Happy Birthday, Les Paul!

i find that amazing, the innovator of one of the greatest guitar designs, still alive at 90, and still performing. Does anyone know if he will be playing a les paul?

I think thathe actually didn't contribute much to the les paul, except for the bridge I thnk, which was replaced in a few years anyway. Not sure though

Yay! The man! 8) Happy Birhtday to a guitar legend. Les Paul changed history with his design. And I don't think I've ever seen him play anything but a Les Paul! Sheesh! :wink:

According to the Iridium's site, he plays there every Monday night at 8:00 and 10:00, tickets $37.50.

A fellow on the Music Player guitar board says there's to be a Les Paul 90th birthday concert in NYC on the 19th of June with lots of special musical guests.

I think thathe actually didn't contribute much to the les paul, except for the bridge I thnk, which was replaced in a few years anyway. Not sure though

Click here for an interview with Les Paul (at the Iridium Club!)

Thanks for the link, Gram. That was an interesting read.

I believe LP actually went to Gibson with the design originally, but they turned him down because they didn't think it would sell. Then Leo Fender released something called a Strat.

Don't forget, Les Paul also gave us multi-track recording. As the allied armies moved through Europe at the end of the second world war, the Germans pulled back and left loads of stuff behind - including their tape recorders. The Germans had invented the technology, but naturally a lot of American troops took them back to the US. Les Paul got hold of some and started playing around with them. The rest is history.

A :-)

No, Les Paul went and showed them "The Log." The Les Paul guitar was a new in-house design from Gibson, and he mostly sold them the rights to his name. If you go to http://www.redhotred.com/ and click on the video link, you'll find one of him briefly showing "The Log" on a talk show. He by no means invented the electric guitar, but he certainly was a pioneering developer, especially of the solid body electric. But the LP wasn't mainly his work.

BTW, the SGs were originally Les Paul models, the old archtop maple capped mahogany ones having been dropped because of poor sales. Les Paul didn't like the new models, Gibson said his name wasn't a big sales draw by the early '60s, he was going through a divorce with Mary Ford, and they dropped the Les Paul name completely, instead using SG for "Solid Guitar." Gibson brought the classic LPs back in the late '60s following increased demand for old Les Pauls by young rockers.

No, Les Paul went and showed them "The Log." The Les Paul guitar was a new in-house design from Gibson, and he mostly sold them the rights to his name. If you go to http://www.redhotred.com/ and click on the video link, you'll find one of him briefly showing "The Log" on a talk show. He by no means invented the electric guitar, but he certainly was a pioneering developer, especially of the solid body electric. But the LP wasn't mainly his work.

BTW, the SGs were originally Les Paul models, the old archtop maple capped mahogany ones having been dropped because of poor sales. Les Paul didn't like the new models, Gibson said his name wasn't a big sales draw by the early '60s, he was going through a divorce with Mary Ford, and they dropped the Les Paul name completely, instead using SG for "Solid Guitar." Gibson brought the classic LPs back in the late '60s following increased demand for old Les Pauls by young rockers.

Starting to zero in on the truth here. Some refinement: Many think Les Paul's biggest contribution to music was his pioneering and innovative work in multitrack recording. He is also credited with a pretty distinctive guitar style, and well before any of our times, produced some big hits, including some with singer/wife Mary Ford.

Les Paul's contributions to Gibson's design have long been in dispute. It's very likely both sides are downplaying the others contributions. As Ricochet says, LP designed and showed The Log to Gibson. Gibson was not impressed -- or so it's historials say. But LP was a big time artist and guitar god in his day, and Gibson wanted his name on a model. LP claims that he made his mark on the LP model -- in particular the ebony black color, which he felt made the players hands more visible and IIRC, the archtop contouring and the concept of a mostly solid guitar. However, many of the features LP suggested were not used or sold only briefly. The low impedance pups on the recording model were LP's thing. He was looking to advance electronics in a way that reduced noise even further than humbuckers. Unfortunately, this along with many of his ideas -- good and bad -- were not commercially successful.

The dropping of the Les Paul name from the model line is something LP admits he requested for two reasons: the disenchantment with the new model (as Ricochet mentions) and to finesse things financially in anticipation of his divorce -- he didn't want to be pulling in a lot of $$ that would have to be split with Mary Ford. He's always been pretty cagey about money and ideas.

LP the guitar -- yeah, it's a good one. But LP's lasting contribution has been to the art and technology of recording music. Cheers to that.

Interesting fact: Les Paul was in some sort of accident and so that he could keep playing guitar, he had the doctors set his right elbow so it is permanently bent at 90 degrees.

Has anyone else got the RCA album "Chester and Lester" ?
I think I bought the 1976 vinyl LP around 1978...it's Chet Atkins and Les Paul doing back-and-forth riffs, and some harmonic duets.
The only overdubbing on the album is a bit on "Caravan" and "Lover Come Back To Me".
A bit of chatter between the two makes it fun, along with a few minor "mistakes" they just left in.
Really nice versions of "Birth Of The Blues" and "Avalon", too. :D

I just picked up Les Paul and Friends this weekend, This is a must have album (cd for all you young whippersnappers :lol: )

Track Listings
1. Intro
2. Love Sneakin' Up On You - Sting & Joss Stone
3. Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo - Kenny Wayne Shepherd & Edgar Winter
4. Somebody Ease My Troublin' Mind - Eric Clapton & Sam Cooke
5. So Into You - Peter Frampton
6. How High The Moon - Les Paul & Alsou
7. Bad Case Of Lovin' You - Billy Gibbons (of ZZ Top)
8. I Wanna Know You - Neal Schon & Beth Hart
9. Good News - Jeff Beck & Sam Cooke
10. Let Me Roll It - Richie Sambora
11. Caravan - Les Paul
12. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl - Buddy Guy, Keith Richards, Rick Derringer
13. All I Want Is You - Johnny Rzeznik (of Goo Goo Dolls)
14. 69 Freedom Special - Les Paul & Friends All Star Jam
15. Fly Like An Eagle (2005) - Steve Miller
16. I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know - Joe Perry & Mick Hucknall (of Simply Red)

I just picked up Les Paul and Friends this weekend, This is a must have album (cd for all you young whippersnappers :lol: )

Uh... you realize CDs are now pretty much the new dinosaur on the block.

I just picked up Les Paul and Friends this weekend, This is a must have album (cd for all you young whippersnappers :lol: )

Uh... you realize CDs are now pretty much the new dinosaur on the block.

Does this mean I have to get rid of my 8-tracks and vinyl?

I just picked up Les Paul and Friends this weekend, This is a must have album (cd for all you young whippersnappers :lol: )

Uh... you realize CDs are now pretty much the new dinosaur on the block.

Okay what is replacing cd's?