Furthermore: Where the Headlines Take You

The Legacy of Les Paul

Les Paul, the man who helped bring the world the solid-body electric guitar and arguably helped make rock and roll music what it is today, died last week at the age of 94. I couldn't tell you the name of the "best" guitar out there, or the "best" guitar player, but I know that those questions would be mute without the inventor and musician Les Paul. And from what I've been reading about him over the past few days, not only was he brilliant (and a wicked good guitar player), but he was also a positive, "can do" guy who overcame physical obstacles and continued to play weekly with his friends at New York's Irridum jazz club right up to his death. Les Paul is a person who made the very most of his life, and I think that's something to celebrate.

So let's start the celebration by listening to him play! The library has several CDs featuring Les Paul. I recommend the compilation The Complete Decca Trios-Plus, with two CDs and over two hours of music. This covers recordings made for Decca between 1936 and 1947, earlier then most of the other compilations you'll find, and right around the time Les invented his first solid-body electric guitar prototype, nick-named "the log". These recordings really show the amazing range Les Paul had and feature him with other greats like The Andrews Sisters and Bing Crosby.

We also have a documentary put out by PBS's American Masters titled Les Paul: Chasing Sound! where the man himself talks about his extraordinary life, including his time on television in the 1950s with then wife Mary Ford and his struggle with multiple health issues and injuries that threatened to keep him from doing what he loved best, playing music. The film incorporates footage of him playing with the likes of Keith Richards and Merle Haggard. It also has interviews with folks like B.B. King and Bonnie Raitt. This is a fun 90 minutes with a real American legend who was truly down-to-earth, and extremely well-regarded amongst his peers. Plus, there is a ton of amazing music!

If you want to know more about his life and the instruments he helped create, I have a couple of suggestions, both written by Robb Lawrence. The first is The Early Years of the Les Paul Legacy, 1915-1963 which as its name suggests, covers the beginning of Les Paul's career. It is not only thoughtfully researched, but includes some beautiful original photography. This book really brings home why they call his life and his work a "legacy".

Lawrence follows this first book up with The Modern Era of the Les Paul Legacy: 1968-2008 highlighting Paul's special-themed model guitars of the 1960s and 1970s, and his Custom Shop models of the 1990s. It also talks about Paul's comeback Grammy Award-winning album with Chet Akins titled Chester & Lester in 1976, as well as his weekly gig at the Irridum jazz club that started back in 1996. There are some great videos on YouTube of Les Paul playing at the Irridum. I've included one here from August of 2006.

Bye Les, thanks for the music!