Les Paul: A Tribute to an Innovator
I’ve never met him. I’ve never seen him in concert. The only recording I own of him is a cassette tape of his greatest hits, which I will admit is not my favorite. Yet I have to say that this guitar legend has impacted my guitar playing more than most guitar players ever will. His name is Les Paul, and he practically invented the electric guitar. He passed away on August 13, 2009 (on the eve of my 10 year wedding anniversary) at the age of 94.
American composer Libby Larsen has called the electric guitar the most important musical instrument in the last 50 years. Think of where popular music would be today if the electric guitar had not been invented.
Les Paul is most notably associated with the iconic symbol that has come to represent rock ‘n’ roll – the Gibson Les Paul electric guitar. Every guitar player has to have one in their collection. In my earlier days, I owned a 1972 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop with mini humbuckers. What an incredible instrument it was. Later on, I would have to sell it to pay for college tuition. Truly a sad day. Now I own a Les Paul copy that I found abandoned in the basement of a house I was renting.
I can think of some references to the Les Paul guitar. There was a commercial a while back where there was a Les Paul connected to (I think) a Volkswagen Beetle. Another commercial about a guy having a dream of becoming a guitar god featured him playing a Les Paul. In his song There’s Only One Way to Rock, rocker Sammy Haggar encourages us to “crank out the drums, crank out the bass, crank out the Les Paul in your face!”
Please enjoy these videos, courtesy of YouTube, and please read more about Les Paul on wikipedia.org.
Les Paul was an amazing musician and inventor. It was definitely a sad day when he passed. His influences are seen and heard daily, yet not many people know who he is. Thanks for sharing these thoughts Steve!