Les Paul is an iconic musician and inventor whose contributions left an unmistakable mark on the music industry. Les produced one of the first solid-body electric guitars, which was adapted and went on to become one of the most widely played and recognized guitars in the world, the Gibson Les Paul. Paul not only revolutionized the sound of the electric guitar, but also the technology behind modern
day sound recording. Les Paul pioneered innovative techniques with sound-on-sound recording and commissioned the first 8-track tape recorder, which would become the core technology behind multi-track recording still used today. Les’ licks, fretting techniques, trills, timing and chording sequences and Mary’s crystal voice matched with Les’ cutting-edge recording techniques set a new standard for pop music.Les and Mary kept a hectic pace of recording their stream of hit songs in addition to having their own radio and television shows while they traveled across the country doing live performances. Their unique recording of “Vaya con Dios” became their top-selling record, but “How High the Moon” might well be their signature recording. In the 1990's Les came out of retirement to perform with his Les Paul Trio at Fat Tuesdays and then every Monday night at New York's Iridium Jazz Club until his death in 2009 at the age of 94. For more info on his life and legacy, please visit http://www.les-paul.com. TIMELINE
1915 - Lester William Polsfuss is born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on June 9.
1927 - Les gets his first guitar from the Sears & Roebuck catalog.
1932 - Les drops out of high school to join Sunny Joe Wolverton in Saint Louis.
1934 - Les changes his stage name from Rhubarb Red to Les Paul.
1938 - Les moves to New York City and joins Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians on NBC radio.
1941 - Les invents the “log,” his first solid-body electric guitar. Later that year he is badly injured when he receives an electric shock in his studio.
1943 - Les moves to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of working with Bing Crosby.
1945 - Les meets Colleen Summers (who is later known as Mary Ford).
1947 - Les introduces multi-tracking to the world with the release of “Lover.”
1948 - Les is badly injured when his car skids off a bridge in a snowstorm on US Route 66.
1949 - Les marries singer Mary Ford.
1950 - The Les Paul Show, featuring Les and Mary, debuts on NBC Radio.
1951 - “How High the Moon” becomes a number one hit.
1952 - Gibson Guitar Company introduces the Les Paul goldtop solid-body electric
guitar.
1952 - Les and Mary move to New Jersey and start making the TV series Les Paul and Mary Ford at Home, which debuts in October 1953.
1953 - “Vaya Con Dios” becomes a number on hit.
1953 - Ampex produces the first 8-track tape recorder, based on Les’s design.
1964 - Les and Mary divorce.
1965 - Les retires from performing.
1972 - Les comes out of retirement when he fills in for a friend at a New York nightclub.
1975 - Les performs at Carnegie Hall.
1976 - Les and Chet Atkins release the album Chester and Lester, which wins a Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance.
1980 - Les has heart bypass surgery.
1983 - Les receives the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
1984 - Les begins a regular Monday night gig at Fat Tuesday’s.
1988 - Les is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
1996 - Les begins a regular Monday night gig at iridium after Fat tuesday’s closes.
2001 - Les receives a Technical Grammy.
2005 - Les is inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Grammy Hall of Fame.
2005 - Les records Les Paul & Friends, his first album in 30 years. He receives Grammy awards for 2 of its songs including Best Pop Instrumental Performance for “Caravan” and Best Rock Instrumental for “69 Freedom Special.”
2007 - Les receives the National Medal of Arts from President George W. Bush.
2008 - Les Paul’s House of Sound exhibit opens at Discovery world in Milwaukee.
2009 - Les dies on August 12. He is buried in Waukesha’s Prairie Home Cemetery next to his mother. SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY
SINGLES:
“It’s Been a Long, Long time” -Bing Crosby & Les Paul (1945)
“Rumors Are Flying” -Andrews Sisters & Les Paul (1946)
“Lover (When you’re Near Me)” (1948)
“Brazil” (1948)
“What is this Thing Called Love?” (1948)
“Nola” (1950)
“Goofus” (1950)
“Little Rock 69 Getaway” (1950/1951)
“Tennessee Waltz” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1950/1951)
“Mockingbird Hill” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1951)
“How High the Moon” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1951)
“I Wish I Had Never Seen Sunshine” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1951)
“The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1951)
“Just One More Chance” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1951)
“Jazz Me Blues” (1951)
“Josephine” (1951)
“Whispering” (1951)
“Jingle Bells” (1951/1952)
“Tiger Rag” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1952)
“I’m Confessin’ (That I Love You)” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1952)
“Carioca” (1952)
“In the Good Old Summertime” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1952)
“Smoke Rings” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1952)
“Meet Mister Callaghan” (1952)
“Take Me in Your Arms and Hold Me” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1952)
“Lady of Spain” (1952)
“My Baby’s Coming Home” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1952)
“Bye Bye Blues” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1953)
“I’m Sitting on Top of the World” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1953)
“Sleep” -(Fred Waring’s theme song) (1953)
“Vaya Con Dios” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1953)
“Johnny (Is the Boy for Me)” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1953)
“Don’cha Hear Them Bells” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1953)
“The Kangaroo” (1953)
“I Really Don’t Want to Know” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1954)
“I’m a Fool to Care” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1954)
“Wither Thou Goest” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1954)
“Mandolino” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1954)
“Song in Blue” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1954)
“Hummingbird” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1954)
“Amukiriki (The Lord Willing)” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1955)
“Magic Melody” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1955)
“Texas Lady” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1956)
“Moritat” (theme from “Three Penny Opera”) (1956)
“Nuevo Laredo” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1956)
“Cinco Robles (Five Oaks)” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1957)
“Put a Ring on my Finger” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1957)
“Jura (I Swear I Love You)” -Les Paul & Mary Ford (1961)
“Love Sneakin’ Up on You” -Les Paul, Joss Stone, & Sting (2005)
ALBUMS:
Hawaiian Paradise (1949)
The Hit Makers! (1950)
The New Soung (1950)
Les Paul’s New Sound, Volume 2 (1951)
Bye Bye Blues! (1952)
Les and Mary (1955)
Time to Dream (1957)
Lover’s Luau (1959)
Bouquet of Roses (1962)
Warm and Wonderful (1962)
Singin’ South (1963)
Fabulous Les Paul and Mary Ford (1965)
Les Paul Now! (1968)
The Guitar Artistry of Les Paul (1971)
Chester and Lester (1976)
Guitar Monsters (1977)
Les Paul: The Legend and the Legacy (1991; re-released in 1996; a 4-CD box set chronicling his years with Capitol Records)
The Best of the Capitol Masters: Selections from “The Legend and the Legacy” Box Set (1992)
The Best of Les Paul: 20th Century Masters (Millennium Collection) (2001)
California Melodies (2003)
Les Paul & Friends:American Made World Played (2005)
Les Paul & Friends:A Tribute to a Legend (2008)
Les Paul: ICON (2015)
