January, NAMM 2016 – His ideas and techniques influenced other musicians and innovators. His curiosity led him to the two most important parts of his career: music and electronics. This year, the Les Paul Foundation celebrated the 100th anniversary of the man who made a generous contribution to the music industry. Here are some facts about his life and accomplishments learned from the visit at Les Paul Exhibit, inside the big truck& trailer parked in front of the convention center in Anaheim during the NAMM 2016 show.
He was curious.
Les Paul (real name: Lester William Polsfuss) was born in 1915 in the small city Waukesha. As a kid he loved the music that came out of the radio and the phonograph. He wondered how they worked. Radio had only been around a few years and was just becoming the big thing. At age 10 he built his own crystal radio, that didn’t need a battery or electricity. And he was hooked forever. Soon he learned to play music on his guitar that he bought when he was about 11. He wondered if he could make it louder.
He was persistent.
As a young man of 26, Les went to Gibson with his solid body electric guitar, nickname “the log”. Despite its sweet tone and lack of feedback, Gibson turn it down, calling it a “broomstick with pickups on it”. Les spent the next 10 years trying to convince Gibson to build a solid body guitar. Les’ friend Leo Fender developed a solid body electric and gave Les a prototype. Les took the Fender Telecaster to Gibson, along with “the log”. “I believe the solid body guitar is going to be important, and if you don’t do something, Fender is going to rule the world.” Les finally persuaded Gibson to design what became one of the most famous guitars in the world, the Les Paul Standard.
He never took “No” for an answer. For a year, Les and his wife Mary Ford played different arrangements of “How High the Moon” everywhere they performed. After observing the audiences’ reaction, they recorded the one that had the best response. When Les told Capitol Records he wanted to release it, Jim Conkling, Capitol’s Vice President, objected. “There are already 85 records on “How high the Moon”, and none have made it.” But Les insisted it would be a hit. Capitol released the song around the end of March, 1951, and in two weeks it was its first number one hit as a duo, and it stayed on top for many weeks.
He had passion for music and electronics.
Today, computers make it easy to record multiple tracks, overdub and add effects. But Les had to figure out how to do it himself, inventing recording techniques so he had sound different from all others electric guitars players. He converted his garage into a recording studio and audio workshop.
When Capitol Records released the recording “Les Paul The New Sound” in 1948, modern music changed forever. Les Paul’s use of multiple overlaid audio tracks and innovative audio effects created a sensation with the listening public and musicians around the world. Les had truly created a “New Sound”.
Having the opportunity to learn about music and electronics at the same time was terribly important because it led him to the marriage between the guitar and the amplifier. Les’ Ampex 8-track machine “The Octopus” was seven feet tall and weigh 250 pounds. The Octopus was married to the mixing board Les dubbed “The Monster”. In 1956 Les told radio listeners that the audio signals were multiplied by the magic box called the “Les Paulveizer”. He was a Recording Wizard.
