From The New York Post:
Les Paul: 1915-2009
What would popular music sound like today had it not been for Les Paul?
A lot different than it does.
More so than just about any performer or composer, Les Paul -- who died Thursday at 94 -- shaped the course of pop music over the past 60 years. As Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley said, "He changed the face of rock-and-roll."
Paul's influence wasn't felt in any particular music he wrote, though, but rather in the way music itself is performed and recorded.
For it was Les Paul who invented the solid-body electric guitar, which he first began tinkering with as a youngster, using pieces of railroad track, ham radios and a dentist's drill. The model, first conceived in 1941, evolved into the touchstone of modern guitars.
Even more important, perhaps, were the innovations Paul brought to the recording studio. He was the pioneer of such techniques as overdubbing, multi-tracking -- he invented the first eight-track console, dubbed "The Octopus," in 1953 -- and other special effects.
The idea was to create a new sound, rather than simply replicate stage performances. Absent Paul's ideas, such classics as The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper" album would have been impossible.
On top of all that, Paul also was a successful musician, writing and performing numerous million-selling hits back in the '50s with his then-wife, Mary Ford, such as "Mockingbird Hill" and "Vaya Con Dios."
Until just nine weeks ago, he performed weekly at a Manhattan jazz club. Les Paul was more than a legend -- he was a one-man Music Hall of Fame.
Les Paul: 1915-2009
What would popular music sound like today had it not been for Les Paul?
A lot different than it does.
More so than just about any performer or composer, Les Paul -- who died Thursday at 94 -- shaped the course of pop music over the past 60 years. As Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley said, "He changed the face of rock-and-roll."
Paul's influence wasn't felt in any particular music he wrote, though, but rather in the way music itself is performed and recorded.
For it was Les Paul who invented the solid-body electric guitar, which he first began tinkering with as a youngster, using pieces of railroad track, ham radios and a dentist's drill. The model, first conceived in 1941, evolved into the touchstone of modern guitars.
Even more important, perhaps, were the innovations Paul brought to the recording studio. He was the pioneer of such techniques as overdubbing, multi-tracking -- he invented the first eight-track console, dubbed "The Octopus," in 1953 -- and other special effects.
The idea was to create a new sound, rather than simply replicate stage performances. Absent Paul's ideas, such classics as The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper" album would have been impossible.
On top of all that, Paul also was a successful musician, writing and performing numerous million-selling hits back in the '50s with his then-wife, Mary Ford, such as "Mockingbird Hill" and "Vaya Con Dios."
Until just nine weeks ago, he performed weekly at a Manhattan jazz club. Les Paul was more than a legend -- he was a one-man Music Hall of Fame.
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