SamboraBlog

FATHER OF INVENTION

Music wouldn't be the same if not for the legendary Les Paul
Published in the Asbury Park Press 06/19/05
BY CHRIS M. JUNIOR
STAFF WRITER

Resting on his many laurels just isn't a way of life for musician, inventor and innovator Les Paul.

The guitarist remains a Monday-night mainstay at New York's Iridium Jazz Club, playing two sets per evening.

That's pretty impressive for a man who turned 90 on June 9.

"It's great to know he still plays weekly in the city and that he is up to his abilities," said Asbury Park's Kyle Roggendorf, a guitarist and co-owner of Raritan Bay Guitar Repair in Freehold Township. "From a repair person's point of view, the Gibson Les Paul is, in my opinion, the best guitar ever built."

Paul's milestone birthday is not going unrecognized by the music industry.

Gibson has been advertising Paul's namesake instrument as "a gift like no other for Father's Day." Capitol/EMM released the collection "Les Paul With Mary Ford: The Best of the Capitol Masters (90th Birthday Edition)" on June 7. Two days later, he was honored with the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award at this year's National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony in New York.

The latest event honoring the longtime Mahwah resident arguably is the biggest: A star-studded tribute concert tonight at New York's Carnegie Hall as part of this year's JVC Jazz Festival.

Guitarists from various eras and genres of music, including Steve Miller, Jose Feliciano, Bucky Pizzarelli, Pat Martino and Derek Trucks, are scheduled to pay their respects to Paul during the show.

These musicians, as well as many others around the world, most certainly would attest that Paul is much more than a guitarist.

An electrified start

Born June 9, 1915, in Waukesha, Wis., Lester William Polsfuss (later changed to Polfuss) first began playing guitar around age 7. At 13 and already performing professionally — an early stage name was Red Hot Red — he used a radio, a piece of a telephone and a record-player needle in order to amplify his instrument.

Through the years, Paul continued to experiment with guitars and sound. He's credited with inventing the solid-body electric guitar, and his namesake line of guitars (made by Gibson and played by many top musicians) debuted in 1952.

Around that time, Ampex introduced an eight-track tape recorder that Paul designed. Multitrack machines allow for instruments and vocal parts to be recorded separately — and at different times (commonly known as overdubbing) — then blended together to make a finished song.

Long before multitracking and overdubbing became the standard approach to recording music, Paul and singer Ford, his wife, used those techniques to great effect. From the mid-1940s to the early 1960s, they enjoyed a string of chart hits that included "How High the Moon" and "Hummingbird."

"I knew those records when I was a kid," said producer/engineer/mixer Ed Stasium, who grew up in Green Brook. "My parents played Les Paul and Mary Ford records around the house. I've always known about Les."

Stasium, whose studio credits include albums by Mick Jagger, The Smithereens, Talking Heads and The Ramones, worked the most recent school year as a guest music instructor at the Excel Charter School in Durango, Colo., where he currently resides. Stasium said that when he discussed the history of recording with his students, he asked if anyone had heard of Les Paul.

Some thought they did. The general response to the question, according to Stasium, was "the type of guitar that (Led Zeppelin's) Jimmy Page played."

While that's true, Stasium is quick to credit Paul — the person — for much more.

"He had the genius and foresight to come up with multitrack recording early on," said Stasium. "If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have a career. He's my idol."

Appreciation for Paul

Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, formerly of Woodbridge, shared similar sentiments June 9 upon arriving at the New York Marriott Marquis to honor Paul as part of the Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony.

"He's the reason why we're all here tonight," Sambora told the Press. "Basically, he invented the electric guitar and multitrack recording, so he's the reason we all have a job."

Sambora jammed with the event's house band on a rendition of the Bo Diddley tune "Before You Accuse Me" before Paul graced the stage to accept his award. Paul charmed the audience with quips about Viagra and his pacemaker, and he even cracked a joke after almost taking a fall.

Prior to playing a short blues instrumental with Sambora and the band, Paul talked about today's concert at Carnegie Hall and alluded to appearances by surprise guests.

"I'm just hoping that they will be there," Paul said. "I have my fingers crossed that they're going to show. But the 19th should be a winner."

A lot more Les

The celebration of Paul's 90th birthday doesn't end with today's concert. Throughout the next year, a dozen special-edition Gibson Les Paul guitars will be issued marking the milestone.

On Aug. 30, Capitol/EMI will release "Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played," Paul's first new album since 1978. Sambora appears on the disc, and so do Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Keith Richards, Buddy Guy and Joe Perry, among other stars.

There also is the Robb Lawrence book "The Les Paul Legacy: The Man, the Sound and the Gibson Guitar" (Hal Leonard, $45), due Oct. 15.

And as those products eventually find their way to stores, Paul will continue to perform Monday nights at the Iridium Jazz Club, 1650 Broadway. Call (212) 582-2121 or go to www.iridiumjazzclub.com on the Web for more information.