Digging Up Bones
Special to The Review
Les Paul Dead at 94

My earliest memories of Les Paul are all bad. Back in my rock band days, it seemed that every guitarist had a Les Paul this or a Les Paul that, and never, ever would the damn things stay in tune! This made for embarrassing moments on stage and wasted time and money in the studio. Of course, Les Paul, the man, had nothing to do with any of this. He simply invented that chunk of lumber and magnets that would eventually turn so many kids into guitar gods…as soon as they learned how to tune the ^@#%& thing!

While everybody knows about Paul’s guitar, his inventing the eight-track recording machine is less (no pun intended) widely known, but perhaps just as important.

Here are some more fun facts:

-A teacher once informed Les’s mother that the young genius would never learn music.

-Les Paul was also known by several different stage names including The Wizard of Waukesha & Rhubarb Red.

-After a car accident crushed his left arm, his elbow would become immobile. Les had the elbow set to heal at an angle that would allow him to continue to play guitar.

Les Paul, an American great, died from complications of pneumonia yesterday in White Plains, N.Y.

Long live Les Paul!

New York Times Obit

Chasing Sound

JH