Phil O'Keefe Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Today would have been his 100th birthday. There's not a person reading this that doesn't owe Les Paul, big-time. He's certainly one of my biggest musical and recording heroes. The man practically invented multitrack recording along with many other musical and studio techniques that we still use today. So Happy 100th Birthday Les. Sorry you aren't here to celebrate it with us, but your memory - and music - lives on. He was also a total bad-a** on guitar too... check out this video of Les and then wife Mary Ford doing How High The Moon; they're adding additional parts to a previously multitracked performance, and doing it live, on TV. Pretty groundbreaking stuff for 1951... and dig that killer guitar solo! [video=youtube;NkGf1GHAxhE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nice keetee Posted June 10, 2015 Members Share Posted June 10, 2015 far out 1951 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 11, 2015 Author Share Posted June 11, 2015 Yeah, it's pretty rock and roll, considering the year. I can totally see why he's considered a rock pioneer and influence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 12, 2015 Author Share Posted June 12, 2015 Actually, it's (the TV footage) from 1953, not 1951, although the song was released in 1951. I should have caught that earlier since he's playing a Gibson Les Paul - which was introduced in 1952. Here's a longer version, showing more of the TV show... [video=youtube;rITJyZVTfy4] What I find interesting in this is the discussion regarding the attitudes of people and the charges that their music was all electronic gimmickry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NSGAGN Posted June 16, 2015 Members Share Posted June 16, 2015 Les was the Man!! Pioneer of solid body guitar, tape echo, multitrack tape machines, custom pickups and a sick player. He even built his own disk cutter way back using a Cadillac flywheel. We all owe him a great debt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 16, 2015 Author Share Posted June 16, 2015 Les was the Man!! Pioneer of solid body guitar' date=' tape echo, multitrack tape machines, custom pickups and a sick player. He even built his own disk cutter way back using a Cadillac flywheel. We all owe him a great debt.[/quote'] Indeed. Les was the Man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AlamoJoe Posted June 17, 2015 Members Share Posted June 17, 2015 Inventor, Maestro, and Mentor...Not a bad epitaph eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted July 4, 2015 Members Share Posted July 4, 2015 Les said a lot of people did not know he played guitar, they thought he was a guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted July 5, 2015 Members Share Posted July 5, 2015 Considering his right elbow was shattered in a car accident, he's also inspirational. And he invented home recording, too! When Gibson acquired TASCAM I always thought it ironic the company that democratized home recording ended up under the same umbrella as the guy who invented it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted July 6, 2015 Author Share Posted July 6, 2015 I learned about overdubbing (indirectly) from Les when I was a teenager, and my first multitrack tape deck was a TASCAM. That was way back in the 70s. I owe both TASCAM and Les a great debt, and have very fond memories of both that go back a long time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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