The nicest badass that ever lived

Right now, there are a thousand music fans writing remembrances and obituaries for Lester William Polsfuss, better known as Les Paul. It's only fitting. He was one of the most remarkable people who ever lived. It cannot be overstated just how important to modern music he was. While it's true he didn't invent the electric guitar, he was one of it's earliest innovators. He designed the first successful solid-body electric guitar for Gibson Guitars, the guitar which shares his name, the "Les Paul." In addiction to his iconic namesake guitar, Les also invented multi-track recording, allowing him to play multiple guitar parts on his recordings, as well as allow his wife Mary Ford to harmonize with herself. He also pioneered the practice of "close mic-ing", that is, having the singer sing into the microphone from less than six inches away. Before, singers stood away from the mic and sang as if they were on stage. The close-mic technique allowed a singer to relax and sing more intimately. The new breed of microphones could pick up the more subtle style of singing and it revolutionized popular music. If Les had only been an inventor, that would have been enough for any one man's life. But Les was an innovator on the guitar as well. He smooth, harmonic style of playing influenced guitarists from the 1930s all the way through to today. His many classic recordings with Mary Ford in the 1950s and are still musical standards.

Les Paul, having fun

Les Paul loved both playing the guitar, and inventing things that let him do more with the guitar. It shaped his life, and once nearly ended it. While working in his basement in 1940, he nearly electrocuted himself to death. It took him two years to recover. In 1948 he was in an automobile accident that shattered his right arm and elbow. He had his doctor set his arm in the correct position to cradle and play a guitar. He was in poor health during the 1960s and 1970s, but he never quit playing. He had a heart attack. Arthritis stilled all but two fingers on his left hand. He had gone mostly deaf. But he continued playing. Even in his 90s, Les continued to play a weekly gig at the Iridium Club in New York, playing with the Les Paul Trio. Fans would come to see him perform, including famous guitarists who would get the chance to sit in with him. Young hotshot kids would get on stage with him and try to prove their skill with fire and technique. The quiet friendly nonagenarian with only two working fingers would school them with grace and melody. And the kid would go away not feeling embarrassed, but honored, to have played with such a great man.

You know what it is without being told

Mustafa and I would often say that the next time we went to New York, we were going to make sure we say Les Paul at the Iridium Club. We never got that chance. Les Paul passed away yesterday at the age of 94. Not surprisingly, remembrances are pouring into the Gibson website. It's worth your time to read, if only to get a glimpse of the man from the people who knew him and played with him. What I have to say is inadequate compared to hearing the man play and speak, so I will leave you with two videos. The first is an old TV appearance that I remember seeing when it first aired in the 1980s. Les Paul, then in his 70s, jams with Jeff Beck and Billy Squier. The video quality is poor, but listen to him play, and how much fun he's having with Jeff Beck who's playing a Fender Stratocaster instead of his famous oxblood red Les Paul. The second video is a 10 minutes tribute/documentary showing Les Paul playing at the age of 90. Enjoy.