Post by Rob Durkee on Aug 13, 2009 19:45:30 GMT -5
BY ROCKIN ROBIN
Long before Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, before the Beatles and Paul McCartney, before Chuck Berry…even before the birth of rock and roll music…
There was Les Paul. While he wasn't necessarily the inventor of the electric guitar, he's credited as popularizing it.
He died Thursday (8/13/09) of pneumonia in a White Plains, New York, Hospital at the age of 94.
In 1939, Les Paul came up with the electric guitar that he called “The Log.” By the early 1950’s, the Gibson Guitar Corporation designed a guitar based on Les Paul’s suggestions.
Not only was Les Paul a key person in the development of the electric guitar, but he also pioneered recording techniques such as overdubbing and echo effects. The result was a series of early 1950’s hit records that were incredibly unique. He told writer Claudia Luther of the Los Angeles Times that he was inspired by Chet Atkins, calling him "One of my idols."
Born Lester Polsfuss on June 9, 1915 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, he first was heard on the music scene with the 1945 chart-topping hit, “It’s been A Long Long Time.” On the record label, it said “Bing Crosby with Les Paul and His Trio.”
Les Paul wasn’t the first to have a hit record with voice overdubbing but he certainly brought it to heretofore unheard of levels. Patti Page is believed to have been the first to have a hit record with overdubbing with “Confess” in 1948.
The married duo of Les Paul and Mary Ford would burst onto the pop music scene in the early 1950’s with songs like the #1 Cash Box chart hits "Mockin' Bird Hill," “How High The Moon” and “Vaya Con Dios”. These hits had not only the electric guitar sound but also numerous overdubs and echo effects. Les Paul recalled, “I could take my Mary and make her three, six, nine, 12, as many voices as I wished.”
My favorite Les Paul and Mary Ford song, though, was 1951’s “The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise,” which shot to #4. It was a mover and shaker that helped pave the way to the birth of rock and roll music.
Les Paul won the Grammy’s Trustees Award in 1983. He's been indicted into at least two Halls of Fame...the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1988) and the National Inventors Hall Of Fame (2005). The late Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records and a key person in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's formation, noted in 1988, "Without him, it's hard to imagine how rock and roll would be played today."
Dan Del Fiorentino, an historian for the National Assn. of Music Merchants, said, "When most people think of the electric guitar, they think of Les Paul, He wasn't the inventor of the solid-body electric guitar, but he certainly made it famous."
Long before Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, before the Beatles and Paul McCartney, before Chuck Berry…even before the birth of rock and roll music…
There was Les Paul. While he wasn't necessarily the inventor of the electric guitar, he's credited as popularizing it.
He died Thursday (8/13/09) of pneumonia in a White Plains, New York, Hospital at the age of 94.
In 1939, Les Paul came up with the electric guitar that he called “The Log.” By the early 1950’s, the Gibson Guitar Corporation designed a guitar based on Les Paul’s suggestions.
Not only was Les Paul a key person in the development of the electric guitar, but he also pioneered recording techniques such as overdubbing and echo effects. The result was a series of early 1950’s hit records that were incredibly unique. He told writer Claudia Luther of the Los Angeles Times that he was inspired by Chet Atkins, calling him "One of my idols."
Born Lester Polsfuss on June 9, 1915 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, he first was heard on the music scene with the 1945 chart-topping hit, “It’s been A Long Long Time.” On the record label, it said “Bing Crosby with Les Paul and His Trio.”
Les Paul wasn’t the first to have a hit record with voice overdubbing but he certainly brought it to heretofore unheard of levels. Patti Page is believed to have been the first to have a hit record with overdubbing with “Confess” in 1948.
The married duo of Les Paul and Mary Ford would burst onto the pop music scene in the early 1950’s with songs like the #1 Cash Box chart hits "Mockin' Bird Hill," “How High The Moon” and “Vaya Con Dios”. These hits had not only the electric guitar sound but also numerous overdubs and echo effects. Les Paul recalled, “I could take my Mary and make her three, six, nine, 12, as many voices as I wished.”
My favorite Les Paul and Mary Ford song, though, was 1951’s “The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise,” which shot to #4. It was a mover and shaker that helped pave the way to the birth of rock and roll music.
Les Paul won the Grammy’s Trustees Award in 1983. He's been indicted into at least two Halls of Fame...the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1988) and the National Inventors Hall Of Fame (2005). The late Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records and a key person in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's formation, noted in 1988, "Without him, it's hard to imagine how rock and roll would be played today."
Dan Del Fiorentino, an historian for the National Assn. of Music Merchants, said, "When most people think of the electric guitar, they think of Les Paul, He wasn't the inventor of the solid-body electric guitar, but he certainly made it famous."
