Les Paul (born as Lester Polfus on June 9, 1915) is famous as a guitar builder and player. He combined his thorough knowledge of electronics with his musical qualities and invented some innovative products.
The first 8-track recorder was developed by Les Paul and he is one of the first one who built a solid-body electric guitar (Leo Fender developed one around the same time as Les Paul). He is also the developer of 'Sound on Sound Recording', aka overdubbing.
Les Paul was half of the famous husband-wife duo called Les Paul and Mary Ford. They scored 16 hits, including How High The Moon, Vaya Con Dios, Bye Bye Blues and Tenessee Waltz.
With the Gibson company, Les Paul developed one of the most recognized guitars, the Gibson Les Paul. Together with the Fender Stratocaster, the Gibson Les Paul is one of the most popular guitars and its design didn't change for over 50 years.
In 1945 Les Paul had allready designed a solid-body guitar based on an Epiphone, but this design was rejected by Gibson. In 1951, Gibson went back on that decision and a collaboration started between the Gibson Guitar Company and Les Paul.
Les Paul (92 years old) still has a weekly gig in the Iridium Night Club in Manhattan, New York.
Major Guitar Lick
Here's a guitar lick the way Les Paul would play. It is based on an F triad and can be played on F, Fmaj7, F7, Dm7 or Bbmaj7.
Home
