Written by Robert Benson
Les Paul, who invented the solid-body electric guitar and whose studio technology and recording innovations made him one of the most important figures in modern recorded music, passed away on August 13, 2009, from complications from pneumonia. Paul was 94.
From his humble beginnings in Waukesha, Wisconsin (born in 1915), Paul helped to reinvent recorded sound with innovations like multitrack recording techniques which allowed musicians to record different instruments at different times and to sing harmony with themselves and of course the solid-body guitar that bears his name, the Gibson Les Paul. His many recording innovations include effects such as "sound on sound" (or overdubbing) tape delay and phasing effects.
He began his music career at an early age, playing the harmonica and banjo before moving on to the guitar. By age 13 he was performing semi-professionally as a country music artist. By the mid-1930s he joined on with Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians and moved to New York to form the Les Paul Trio. He worked alongside several big band singers, including Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and the Andrews Sisters and in the early 1950s, he and his wife Mary Ford earned 36 gold records for hits including "Vaya Con Dios" and "How High the Moon," which both hit number one. Many of their songs used overdubbing techniques that Paul had helped develop.
Paul's methods of multitrack recording were unique, at the time most recordings were made on a single tape. However, 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.
"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."
But it was the Les Paul electric guitar that helped the music industry gain popularity in the mid-to-late 1940s, and then exploded with the advent of rock in the mid-'50s. Some say that Paul’s guitar and studio techniques have as much to do with the birth of rock and roll than some of the most famous singers who are credited early in the genre’s existence.
Paul's innovative guitar, "The Log,” built in 1939, was one of the first solid-body electric guitars and with careful work and planning evolved into the creation of the first solid-body electric guitar, a departure from the hollow-body guitars of the time. Leo Fender's Broadcaster was the first mass-produced solid body electric on the market in the late 1940s and Gibson solicited Paul to create a prototype for a guitar, now known as the The Les Paul series.
"I had to build it, make it and perfect it," Paul said in 2002.
"For 10 years, I was a laugh," he told CNN in an interview. "[But I] kept pounding at them and pounding at them saying hey, here's where it's at. Here's where tomorrow, this is it. You can drown out anybody with it. And you can make all these different sounds that you can't do with a regular guitar."
"Suddenly, it was recognized that power was a very important part of music," Paul once said. "To have the dynamics, to have the way of expressing yourself beyond the normal limits of an unamplified instrument, was incredible. Today a guy wouldn't think of singing a song on a stage without a microphone and a sound system."
Gibson introduced his model in 1952 and the rest, as they say, is history. The Les Paul series has become one of the most widely used guitars in the music industry and became the standard instrument for legends like Pete Townshend (Who) Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Eric Clapton and many other guitar gods.
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 up with Chet Atkins for two albums. By the late 1980s, Paul had returned to active live performance. In 2006, at the age of 90, he won two Grammys for his first official rock album “Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played.” Among those playing with him were 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."
Accolades and respect from all over the music industry are pouring in, remembering this gentle inventor with the magic fingers and sound.
"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."
“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."
“Les Paul was truly a 'one of a kind.' We owe many of his inventions that made the rock 'n roll sound of today to him, and he was the founding father of modern music," B.B. King said in a statement. "This is a huge loss to the music community and the world. I am honored to have known him."
Joe Satriani said in a statement: "Les Paul set a standard for musicianship and innovation that remains unsurpassed. He was the original guitar hero and the kindest of souls. Last October I joined him onstage at the Iridium club in [New York], and he was still shredding. He was and still is an inspiration to us all."
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."
Paul is enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Inventors Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Les Paul now moves on to another place, where he can dazzle them with his guitar skills and prowess. He will be remembered as one of the greatest assets that the music industry ever had the pleasure to work with.
