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Getbig Main Boards => Gossip & Opinions => Topic started by: Princess L on August 13, 2009, 10:13:21 AM
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R.I.P.
:'(
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-us-obit-lespaul,0,2618111.story
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - Les Paul, who invented the solid-body electric guitar later wielded by a legion of rock 'n' roll greats, died Thursday of complications from pneumonia. He was 94.
According to Gibson Guitar, Paul died at White Plains Hospital. His family and friends were by his side.
As an inventor, Paul also helped bring about the rise of rock 'n' roll with multitrack recording, which enables artists to record different instruments at different times, sing harmony with themselves, and then carefully balance the tracks in the finished recording.
The use of electric guitar gained popularity in the mid-to-late 1940s, and then exploded with the advent of rock in the mid-'50s.
"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."
A tinkerer and musician since childhood, he experimented with guitar amplification for years before coming up in 1941 with what he called "The Log," a four-by-four piece of wood strung with steel strings.
"I went into a nightclub and played it. Of course, everybody had me labeled as a nut." He later put the wooden wings onto the body to give it a tradition guitar shape.
In 1952, Gibson Guitars began production on the Les Paul guitar.
Pete Townsend of the Who, Steve Howe of Yes, jazz great Al DiMeola and Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page all made the Gibson Les Paul their trademark six-string.
Over the years, the Les Paul series has become one of the most widely used guitars in the music industry. In 2005, Christie's auction house sold a 1955 Gibson Les Paul for $45,600.
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. The duo were awarded a Grammy for best country instrumental performance of 1976 for their "Chester and Lester" album.
With Mary Ford, his wife from 1949 to 1962, he earned 36 gold records for hits including "Vaya Con Dios" and "How High the Moon," which both hit No. 1. Many of their songs used overdubbing techniques that Paul had helped develop.
"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." The overdubbing technique was highly influential on later recording artists such as the Carpenters.
Released in 2005, "Les Paul & Friends: American Made, World Played" was his first album of new material since those 1970s recordings. Among those playing with him: 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."
Two cuts from the album won Grammys, "Caravan" for best pop instrumental performance and "69 Freedom Special" for best rock instrumental performance. (He had also been awarded a technical Grammy in 2001.)
Paul was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2005.
Paul was born Lester William Polfus, in Waukseha, Wis., on June 9, 1915. He began his career as a musician, billing himself as Red Hot Red or Rhubarb Red. He toured with the popular Chicago band Rube Tronson and His Texas Cowboys and led the house band on WJJD radio in Chicago.
In the mid-1930s he joined Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians and soon moved to New York to form the Les Paul Trio, with Jim Atkins and bassist Ernie Newton.
Meanwhile, he had made his first attempt at audio amplification at age 13. Unhappy with the amount of volume produced by his acoustic guitar, Paul tried placing a telephone receiver under the strings. Although this worked to some extent, only two strings were amplified and the volume level was still too low.
By placing a phonograph needle in the guitar, all six strings were amplified, which proved to be much louder. Paul was playing a working prototype of the electric guitar in 1929.
His work on taping techniques began in the years after World War II, when Bing Crosby gave him a tape recorder. Drawing on his earlier experimentation with his homemade record-cutting machines, Paul added an additional playback head to the recorder. The result was a delayed effect that became known as tape echo.
Tape echo gave the recording a more "live" feel and enabled the user to simulate different playing environments.
Paul's next "crazy idea" was to stack together eight mono tape machines and send their outputs to one piece of tape, stacking the recording heads on top of each other. The resulting machine served as the forerunner to today's multitrack recorders.
In 1954, Paul commissioned Ampex to build the first eight-track tape recorder, later known as "Sel-Sync," in which a recording head could simultaneously record a new track and play back previous ones.
He had met Ford, then known as Colleen Summers, in the 1940s while working as a studio musician in Los Angeles. For seven years in the 1950s, Paul and Ford broadcast a TV show from their home in Mahwah, N.J. Ford died in 1977, 15 years after they divorced.
In recent years, even after his illness in early 2006, Paul played Monday nights at New York night spots. Such stars as Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler, Bruce Springsteen and Eddie Van Halen came to pay tribute and sit in with him.
"It's where we were the happiest, in a `joint,"' he said in a 2000 interview with the AP. "It was not being on top. The fun was getting there, not staying there -- that's hard work."
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A true legend. RIP
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A sad day indeed.
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he ain't no jacko
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Rock in peace...everybody salute...
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don't even know who that is
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don't even know who that is
"Paul also helped bring about the rise of rock 'n' roll with multitrack recording, which enables artists to record different instruments at different times, sing harmony with themselves, and then carefully balance the tracks in the finished recording."
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Dammit, thus is very sad :'(
Gayer than Les Paul being Debussey's favorite guitars to play :'(
RIP :'(
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true legend :'(
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Dammit, thus is very sad :'(
Gayer than Les Paul being Debussey's favorite guitars to play :'(
RIP :'(
He was from my husband's home town. He was lucky enough to meet/play with him years ago.
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He was from my husband's home town. He was lucky enough to meet/play with him years ago.
That must have been a great honor!
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did he freeze on stage?
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That must have been a great honor!
That and flying with Steve Ritchie (once) rank right up there. Oh, and sitting next to Wilt Chamberlin or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (I don't remember which ???) on a plane trip.
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Not sure who that is but the initials scared the fk out of me.
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I think I'll take my guitar tomorrow and plug it in... :)
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I think I'll take my guitar tomorrow and plug it in... :)
Guitars are for losers as are skateboards and those tight ass jeans!!!!! :o
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very sad news...Rip
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very sad news...Rip
Not like he was the King of Pop or Tony Romo. :D
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How many celebrities have died in the last month? Crazy
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How many celebrities have died in the last month? Crazy
Enough to fill Hollywood blvd with stars from Vine to La Brea
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Promise you won't leave us Ron. :'(
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PIP
(http://goatmilk.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/ron_paul_photo_4.jpg)
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PIP
(http://goatmilk.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/ron_paul_photo_4.jpg)
Which prez was that?
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Which prez was that?
Paul E. Ronald.
President of the Federal Reserve and of The United States.
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He used to do small sessions in his NY apt up until about 3 years ago a true legend........
Will b missed
WOOOSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !
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Paul E. Ronald.
President of the Federal Reserve and of The United States.
OOops I work for the Federal Govt...but I'm not up there high enough to know him.
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PIP {play in peace} :'(
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Paul E. Ronald.
President of the Federal Reserve and of The United States.
Really? when? I never heard of him in either capacity
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RIF
:(
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RIF
:(
WTF is RIF?
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Really? when? I never heard of him in either capacity
Yes, before becoming our President of the Federal Reserve of the United States and leader of the free world, he helped write legislation to end foreign tariffs on domestic Zabrano Wood. The same Wood they used in his guitar company.
All around good dude. He will be missed.
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PIP
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RIP
Riff in Peace
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I guess i wont sell my Les Paul after all..................... .
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Les was truly a great bodybuilder, the BB Community will miss him greatly! RIP Big fella
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I used to hear Les Paul and Mary Ford on the radio back in the days before TV. Most here can't imagine a time when there was no television. Guitarists like Les inspired me take up playing the guitar and I have a collection of guitars today. I am not into electric guitars but have owned a Paul Reed Smith fancy one.
The Chester Lester album is a good one.
Here is a photo of Les and Mary. Ah, the good old days.
Link to a few more photos of Les: http://mixonline.com/Online_Extras_Main_Page/Les_paul_photo_gallery/
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Thats not Mary!
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Thanks to YouTube you can see and hear these people.
&NR=1&feature=fvwp
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Thanks to YouTube you can see and hear these people.
&NR=1&feature=fvwp
You hitting up the funeral, chubs?
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the Les Paul Black Beauty that he's holding there would probably be in my top 3 dream guitars.
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I saw Les Paul play a bunch of times at Fat Tuesdays in the 80’s and 90’s.
He entertained not just on the guitar. Back then I usually wore suspenders, and one time he stopped mid-tune to say how I resembled John Dillinger because of them. He talked of Dillinger being shot and folks rushing to his body with handkerchiefs to sop up some of the man’s blood.
Then he finished the tune.
That was a bit of Les.
One time, when the place was fairly barren, Les stopped to comment about someone in the room – lo and behold, it was Jimmy Page.
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was he a bodybuilder?
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I used to hear Les Paul and Mary Ford on the radio back in the days before TV. Most here can't imagine a time when there was no television. Guitarists like Les inspired me take up playing the guitar and I have a collection of guitars today. I am not into electric guitars but have owned a Paul Reed Smith fancy one.
The Chester Lester album is a good one.
Here is a photo of Les and Mary. Ah, the good old days.
Link to a few more photos of Les: http://mixonline.com/Online_Extras_Main_Page/Les_paul_photo_gallery/
Are you a fan of Tommy Emmanuel?
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Are you a fan of Tommy Emmanuel?
Nevah hoid of him.
After reading your question I played a few of his youtube vids. He’s a fine player. I hear some Danny Gatton in his playing.