Jazz musician Les Paul – the figurehead of rock’n'roll credited with creating the solid bodied electric guitar and subsequently influencing the sound of music pioneers from The Beatles to the Rolling Stones and the Sex Pistols has died, aged 94.
The man who shot to fame in 1951 with his duet ‘How high is the moon’ with Mary Ford, became a musical innovator following his specially commissioned Gibson guitar which he hoped would give jazz and country music a more sustained and deeper sound. Instead, he gave birth to modern rock’n'roll, and as such musicians from across the world have paid their respects to the man behind the Gibson Les Paul.
Keith Richards, the guitarist from the Rolling Stones and a friend, said that Paul’s influence was total. “We must all own up that without Les Paul, generations of flash little punks like us would be in jail or cleaning toilets.
Joe Satriani, a fellow guitarist, called Paul the “original guitar hero”. He said: “Les Paul set a standard for musicianship and innovation that remains unsurpassed.”, and Saul Hudson aka Slash from Guns N’ Roses added “Les Paul was a shining example of how full one’s life can be. He was so vibrant and full of positive energy. I’m honoured and humbled to have known and played with him over the years, he was an exceptionally brilliant man.”
Les Paul was born Lester Polsfuss in 1915 and started playing music at eight and played guitar semi-professionally. He first attempted to amplifying an acoustic guitar by stuffing his instrument with rags, and then plaster of Paris, to muffle feedback. He also built a guitar from railway track and by 1941 had refined his invention to resemble the first guitar made of solid wood. In 1951, Gibson put the idea into production. And the rest is history…
Paul’s success as a recording artist lasted well into his old age. In February 2006, while in hospital, he learned that he had won two Grammys for Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played, an album he released after his 90th birthday.
be sure to check out our contributor’s Ben Cohen and Stuart Colman, who have both commented on the death of one of music’s most influential figures.
