Les Paul Died Today at 94

Lester William Polsfuss, better known as Les Paul, died today from complications from pneumonia at White Plains Hospital in White Plains, New York. His family and friends were by his side at his passing.

Les was probably best known for his pioneering development of the solid body electric guitar which made the rock and roll sound possible. His interest in music started with learning how to play the harmonica at the age of 8. He moved to the banjo but quickly discarded it for the guitar. By the time he was 13 he was performing as a country music guitarist. AT 17 he dropped out of school to play with Wolverton’s Radio Band on KMOX in St. Louis. Paul’s first records were released while he was working in Chicago radio. In 1948 he was involved in a near fatal car accident that shattered his right arm and elbow. According to his instructions, the doctors set his arm at a permanent angle that would allow him to cradle and pick the guitar.

Paul is credited with making several recording innovations including overdubbing, delay effects, tape delay, phasing effects and multitrack recording. His talents were further evident in his unique playing style (including licks, trills, chording sequences and fretting techniques and timing) that was so different from other performers at the time. A lifelong tinkerer he created ‘The Log guitar’ because he was dissatisfied with the acoustic guitars that were available in the mid 30’s. Built in 1939 it was one of the first solid body electric guitars. Gibson Guitar Corp. designed a guitar following Paul’s specifications and gave it to him to try. He was impressed enough to sign a contract and the model was named the “Les Paul.” The contract was an agreement that he would never play in public or be photographed with any guitar that was not a Gibson.

The Les Paul Trio included Paul, Jim Atkins and Ernie Newton. They performed together until 1943 when he moved to Hollywood and formed a new trio with Mary Ford and Eddie Stapleton. They appeared on Bing Crosby’s radio show which resulted in Crosby sponsoring Paul’s recording experiments. The two recorded several songs including a #1 hit with “It’s Been A Long, Long Time.” Paul’s trio also recorded their own music on Decca in the late 40’s. Paul and his wife, Mary, had hits including “How High the Moon”, “The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise”, and “Vaya Con Dios”.

Paul’s need for multiple non-destructive tracks to record on led him to re-invent the Ampex 200. Ampex was inspired to develop two and three track recorders. In 1954 Paul commissioned Ampex to build the first 8 track tape recorder and paid for it himself. It took them 3 years to get it working properly and by the time it was useable, Paul’s music was not as popular so he never even recorded on it.

Paul went into semi-retirement in the 60’s, occasionally returning to the studio. His most familiar recordings from then through the mid 70’s were updated and put on an album for London Records as

Les Paul Now

. By the late 80’s Paul returned to live performances. In 2006, at the age of 90, he was awarded 2 Grammys for his album Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played.

In 1978 Les and Mary were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 1983 Paul received a lifetime achievements award, Grammy Trustees Award. In 1988 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1991 the Mix Foundation established an annual award named for him that honors “individuals or institutions that have set the highest standards of excellence in the creative application of audio technology”. In 2005 Paul was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for the development of his solid body electric guitar. In 2006 he was inducted into the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Paul has been named as an honorary member of the Audio Engineering Society. He was also an Honorary Board Member for Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit program that provides free musical instruments and instruction to underserved schools across the country.