Les Paul: In His Own Words
- Posted on Aug 13th 2009 2:33PM by Steve Baltin
- Comments (263)
Nine months before Les Paul's death Thursday morning, Spinner had the honor of speaking with the music icon at a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tribute. As captivating as he was knowledgeable, Paul reflected on his journey from youthful tinkerer to inventor of the instrument that would define rock 'n' roll."When I was a kid there was only one person in my hometown that played the guitar, and that was me. It was all piano in the old days. The guitar was rare.
What we did was take an acoustical instrument -- which was a very apologetic, wonderful, meek instrument -- and turned it into a pit bull. And that's what happened -- the guitar started to become more important in Waukesha, Wisc., the Chicago area, the Midwest. In 1930, I was already playing on the electric guitar, playing in a little bar in Cleveland, in Rochester, some state fairs. I played Ithaca, Binghamton, Rochester, all the way up to Boston, just everywhere you could play between Chicago and New York, exposing this instrument to all the players or those that would like to be players. Soon everybody wanted a guitar. It was just unbelievable. The people were running up and down the street going from one store to the other.
And there was no such thing as amplifiers, so I had to build my own -- I took my mother's radio and I turned it into one. I did the same thing with a guitar. I just took the guitar and said, 'Hey, it's not loud enough.' I was playing a little barbecue stand halfway to Milwaukee and some critic that was sitting in the backseat of a car, ordering a sandwich, wrote a note that said, 'You know, what you're doing right out there is great, but your guitar is not loud enough.' So I went home and told mom about it. She said, 'You'll figure it out, you'll figure it out.' What I figured out was how to make that guitar louder and better. First, I took an acoustical guitar and ended up filling it with Plaster of Paris. I tried everything, and it finally worked. I said, 'I'm gonna make two guitars, one out of wood and one out of a big long piece of railroad track and make both of them identical.' I used the same telephone for a pickup, the part that you listen to on the telephone, the magnet and the coil. I placed that under the string and I was just playing through my mother's radio. Between the wooden guitar and the metal one, the railroad track was much better. I ran to my mother, saying, 'I found it! I found it!' My mother said, 'The day you see a cowboy on a horse playing a railroad track,' and she blew me right out of the water with that. I said, 'It's got to be wood. Okay, we're gonna make it the most beautiful piece of dense wood that will be as close to that railroad track as we can get with that good sound.'
I remember I would go into a club in the very early days with my electric. I didn't care who was there with his saxophone or trumpet or piano or drums, I could drown them out. It became a monster, from a wimp to a monster.
I think of the impact often. I was lucky young kids came along -- Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck -- and said, 'I wanna do that.'"
His innovations redefined the sound of music history, one decibel at a time.
Remembering Les Paul
Les Paul rehearses at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City in on October 4, 2004. Twice every Monday night, the renown musician, also known for his innovations on the solid-body electric guitar and multitrack recording, performed onstage with his trio. "It's quite a challenge but I enjoy it," the Waukesha, Wis. native said from the stage that night.
Richard Drew, AP
Music legends Les Paul and B.B. King put their heads together during a jam session at the third anniversary celebration of the B.B. King Blues Club and Grill in New York City's Times Square. Paul holds King's signature "Lucille" guitar, which he played. June 17, 2003
Richard Drew, AP
Paul McCartney tries out a custom-made left handed "Les Paul Lite" guitar presented to him by Paul, left, in New York City. May 3, 1988
AP
President Bush presents the 2007 National Medals of Arts to guitar pioneer Les Paul during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. November 15, 2007
Gerald Herbert, AP
Slash and Les Paul at the Gibson Guitars Honors Rock 'N Roll Legend Les Paul for a 50th Anniversary Celebration. August 13, 2001
RJ Capak, WireImage
Les Paul and Eddie Van Halen pose together. January 1, 1988
Ebet Roberts, Redferns
U2 guitarist the Edge performs with a Les Paul guitar during the 13th Annual MusiCares Person Of The Year tribute at the Marriott Marquis in New York City. February 21, 2003
Frank Micelotta, Getty Images
Aerosmith lead guitarist Joe Perry plays a Les Paul guitar at the United We Stand concert at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. October 21, 2001
Paul J. Richards, AFP / Getty Images
Randy Rhodes plays a Gibson Les Paul guitar during a live performance with Ozzy Osbourne. October 20, 1980
Fin Costello, Redferns
Neil Young, playing a Gibson Les Paul guitar, smiles while performing during the Live Aid concert for famine relief at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, PA. July 13, 1985
George Widman, AP





Reader Comments(1 of 13)
Richieat 8-13-2009
Legendary.
Fritz Kirschat 8-13-2009
How about mentioning his famous partner Mary Paull? Were they married? What was so clever about his recording techniques?
Ed Gradelat 8-13-2009
her name was mary ford and yes, she was his wife for a time....EdG
Slimat 8-13-2009
Fritz,
She was known as Mary Ford, they divorced in 1962, and she died in 1977. Here is another article that gives a lot more details, well worth the read! http://www.newsnet5.com/entertainment/20385087/detail.html
Ericat 8-13-2009
The legend may be gone but we are fortunate that his legacy (his music) is still here for us to enjoy and remember him by.
Les Fanat 8-13-2009
He INVENTED multi-track recording you idiot.
Tony Bat 8-13-2009
You are correct! Les Paul was legendary.
Also to answer a previous question, besides revoulutionizing the guitar by making it electric and creating an amplifier to go with it, Les Paul was doing multi-track recordings in the late fortie and early fifties when most recordings (78 RPM) were recorded in mono. Les would record an initial guitar track with Mary Ford on vocals and then add multi overdubs to create incredible electicon effects never heard before. Get a recording of "Bye Bye Love" or "How HIgh the Moon" by Les Paul & Mary Ford and compare it to other songs recorded in the area. The recording is all you have to listen to in order to understand how much of an innovator and visionary (not to mention great musician) Les Paul was. As a professional musician and musicoligist of 45 years, take it from me, Les Paul (as Richie stated in his e-mail) is legendary!
James D. Smithat 8-13-2009
A TRUE Legend has passed from among us!! We'll never forget Les Paul & Mary Ford! Thank you for touching our lives: from another picker
TOMat 8-14-2009
WHAT A WONDERFUL LIFE LES HAD. HE WAS WAY AHEAD OF HIS TIME. I'M SURE THIS IS A SAD DAY FOR ROBBIE KRIEGER, OF THE DOORS, WHO WAS A GOOD FRIEND OF MR LES PAUL.
Gery Hatrixat 8-18-2009
i visited with Les at his NJ home several times during the 90s. Among all the wonderous things there he had 3 very interesting installations. In the kitchen next to the recording studio, He had several mic jacks imbedded into the counters so Mary could do vocal tracks as she cooked if she had the notion. She didn't have to move out of the kitchen to record. he also had a room made completely of cement. 4 walls, floor and ceiling with audio feeds to the recording studio. this was his "reverb room" for natural ambience. on the side of the mountain he lived on, built an old style outhouse specially for Jack Paar's visits!! We'll miss your humor Les.
seedgirldeniseat 8-13-2009
What a great loss. What a great person and a great story. Less brought So much to music and the music industry. His memory will always be valued. RIP Les.
Toddat 8-13-2009
God has called another gifted player to his heavenly orchestra. Rest in Peace Les Paul!
Gilbert Meltonat 8-13-2009
Without Les Paul, none of the past fifty years stars could have had the tools they needed to becomes stars.
All we can do is remember his contributions.
Thanks Les!
joat 8-13-2009
good thinking
Easily Entertainedat 8-14-2009
Amen!
MJat 8-14-2009
Les Paul is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & the Inventors' Hall Of Fame--the only man in BOTH! We lost a Legand today.
Ernie St. Amantat 8-13-2009
As a teenager in the 40's i first heard and saw Les Paul on the Ed Sullivan Show. He walked on stage with that double guitar contraption and began playing. It was a revolution in the music industry. He was trememdous.
jakeat 8-14-2009
where is the news coverage when a true legend dies.we are still hearing about mr child molesting jackson
JOHN RICCIat 8-13-2009
THANK YOU LES FOR ALL U DID FOR MUSIC. KEEP THOSES ANGELS ROCKIN IN HEAVEN.
Daveat 8-13-2009
Les Paul..."Give me a June night a June night and you", a great song with Mary Ford in the early days. How wonderful. May He rest in Peace.