T&L Publications

Hello,


One of the great guitar notables has passed yesterday morning. He was the inventor of the
first electric guitar back around 1939. He made it with his mothers old radio (amp) and the
earpiece of the telephone (pickup).
I remember him most though for his work with Chet Atkins in the albums they made together
"Guitar Monsters" which were really cool.
I didnt know it but he still played at a Jazz club in New York City (about 30 miles from here).
Never got to see him play live, although i did see Chet Atkins live once.

Gibson made the Les Paul named after him of course. I have a remake. They have always
been my favorite guitar (electric that is).

I saw an interview once where he claimed that after he got poor results with the telephone parts, that he "borrowed" his dad's phono cartridge from their turntable every night after his dad went to bed, and made sure to return it before dad got up in the morning - else he would have been in big trouble! I believe he is also creditied for making multi-track recording so popular.

Yeah. The Les Paul is THE guitar - nice and heavy. I once had a remake of it but it got stolen. Now I have a strat style Washburn which I hate (Don't like the strat style of guitar).

Kevin

Hi again,


Yes the Les Paul guitar was always my fav too, i dont like the Strat either
I think the LP has a nicer tone for one thing.

From what i read one experiment done by Les Paul way back then was to fill one of his
acoustic guitars with plaster to make it more dense and solid. That's where the thick
heavy body came in i guess.

The whole family was taken aback at the news of Les passing away, especially since he was still playing
out in the public as much as he was. He will be missed, but his legacy will live for many generations to come.

Long live Les Paul!

CeaSaR

How deep the ocean,
How high the moon.
How great the music...

Hi again,


Ceasar:
Yes!

Jim:
The one i remember most was "Limestone Blues" that he did with Chet Atkins.
I think that name came from what they used to use for stage lights before
electricity became known and used...it produced a 'glow' like light.
He also did "Moonglow" with Chet.
Before those Guitar Monsters albums i never paid too much attention to
old music like that except for what Chet Atkins did previously.

The Les Paul legacy will certainly be remembered for generations to come. The impact of the electric
guitar and multi-track recording cannot be overstated. Unfortunately, his music is virtually unknown to
me - 'twas way before my time (he was 94!). I doubt the Les & Mary pop stylings are my cup of tea.
And you're correct, MrAl. Lime was used for stage lighting (hence term "limelight") but I couldn't begin
to describe the chemistry.

sofaspud wrote:And you're correct, MrAl. Lime was used for stage lighting (hence term "limelight") but I couldn't begin to describe the chemistry.

Chemistry of lime light: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lime_light

Sofaspud,

You have an interesting avatar. It looks like a VU meter but the dBs are on a linear scale. Do these things actually exist?

Bob

Actually, I never realized that about my avatar. But you're absolutely
right, Bob. I guess with virtual reality anything's possible.

Goldsworthy Gurney? That's beyond esoteric trivia!

Les Paul is gone, but I've resuscitated this thread because some may be interested in this
recounting of Les Paul's Musical Journey. You can't read it and not come away with an
amazement of what a nuts & volts kind of guy Les was.
And I'm hoping the bold tags help the link text stand out.

Hi,


Wow, a couple things i didnt know...
1. He and Mary Ford divorced in 1964. I guess i was still too young to know anything yet.
2. He directed the music for the hit show "Happy Days".

I was well aware however that he played with Chet Atkins on that album they talk about, but he
also did a second album too which i have as well as the first. They made quite a team.