View Full Version : RIP Les Paul
Just heard that Les passed on. 94, what a great life. He will be missed...
In addition to the guitar he was also responsible for multi track recording...
Mike Black
Aug-13-2009, 11:18am
I just heard that too. What a legend, he will be missed!
I'm going to pull out those old Chester and Lester albums tonight.
Thanks for everything Les Paul!
TonyP
Aug-13-2009, 11:19am
wow, another giant passes. Les was still playing weekly last I heard. This is sad news indeed. He was one of my favorite guitar players, right up there with Django. Rest in peace, the angel band just got another great picker.
catmandu2
Aug-13-2009, 11:20am
Long life. Thanks Les.
250sc
Aug-13-2009, 11:20am
No one can say he didn't leave his mark. He had an amazing life.
Charley wild
Aug-13-2009, 11:21am
Legend is an overused word in this country but it sure applies to Les Paul. He helped inspire me and countless others back when to take up the guitar. In the 50's if you mentioned guitar players it almost always was in reference to either Les or Chet!
John Flynn
Aug-13-2009, 11:23am
Here is a picture from another thread of him playing the mandolin:
allenhopkins
Aug-13-2009, 11:25am
Looks like an A-50.
Narayan Kersak
Aug-13-2009, 11:37am
Ach! We owe him alot! I didn't hear about this except through the Cafe!
John Rosett
Aug-13-2009, 11:52am
A national treasure. They just don't make them like Les Paul anymore.
Mike Bromley
Aug-13-2009, 11:54am
He gets to form a duo with Lloyd now.
Les & Lloyd...the two-man army of innovation.
Matt DeBlass
Aug-13-2009, 11:58am
His obit is on the front page of the NY Times web site here (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/14/arts/music/14paul.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp).
Anyone who has played or recorded music, or LISTENED to played or recorded music in the last half-century owes a lot to him.
So long Les, thanks for everything.
Mulong
Aug-13-2009, 11:58am
Simply the best! I had the pleasure of seeing him play a few times and actually met him, while promoting his American Masters DVD, i.e., Les Paul Chasing Sound. He will be truly be missed as a pioneer in the use of electric solid-body guitars, multi-track recording, and simply a great guitarist, who greatly affected the music world with his genius and whit.
Tripp Johnson
Aug-13-2009, 12:07pm
Wow, loss of another giant is right...thanks and RIP Mr Paul.
MikeEdgerton
Aug-13-2009, 12:13pm
Along with the technical innovations he was an inspiring musician, rest in peace.
journeybear
Aug-13-2009, 12:17pm
And playing right up to the end, every week. Between his work on the electric mandolin and multitrack recording, he had an immeasurable effect on the world that extends beyond just music. But as to music, it's rare for a technician to also be a talented musician, but he was both. He and his wife Mary Ford had a bunch of hits in the 1950s, and their "How High the Moon" (#1 for nine weeks) is an all-time classic. In case you never heard this, he was in a bad car accidentonce which left his right arm badly broken. He had it set permanently at an angle which would allow him to continue playing. That's dedication, especially considering most of his success came after that. His life, work, and music are truly inspirations to uncountable millions. Sad to say, that angel band is getting better all the time. :mandosmiley:
JeffD
Aug-13-2009, 12:19pm
Gibson's Les Paul guitars are gigantically popular.
He just about invented the solid body electric guitar.
Ken Olmstead
Aug-13-2009, 12:20pm
:(:(:( In my top five of all time favorite musicians! RIP Les!
Can't complain about his time here though. Long and productive to say the least!!
Queing up Chester & Lester on the iphone right now!! :mandosmiley:
re simmers
Aug-13-2009, 12:29pm
A legend. His inventions extended beyond electronics and multi-track recording. I wish I could have seen him play.
What a musician and inventor!!!
Was there more than one Les Paul/Chet Atkins project?
Mike Black
Aug-13-2009, 12:48pm
Was there more than one Les Paul/Chet Atkins project?
Yes, there are two.
Ted Eschliman
Aug-13-2009, 1:05pm
What an amazing and significant human being...
mandopete
Aug-13-2009, 1:22pm
Yes, I just heard the news. A real giant in both the music and music recording worlds. The news sent me scrambling to try to find a picture of my old Les Paul Standard. Purchased new in 1975 and I sold it in 2003.
R.I.P. to the Wizard of Waukesha
Capt. E
Aug-13-2009, 1:57pm
Just heard it announced on Public Radio. Died of pneumonia.
My first guitar was a 58 Les Paul Jr. The man was a genius on many levels.
jillian
catmandu2
Aug-13-2009, 3:37pm
The first Paul I played was when I was about 15 years old and one of my teachers let me play his 58 LP Custom for a jr. high school performance. That thing was smooth as silk, and weighed a ton. It was a really nice experience for me.
Elliot Luber
Aug-13-2009, 4:00pm
He was doing things in terms of overdubbing back in the 1950s that are tricky even today with all the digital tools at our fingertips. He not only invented multitrack recording, but really invented the need for multitrack recording by envisioning sounds beyond his own amazing-but-human dexterity. He thought outside the box and he played outside the box, and then invented a new box that would hold his ideas. As a businessman with an idea, he convinced Bing Crosby to back it. He took little radio-inspired ideas he had learned in a little broadcast tower shack adjacent to his father's farm, and applied them to his musical talent... and he never forgot that the music came first. He was still playing regular weekly gigs at Fat Tuesday's here in New York as far as I know.
Don Stiernberg
Aug-13-2009, 4:37pm
Other LP trivia:
He and Jethro were pals, maybe going back to Les's "Rhubarb Red" days. Jethro owned a guitar he got from Les, a hollowbody Gibson as I recall...
Another thing I heard(maybe someone can confirm this?) was that when Django died, Les paid for his funeral.
For a thrilling memoir, read the liner notes to the Charlie Christian box set "The Genius of the Electric Guitar", ColumbiaLegacy. They open with "My Friend Charlie Christian" by Les Paul. Les and a buddy drive to Wisconsin to visit his Mom, end up driving to Oklahoma City and dropping in to hear Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. Who approaches Les for an autograph but Charlie Christian, who says "I play guitar too!" What a room full of greatness, in 1938 when there had been electric instruments for only a minutes. I would love to have heard that jam session.
Certainly there will never be another one like him. Sure, popularized the solid guitar, got multitracking off the ground, sold TONS of records....but man, don't forget to dig the notes he played!
Capt. E
Aug-13-2009, 4:38pm
I saw Keith Richards talk about Paul and say that 80% of the modern recording studio comes from him.
Dean Fields
Aug-13-2009, 4:51pm
Most of us picked up guitars in our early day (long live rock and roll) and then moved on. But I do wish that I kept at least one of the Les Pauls that I owned from those times. RIP Les and keep on playing, with any luck and some good behavior, we will all get a chance to play in your band one day.
My first guitar was a '67 LP goldtop deluxe reissue with the soapbar pu's. A couple of years before I got it the guy who originally owned was on the way to a gig and was on hwy 99 doing 65mph, and it fell out of the back of the pickup in the old original case. It endo'ed several times as the guy watched in the rearview mirror as he was slowing down to stop. It landed off in the weeds. The case never popped open. He ran up and opened the case and guitar was fine. Played the gig with it that nite. I had no idea it was something special. Sold it when I got into mando's for what I bought it for, $350.
I read several interview's with Les, and never was there a more down to earth unassuming guy. And what a nut. He was hilarious! You can tell that by the comments he makes on the Chester and Lester albums. Can't remember if it was on the liner notes, or where I read it. But the first album was just live in the studio and Chet thought they were just running through tunes to get warmed up to do the "real" takes. And when Chet said something to the effect now what are we going to do for the album, Les said, we did it. That's it. Print it. I need to dig 'em out and give a listen, it's been at least one decade since I have.
I loved how Les' character came through his playing too. It was like he was having so much fun, he was telling jokes with his licks. He was a genius in more ways that one. I'd heard or read the thing about Les paying for Django's funeral too. I know those two hung out together, but I would have given anything to hear them jam. In my mind, amongst all the greats, Les and Django were the pinnacle.
MikeEdgerton
Aug-13-2009, 9:45pm
I'm going to guess that Greg is not long for this forum. This was posted in another message as well.
And I guessed right.
Big Joe
Aug-13-2009, 10:10pm
I got the message this morning. It is a blue day! He did live a long and fruitfull life, but it is sad to see such a man leave our presence. He was truly iconic in every way and what a player! His genius was evident in so many areas. The giants who really made our livelyhood possible are just about gone. Bill Monroe, Chet, and now Les. These three certainly stand above the majority in this industry. Les, you will be missed!
Ivan Kelsall
Aug-14-2009, 12:31am
There was a programme on UK TV last year about Les Paul. I knew the guy was a genius,but some of the things he did in the course of his inventive life were simply amazing.
As a Guitarist,he was without a doubt one of the very greatest ever. His early work with Mary Ford brought the sound of the Guitar to almost everyone on both sides of the Atlantic.When i was a child,my mother used to buy their recordings,"Little Rock Getaway" is one i remember well,along with "How High The Moon". I think he was possibly the very first Guitar 'superstar', even in those days,
R.I.P. Les,
Ivan
PS - The TV programme was titled "Les Paul - Chasing Sound" there's at least one 10 minute clip from it on YouTube.
grassrootphilosopher
Aug-14-2009, 4:24am
Rest in peace, Rhubarb Red.
JeffD
Aug-14-2009, 11:04am
Les Paul was amazing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foXSXOAfB4U).
JeffD
Aug-14-2009, 11:11am
And so cool (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8O5wZAd2z4&feature=related).
Dan Hoover
Aug-14-2009, 11:27am
and hip...
allenhopkins
Aug-14-2009, 11:58am
Genius, fame and fortune aside, I just hope that I can be playing out every week somewhere at the age of 94. The loss we feel is somewhat offset by the realization that he led a long, long life, full of artistry, invention, accomplishment and recognition. While the end of any life is a sadness, there is also a feeling of satisfaction at the completion of a life of fulfillment.
Someone of Les Paul's stature always has more to give. I listened to a CNN interview with two of his friends and proteges, Steve Miller and Richie Sambora, and was interested to learn that Les welcomed onstage at Fat Tuesday's, young unknown guitarists who were brought there to get exposure to the master of the craft. So in his last years, he could take additional satisfaction from the knowledge that guitarists 75 years younger than he, were listening to him, and following his example.
Sandy Paton, Mike Seeger, now Les Paul. We are reminded by the passing of our icons and influences, how much we owe to the people who preceded us, and how much we need to pass on to our successors.
journeybear
Aug-14-2009, 12:08pm
Conan O'Brien paid a tribute to Les Paul at the end of the show last night. Apparently he had been a guest on Conan's 10th show in 1993, and they ran some footage of that interview and performance. The interview part is priceless - while showing Conan "The Log" (a thrill right there) one of the pieces falls off! Hopefully a better quality version of this will show up, only to be taken down due to NBC's strictness, but for now there is this (it starts at 3:32):
i4K2Tze5auU
mandopete
Aug-14-2009, 12:27pm
I'm going to guess that Greg is not long for this forum. This was posted in another message as well.
And I guessed right.
Who is Greg?
mandopete
Aug-14-2009, 1:39pm
So as I was looking at this morning's news paper I saw a picture of Les Paul and Sir Paul McCartney with a left-handed Les Paul Lite in hand and a song kept popping into my head...
All The Young Punks (New Boots and Contracts)
(Strummer/Jones)
Hanging about down the market street
I spent a lot of time on my feet
When I saw some passing yabbos
We did chance to speak
I knew how to sing
y' know an
They knew how to pose
An' one of them had a Les Paul
Heart attack machine
jefflester
Aug-14-2009, 6:24pm
He was still playing regular weekly gigs at Fat Tuesday's here in New York as far as I know.
Well, he switched to the Iridium when Fat Tuesday's closed about 15 years ago, but yes he was still playing weekly gigs up until about 2.5 months ago.
Photos from last performance, May 25, 2009 (http://arnieg.smugmug.com/gallery/8338650_kSeUe#546758034_3ZzXC)
http://arnieg.smugmug.com/photos/546584098_jthZG-M.jpg
woodwizard
Aug-14-2009, 8:03pm
He was too Cool! RIP Les
journeybear
Aug-15-2009, 10:07pm
Just saw that CBS Sunday Morning (a delightful magazine style show, 9 - 10:30 AM EDT) will have a segment about Les Paul. No idea when exactly the segment will air, but if you tune in right at the start, after the liliting strains of their theme (played exquisitely by Wynton Marsalis) fade, the host will spend a few minutes running down the list of stories, which might give you a vague idea of its placement.