325_crop_upscale_q85.jpg


Also: From my personal archives:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz6ayj7e1kU
 
My dad was a Pastor who never understood my love for guitar until he officiated a funeral for one of Les Pauls relatives. Les played guitar at the service and essentially won over my dad and from that time on I never got anymore grief for playing guitar.

Very few people carry that kind of influence, a sphere of personal atmosphere that has the potential to restore and create new and old at the same time.

Truly a legend, who left a legacy of positive influence everywhere he went.

Phil Keaggy one of the guitar greats was a close freind of Les Pauls and he's the guy that got Phil into the Jamman looper that he uses so expertly...and because of that I use a jamman myself, actually own two of the originals...

I'm telling you the mans influence was HUGE we have no idea all the people he touched in a positive way...

What a void he will leave.
 
> invent the original multitrack?

What do you mean by that?

There's 12 guitars and 12 Marys on How High the Moon. But as the video shows, he's copying from one tape to another while mixing-in new material. So Mary #1 has been re-re-re-copied 11 times before the work is done.
Long version with jokes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YA_RINQySU
Les didn't make it to August 2020.

Patti Page and Mitch Miller also did self-overdub: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patti_Page#Pop_success:_1948_.E2.80.93_1949
Because she was overdubbing her vocals, Page's name would be listed on the Pop charts as a group name. ... "The Patti Page Quartet"
http://www.amazon.com/Confess/dp/B000V6A99A/ref=dm_ap_trk21?ie=UTF8&qid=1250193293&sr=1-2

Les is generally known for Siml-Sync, using a record-head as "play" while recording to another channel. This avoids re-re-re-copying.... except you only get 2 or 3 passes (3-track mastering decks used to be common).

Les did commission Ampex to build an 8-track, tall as his ceiling; but it was never used on his classic records. Around this time, 4-tracks were in use by Beatles, Airplane, and then 4 and 8 everywhere. And the music changed, and Les did not want to follow. So Les primed a pump, but never got a drink.

Also the harmonica-holder: see 0:33 in this snip.

Also a new name for Iris Colleen Summers.
 
I had the great pleasure of seeing Les preform at his Monday nite gig in NYC last year. Almost exactly one year to the day today. I'm sure The Iridium Jazz Club will be a somber place for a long time to come.

He was such a great entertainer. I kept telling my wife "he's a living legend, he's a living legend". It's not every day you get to experience a living legend who has achieved the greatness that Les has.

The inventor of "Sound on Sound" is what he called it. Not only the father of the electric guitar but also multi-track recording.

You can sure believe that music as we know it today would absolutely not be the same without the great Les Paul.

I can also highly recommend an awesome DVD of his called "Chasing Sound". This is a must own for anyone who is into guitar, recording, electronics or music in general.

OK. I admit. I teared up a little during this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jYu6r_sGgI A very funny guy.

A very sad day indeed. Rest in Piece Lester...

Jeff
 
Les Paul, "Lover", 1947, multi-track on WAX.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cymdQXNjcHs

Anybody wonders if Mary could play? Watch all three clips, but specially #2:
Les Paul and his partner Mary Ford live on The Colgate Comedy Hour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPZrgebMLAw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63Df09Sodpk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhZUCuMFPVU
Much of the "live improv" is of course pre-rehearsed, but Mary's plucking is all-pro.
Note Les' broken string at part 2 time 5:03.
Part 3 "Tiger" is evidently real lip-sync: There's a lot of Marys, yet the guitar licks are new.
 
Long before Jimi set his guitar on fire.....

Holding, not just "a" Les Paul, but "THE" Les Paul guitar, over the barbecue.

2mwas88.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iDLP6HwAVU

wvqpag.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdAP7Bs6UZ0
 
Rare Les Paul Documentary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vomuse9tok
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff1dmh1XA2w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuXLUUJA0Rs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOFjfK4juRE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdAP7Bs6UZ0
 
PRR said:
Rare Les Paul Documentary...
That was absolutely fantastic PRR. I could not stop watching. What a fascinating man.

He was so much more than just the Les Paul solid body guitar.

A very funny and humorous man.  :D

Those videos are a must watch...required viewing to say the least.

He was really a guitar player first and foremost. One helluva great guitar player too.
 
More old air-checks:

How Bing got into movies and Les got to Needles Calif,
Somewhere Over The Rainbow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kLAHdK3TsI

How High The Moon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67LDfbA8AmQ

BTW: what lefty Wayne is doing on the 1980s videos, that's what guitarists were supposed to do, most of Les' career. Thump thump thunk thunk thump..... Wayne digs it, but Les played different.
 
Its true that we seem to remember him for the particular gibson guitar model rather than his actual playing. He was more than a guitar designer - he was a great player as noted above!
 
Les Paul, Tal Farlow, Bucky Pizzarelli, C Jam Blues, 1985
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFMNvHPM9yE
 
PRR - its lovely to watch and listen. Such a peaceful and mellow sound, and this coming from someone who loves Steve Vai, Jimmy Page and Metallica!
 
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