Skip to main content

The Greatest is gone...






Les Paul died today at age 94.



For those of you who have lived under a rock in a cave your entire lives, Les Paul was possibly the greatest guitarist who ever lived. He was also responsible in part for almost every bit of music you've ever listened to. How you may ask? He pretty much invented multitrack recording. Without Les Paul and his whacky, wizardous, ideas, music would not be what it is today.

Last night, I dreamt that a friend and I were dueting on Les Paul/Mary Ford songs. All morning long, I was humming old Les Paul songs. Mind you, this itself isn't unheard of...but its not where my mind has been lately. At work, around 1:00pm EST, while humming one of the guitar parts to "Waiting For The Sunrise", I received a text message that Les Paul had died of complications from pneumonia. I was greatly saddened by this. Not so much because he passed away...the man had a long, rich, meaningful life. He'll be remembered for thousands of years. No, I was saddened because I only got to see him play live once, and was too damned young to fully appreciate his amazing talents.


Just a few months ago, my friend Sean offered to put me up in a hotel room in NYC and pay for my ticket to see Les Paul at the Iridium Club. God how I wanted to go! But finances and legal troubles prevented me from getting there. Hell, I was ready to hitchhike if necessary! but I had to make one of those grown up decisions. Sean had a great time and even got to meet Les for a bit. Sean informed me that although Les was slowed a bit by arthritis, his playing was still as amazing as ever.

While I was admittedly envious, I was glad that my good friend got to see Les Paul. When I look at these photos from the show, I can see a familiar look in Les Paul's eyes. Its the look every guitarist I know shares. A look of wonderment and awe at the magical instrument we hold and play. It was heartwarming to see Les, in his 90s. a man who was considered a god among men by his peers, sharing that same look that we pickers all do.
Muhammed Ali used to say that he was "The Greatest". That statement, coming from most men, would be pure boasting. But Les Paul never needed to...everyone already knew he was the best and Les just took it all in stride. I've read many times how he was still continually amazed at the many different styles of guitar playing there are and the many ways that musicians communicate with the guitar. In most cases, we wouldn't be communicating the way we do with them if it hadn't been for Les Paul. As if being the greatest guitarist and inventing multi-track recording wasn't enough, he essentially, if not invented, at least perfected the solid body electric guitar. His is the name on one of the most popular models ever.

If you've never listened to the man, do yourself the favor...listen. Whether he was playing hillbilly in the 20s, blues in the 30s, jazz in the 40s, pop in the 50s or country in the 70s (with the legendary Chet Atkins), his playing was just simply amazing. He would throw in licks that would just stop you in your tracks. In the old days, you'd lift the needle and play that spot again. Tapes made rewinding to those spots even easier and digital even easier still...but no one has yet to master Les Paul's style or sound. The closest was my late friend Danny Gatton. And he always wanted to impress Les with his ability to copy him...but Les was unimpressed. His reaction was, "so what? I did that 40 years ago!" and he'd give Danny a good natured laugh.

The greatest there ever was is gone...but he's not likely to ever be forgotten. Rest in peace Mr. Polfus. You inspired so many. And really, what more can a man hope to achieve?
-MM
photos courtesy of Sean Chambers
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mama's Little Babies

It wasn't the first time he'd passed out in the old blue Adirondack chair in his yard. Over the years, his habit of drinking alone until the wee hours had grown from occasionally to usually . He'd reached the point in life when most of his friends were married, had families and lives, and heavy drinking just wasn't part of their world anymore. Being a bachelor and a man of singular habits, he'd merely accepted it. What woke him was the sensation of something cold and wet nuzzling his inner arm, followed by what felt like a surprisingly large tongue licking his hand. This was different. Without any great response, he looked down to see a bear cub licking his hand. He didn't move. He knew better than to scare a wild animal. He looked around and saw another cub rooting through a now presumably empty bag of Doritos.  His yard was lit only by the light above his garage and the dying embers of the fire pit. He noticed empty beer cans on the old picnic table. From the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

TRIBUTE BANDS: The Dubious Art of Selling Somebody Else's Identity

Anyone who knows me in any way knows my stance on so-called "tribute acts". They're bullshit. I, like any working musician, have played other people's music. It's kinda how being a working musician operates. My classically trained musician friends routinely perform the works of the great composers; Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, etc. Anyone who's played in a bar band in the past 60 years has probably played at least one song by The Rolling Stones or Chuck Berry. Nothing wrong with that. Never has been. But at what point did folks switch from doing covers to paying "tribute" to another act, essentially creating entire commercial enterprises built around imitating the identity, appearance, sound, and presentation of established performers (aka FAMOUS BANDS)? OK, say you really, really like U2 ( I'm sure someone does ). You know that you're highly unlikely to reach their level of success. So, you do the next best thing: pretend you ARE them! Y...
Post a Comment
Read more

Clearing up the Great Gretsch/Rockabilly Sham!

I've had a long-standing friendly argument with a couple of friends about guitars. This has gone on for 20+ years. We're all pickers, and we're all usually lumped under the rockabilly category too. They both love Gretsch guitars. I can take them or leave them. Rockabilly fans have asked me many times why I don't play a Gretsch, which is often associated with rockabilly music.   First, I point out that what I play ain't exactly rockabilly. Sure, there's a definite rockabilly influence...but there's also blues, jazz, surf, garage, punk, country, Tex-Mex, and even some Gypsy & African influences in my music. A Gretsch just ain't gonna cut it. Don't get me wrong, Gretsches have their place and their own, unique sound. But...for a picker who is coming from the afore-mentioned influences, a Gretsch just ain't gonna cut it.   The new Gretsches, mostly reissues, are well-made guitars. MUCH better made than the original ones, which tended to ...
14 comments
Read more