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Les Paul: The Man Who Changed Music

There was something magical in the brisk November breeze. It was the feeling

that makes your heart beat faster and your mind like a kid’s again. You’re full of

anticipation and aren’t truly sure what to expect. I wasn’t the only one feeling this way.

It was a Monday night and almost a hundred people had the same feeling walking into the

Iridium Jazz Club. Everyone kept a neat and single file line, but we all wanted to run in

and grab the best seat in the house. Quickly, the room filled with people and the aroma

of food, beer and wine. With haste, my fiancée and I ordered food and drinks. The beer

tasted bitter, and the food tasted sweet. But nothing could keep my eyes from the stage,

trying to wait patiently for the show to begin. And when it did, goose bumps covered my

body and a smile grew too large for my face. As the stage lights lit, there sat a 93-year-

old man slouched over on a tall stool. His sky blue turtleneck matched his eyes and his

hands looked stiff and tired. His hair was gold and combed back. His right foot, which

could barely reach the floor started to tap on the stool. I could faintly hear the taps of his

shoe echoing off the stool. His overworked hands started to pluck a few notes on a

guitar, leading in his trio, a pianist, stand up bassist and rhythm guitarist. Despite his

arthritis stricken hands, he was playing fast and with confidence. The smile on his face

showed true passion with his right foot still tapping away keeping the tempo of the song.

What is it about this guitarist that packs the Iridium every Monday night that gives me

and countless others butterflies, just to get a chance to see him play? The reason is

because this man is Les Paul.

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When the name Les Paul comes up, most people don’t know who he is. However,

everyday we are listening to, and even using, just some of the inventions he created. Les

isn’t only a fantastic guitarist; he’s also an inventor. Les is called the father of the

electric guitar (Grimes). This is because the solid body electric guitar was one of Les’

many and arguably most important musical inventions. If that wasn’t enough, he is also

the inventor of Sound On Sound, or what people today call, Multitrack Recording (Les

Paul: Chasing Sound). As a young teen, Les was already playing his guitar on the radio

with country bands, was known as The Wizard of Waukesha, and quickly rose the ranks

as a jazz player, to a hit maker with wife, Mary Ford, in the 1950’s (Pareles). There must

have been something in the water in Waukesha, Wisconsin to hoist such a groundbreaker.

Or maybe it just had to do with his childhood.

“I was a curious, rotten little kid” (Les Paul: Chasing Sound).

Les Paul was born Lester William Polfuss in 1915 to George and Evelyn Polfuss

(“Les Paul Career Timeline”). Les’ parents divorced when he was very young and his

mother, an educated, opinionated woman, took care of him and his brother (Les Paul:

Chasing Sound). His mother became a driving force in his life and music, as she would

frequently play the piano and cry, or what Les would say, “She had the blues” (Landers).

It was by age eight that his infatuation with music truly started to blossom as he began to

play the harmonica and had a brief attempt at the piano and banjo (“Les Paul”). Around

1927 Les got his first acoustic guitar from Sears Roebuck that he bought by saving his

money from a paper route (Les Paul Documentary). In an interview with Rick Landers,
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Les talked about that first guitar, “I believe it was $3.95…” and after he took it out of the

box and plucked the strings his mother said, "Les, you sound great already!" That was a

great line!” he had thought (Landers). Les began playing his guitar all over town at such

places as Beekman’s BBQ stand (Les Paul: Chasing Sound). It was there, that Les first

got the idea for making an electrified guitar.

At just eleven years old, Les sparked an idea that would have him thinking for

many more years to come. It was 1928, at Beekmans BBQ stand where Les was playing

his guitar and harmonica when a carhop had given him a note from someone in the crowd

(Les Paul: Chasing Sound). The note read, "Red, your voice and harmonica are fine, but

your guitar's not loud enough" (Landers). This got him to thinking about how he could

make the guitar not only heard, but also much louder. Eventually Les figured out that by

suspending the phonograph needle from his father’s record player under a string on a

piece of railroad track, which is a very dense piece of material, and wiring it through his

mother’s radio, he could hear the string through the speakers. (Les Paul - Story of the

invention of the electric guitar – Interview). The railroad track was, “so dense, and free

of any vibrations” that it could play the string without any noise, and he figured if his

father’s phonograph needle played record’s, then it must play a guitar string since they

both vibrate. The idea and the sound were there but Les’ mother had brought up a good

point. She told him, “The day you see a cowboy on a horse playing a railroad track…”

instead of a guitar (Les Paul: Chasing Sound). This left Les a bit frustrated once again,

but he knew his mother was right. As the years passed Les always kept his idea about a
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loud, beautiful loud guitar on his mind. However, his playing continued to get better and

he knew this is what he wanted to spend his life doing.

“I don’t care about Algebra and who sank the Titanic, nothing means nothing to me. Just

Joe” (Les Paul: Chasing Sound).

Not many people can say they got their start by sneaking in a music club through

a men’s room window. But again, if Les hadn’t had done it, he may never had met Joe

Wolverton (“Les Paul Documentary”). Joe was the guitar player for Rube Tronson and

the Texas Cowboys whose guitar playing infatuated Les greatly (Les Paul: Chasing

Sound). Joe took notice to Les’ admiration and offered to give him lessons. In just two

weeks, not only had Les learned everything Joe had taught him, but went far beyond, and

his playing was so good that Rube Tronson replaced Joe with Les (“Les Paul

Documentary”). This was 1929, and he was only fourteen-years-old with his first real job

in music (“Les Paul Career Timeline”). It was obvious music meant a lot to him because

by seventeen, he dropped out of high school to pursue it full time (Les Paul – Life and

Career). After dropping out, Les and Joe teamed up to play on the radio in St. Louis

Missouri as Sunny Joe and Rhubarb Red, eventually moving up to the Chicago air waves

(“Les Paul Career Timeline”). It was in Chicago that Les made an important transition in

music that boosted his career. He changed from Country music, to Jazz, and dropped the

nickname Rhubarb Red changing to Les Paul (“Les Paul”). By combining Jazz

techniques like guitarist Django Reinhardt, an inspiration of his, and intertwining his

country roots, Les created a sound all his own that was getting attention (“Les Paul
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Passes Away at 94”). After starting up a trio, Les and the band left Chicago for New

York and got a job playing for Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians giving him radio exposure

from coast to coast, but ended when he electrocuted himself while playing guitar in his

Queens basement (“Les Paul”). In 1943, Les moved to Los Angeles and was drafted into

the Armed Forces Radio, where he was spot lighted and heard all over, gaining a much

larger audience (Les Paul: Chasing Sound). By 1945, he was also appearing frequently

on Bing Crosby’s radio show, and gaining his first No. 1 hit with Bing, “It’s Been A

Long, Long Time” (“Les Paul Passes Away at 94”). During all of this growing fame, Les

never forgot about his idea of creating a loud electric guitar. He had a few experiments

along the way, but it wasn’t until 1941 that Les got it right.

“I started out with just a log…” (Les Paul: Chasing Sound).

Since childhood, Les tried everything to perfect the guitar. He said, “The

problem with the guitar was that it wasn’t loud enough. And if it wasn’t loud enough for

me in this BBQ stand, it wasn’t loud enough in an orchestra, it meant that the guitar was

the weakest instrument in the band” (Les Paul - Story of the invention of the electric

guitar – Interview). This was a problem indeed, since electrifying a hollow body guitar

created tremendous feedback problems (Feeney). Despite feedback issues, Les also

found that when the string would resonate when played, the guitars hollow body would

too. This in return also made the pickup, which sits in the body, also resonate due to the

hollow body. “Only one thing should move…the string”. A guitar pickup is a magnet

that is mounted in a guitars body which sits under the strings and “picks up” the
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vibrations “electronically” sending them through the guitars cord which is plugged into a

guitar amplifier, amplifying the sound through speakers (“How Electric Guitars Work”).

He knew that with his solid body design, the pickup had to be set in a specific area of the

guitars body, not only to prevent it from moving, but also to make sure when the player

used it the sound would be accurate (“Les Paul Documentary (Part 3 of 5)”). Even

during his childhood experiments, Les filled his guitar with everything from a tablecloth,

to socks and even plaster of Paris, ultimately ruining his guitar and turning to his idea

with the railroad track (Landers).

During the 1930’s, he began making prototypes of the solid body electric guitar,

seeking, “the perfect sound” (Les Paul: Invented Here). At this time, big band and swing

were popular so steel guitar strings were being used to try and amplify the guitars sounds

better (“A Brief History of the Electric Guitar”). But it wasn’t until 1941 that Les would

finally get the sound he wanted since childhood. On weekends in New York City, Les

would go to the Epiphone Guitar Factory at night using their machines to work on his

idea for the solid body electric guitar. After a few failures, he finally created what is

known as “The Log.” By connecting a guitar neck, strings and pickups to a 4x4 piece of

wood, he finally had his idea of what the future of the guitar was (“Les Paul Career

Timeline”). He brought his prototype around to many guitar companies, but no one

wanted anything to do with it (Les Paul - Story of the invention of the electric guitar –

Interview). For ten years, Les kept pursuing The Gibson Guitar Company telling them

that the solid body electric guitar would be the future, but they showed no interest in his

“Log” guitar (Les Paul - Story of the invention of the electric guitar – Interview). During
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these ten years, Les played out with “The Log” guitar and realized people weren’t too

keen on it. That’s when he realized the audience “…hears with their eyes….” So he

attached wings, or sides, to the 4x4 to make it resemble a guitar (Molenda). But it wasn’t

until Leo Fender put out his own version of the solid body electric guitar that the idea

really caught on. It was then Gibson Guitars contacted Les and asked him to bring his

“4x4 log” in. “If it wasn’t for Leo Fender…(he) saw more in it that Gibson did” (“Les

Paul’s journey to Gibson Guitars in 1951”). In 1951 The Gibson Les Paul model was

born. The Gibson Les Paul Model was made of a solid piece of mahogany with a maple

top piece, which was painted gold, giving its nickname, the “Les Paul Goldtop”. The

first years models had no serial number on them because Gibson didn’t know what the

future held for the solid body electric guitar, showing they still had doubts about Les’

idea (“1952 Gibson Les Paul Gold Top”). “On the bandstand, it was so difficult battling

with a drummer, the horns, and all the instruments that had so much power. With a solid

body, guitarists could get louder and express themselves. Instead of being wimps…”

(Molenda). And what better way to be loud and expressive than with rock n’ roll? With

the approach of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Led Zepplin and countless others, this dense,

loud, high output guitar, helped create and pave the road for new music (Les Paul:

Chasing Sound). It had only taken Les twenty-three years to finally get his idea of the

solid body electric guitar out to the world. But another invention of his only took a short

time to invent, launch his career even further and turn not only the music world upside

down, but his car too.

“…everybody abided by the rules. Well I didn’t know about the rules, and I could care

less” (“Les Paul Documentary (Part 4 of 5)”).

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It was 1948 when Les and his wife and musical companion, Mary Ford, were

driving back home to California they hit bad weather on Route 66 (“Les Paul Career

Timeline”). “I saw that the car was sideways gonna go over down to the river”. This

accident almost cost him his right arm and the end of his guitar career. Knowing Les was

a famous guitar player, Doctors permanently set his right arm in a guitar strumming

position instead of amputating it (Les Paul: Chasing Sound). During World War II the

Germans had been experimenting with various tape machines and some were eventually

brought back to the United States. With these first tape machines Bing Crosby invested

$50,000 to the Ampex Company to study them (Shoenherr). It was the Ampex Company

that would create an American version of these German tape machines. When the first

model was built in 1949, Bing brought it over to Les who was still recovering from his

accident (“Les Paul Career Timeline”). Les “…didn’t have the machine an hour…” after

realizing if he added another record head to the machine he could record multiple sounds

on the tape, instead of just one. The record head is a piece of the machine that records

the sound, music, vocals etc., through a microphone into the machine, which is converted

into an electrical current through the head, and onto the tape (Pepin). Les quickly got

another record head from Ampex and installed it onto the machine from Bing. Now with

two recorder heads on the machine, Les recorded not one, but multiple sounds onto the

tape. “Just come out of an accident I threw my crutch in the air…the invention was

there…we had the first sound on sound tape machine” (Les Paul: Chasing Sound).

So what exactly did sound on sound mean and how did it work? Les explains the

idea by, “…taking a picture of a picture of a picture…” or layering parts on top of each

other one after another (The Inventor of the Electric Guitar Les Paul 2/3). Before this
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invention, a band would record live with a few microphones on to two separate tapes.

The band had to be balanced correctly because there was very “minute” tweaks that could

be made otherwise it would need another take (“Les Paul Documentary (Part 4 of 5)”).

Now, a musician, or band can record each individual instrument, vocal, sound etc., and

layer the parts on top of each other. With wife Mary, Les would record a guitar part, and

then layer another and another over the first guitar to build the song. Then Mary would

do the same with her vocals singing a melody then adding additional vocals, like a tenor

part. The only problem with this method was once you recorded that first part, it was set

in stone and there was no turning back. This invention helped launch a new career for

Les with his wife Mary. By using it to record their songs at home, in a bathroom, on the

road, wherever they pleased, they got unique sounding recordings, that were un heard of

then, and were able to put out song after song and hit after hit (Les Paul: Chasing Sound).

Mary would even record while doing the dishes at home (Pareles). Two of their most

popular hits were, “How High The Moon”, and “Tiger Rag”, which were originally jazz

standards (“Les Paul Biography”). All together they had eleven number one hits during

their stardom (Hough, Irvine). With his sound on sound machine Les also started a new

way of recording the music itself. When he would record Mary’s vocals he would have

her sing very closely to the microphone so he could obtain a “tremendous sound” on the

recording, as opposed to standing a few feet back (“Les Paul Documentary (Part 4 of

5)”). With these new ways of recording vocals, and multiple guitars, the sound of Les

and Mary could only be heard to understand and appreciate. Armed with his solid body

guitar, and a one of a kind multitrack recording tape machine Les and Mary were

unstoppable. As their success grew larger than life they became a household name and
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even had their own daily television show that ran on every channel (Les Paul - Life and

Career). However, by 1955 Les and Mary’s songs began to run dry and the two divorced

only a few years later putting Les on a music hiatus (“Les Paul”). It seemed American

music was about to change, from country to rock, thanks to Les Paul and his inventions

(“The Wizard Of Waukesha”).

Les’ return to the music world was very fulfilling and busy. Les won Grammy’s

for his work with fellow musician and friend, Chet Atkins, and another for his hit song

with then wife, Mary Ford, “How High The Moon” in the 1970’s, and had a “Quintuple

by-pass heart surgery” in the 1980’s (“Les Paul Career Timeline”). During the 1980’s

Les also started playing every Monday night the Manhattan Jazz club, Fat Tuesdays, until

1996, where he then continued his Monday night ritual at The Iridium Jazz club (“Les

Paul”).

"I've been playing with what fingers I have left. If they'll put up with it, I can put

up with it" (Bernstein).

As the night went on Les never seemed to slow down with his guitar playing or

his sharp-witted humor. His smile never quit, nor did his aged hands. As my stomach

filled with food and drink, my ears never grew full of Les’ sound, stories and words. It

seemed only a short amount of time before the show was over and people quickly got up

from their seats making a line in front of a table near the bar. Not only does Les play a

show at the Iridium every Monday but he also meets his fans after his performance. The
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line seemed longer and more intense than the one before the show to enter the club. My

nerves grew larger as the line shortened, wondering what to say to a man that has done so

much for not only musicians like myself, but for any music lover. What do you say to

one person that has done so much with their life? That had invented, created, and written

so much in one life? With my mind cluttered with so many thoughts the line seemed to

shrink before my eyes. When my turn had come up, I asked Les to autograph my ticket

stub and was amazed to see him write the name “Les Paul” as quickly as he played back

in the 30’s, 40’s and ever during tonight’s concert. The autograph was written as sharply

as it looks on the on top of my two Les Paul guitars back at home in Brooklyn. I bent

down next to Les for a picture my fiancée took of us and I told Les, “Thank you for

everything you’ve done,” as I hugged him for the first and last time.

On August 14th, 2009, Les Paul passed away in White Plains NY, due to

pneumonia (Pareles). It’s hard to sum up Les’ life in only a few short words. He

revolutionized the music world for not only the musician, but also the listener. He will

forever be remembered as an exceptional guitarist, with his wife Mary Ford, and even as

a soloist. He played every Monday night for fans of all ages with no end in sight. But it

wasn’t just his legendary playing that made him great; it was also the way Les thought.

A true thinker he brought us so much more than just a guitar with strings and a box that

records sound. His thinking brought so much more to the table. He always seemed to be

years ahead of the current technology. The solid body electric guitar was turned down so

many times, and now so many artists like, Slash of Guns’ n Roses, Jmmy Page of Led

Zeppelin and Pete Townshend are known for playing his Gibson Les Paul model (Hough,
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Irvine). His sharp thinking helped him create multitrack recording, which today, is an

industry standard in making music. We can only imagine what music would sound like

today without these two inventions and Les. We could still be playing hollow acoustic

guitars and maybe still recording full bands in one take.

"Honestly, I never strove to be an Edison…The only reason I invented these things was

because I didn't have them and neither did anyone else. I had no choice, really” (Pareles).