OT: Les Ford. RIP

[mac davis]

Who else could have imagined a solid body guitar?

mac

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[notbob]

Spumco, makers of Log, of course. Cept'n Les already did it.

BTW, did you know Les speeded up some of his recordings to make it appear he was a quicker more adroit guitar player. Others to follow soon equaled and then surpassed his studio tweaked prowess, but it in no way takes away from his genius. Jes a little fun fact.

nb

[DLB]

Les Paul?

[jo4hn]

I loved the story of his first electric. It was a rectangular box with strings the length of one side and some wires protruding. Gibson poo-pooed it saying it didn't look like a guitar. So Paul added some wings, made it look like a guitar and the rest is history.

Besides his guitars, he also was a pioneer in multi-channel recording and had a bunch of hit recordings in the 1950s. RIP sir. sigh, jo4hn

[willshak]

on 8/14/2009 12:05 PM (ET) mac davis wrote the following:

His name was Les Paul. His wife was Mary Ford, who also played guitar. They sang under their full names. "Les Paul and Mary Ford". Now, "Somewhere's There's Music", is going to be in my head all day.

[willshak]

on 8/14/2009 1:22 PM (ET) willshak wrote the following:

Sorry, make that a singular Somewhere.

[jo4hn]

"Song in Blue" always did it for me.

[David Nebenzahl]

On 8/14/2009 9:25 AM jo4hn spake thus:

Not a box, but a solid timber (2x-something). That's why he called it "the log".

[David Nebenzahl]

On 8/14/2009 9:05 AM mac davis spake thus:

My favorite radical radio program (Democracy Now!--

played "How High the Moon" as a tribute to Les this morning. Amy Goodman remarked that she'd seen and heard Mr. Paul not long ago in Times Square.

Made it to 94: not bad.

[nailshooter41]

Last year this enormous icon, Les Paul was featured on the PBS "American Masters" series and the show was really interesting. There were a lot of fun facts on it, great history, and links to even more on the PBS website.

This of course caused a flurry of other cable retreads to show back up concerning him. He had quite a sense of self, and seemingly had as much fun with the electronic invention side of things as he did the music side.

The only person I saw him openly compliment as a musician (with all the hundreds he knew and met) and be very gracious to was his old pal Chet Atkins. I don't know how many charts they recorded together, but they sure enjoyed each other's company and playing.

I wasn't a huge fan, but I guess I'm gonna have to dig up some of the Chester and Lester this weekend.

Robert

[notbob]

Chet Atkins is a whole 'nuther reality. That guy was so good, he was scary. Literally. I wasn't a real big fan, either, primarily cuz he put a C&W slant on everthing, not my favorite genre. OTOH, he could do stuff on a guitar that will twist yer brain around and leave you slack jawed. He could play rings around Les. No doubt why they got along. My guess would be, Les truly admired Chet.

nb ....guitar player

[Andrew Barss]

mac davis wrote: : Who else could have imagined a solid body guitar?

Well, Paul Bigsby and Leo Fender, maybe.

Snd the solid body seems descended from the Hawaiian steel guitar.

And Edison built a solid-body violin much earlier.

-- Andy Barss

[Gene Tracy]

Amy Goodman and Democracy Now ??? People who swallow that need to be evaluated .

[Andrew Barss]

mac davis wrote: : Who else could have imagined a solid body guitar?

And apparently Henry Slingerland was selling one in 1939, which may predate Les Paul's (which seems usually dated around the early 1940s).

-- Andy Barss, who thinks it's less than clear that any one person invented the solid-body electric.

[David Nebenzahl]

On 8/14/2009 4:59 PM Gene Tracy spake thus:

I take it that by "evaluated" you mean "turned over to the state authorities for mental reprogramming" or some such ...

[charlieb]

The story goes that Les had put together the most sophisticated multi-track recording system on the planet in his garage. When he ran out of wall space for the racks of electronics he even covered part of the only remaining door into the space - leaving what had been the window in the door open. THAT was the only way in and out of this studio where all the recording magic Les invented resided.

A famous opera singer was told of this recording studio and the amazing things being done in it. He demanded that he see and use this place for his next recording. Then he found out he'd have to climb through a window to get into it. This was totally unacceptable to this opera singer - totally undignified. Then he heard a recording done in that studio.

He climbed through the window.

[Upscale]

What happened to c)? Maybe he was looking for a hooker.

[HeyBub]

Bob Dylan ("Blowin' in the Wind") was moseying around the neighborhood adjacent to the baseball stadium in Lakewood, NY where he was appearing in concert with John Mellencamp ("Freedom's Road") and Willie Nelson (IRS).

Local cops get a call at 5 p.m. that some aged, disheveled, possibly Communist, hippie is wandering around loose, scaring the folk.

Cop responds, asks Dylan for ID. Dylan doesn't have any!

Backup unit arrives.

Still no ID.

Dylan put in patrol car and whisked away.

I wish my neighborhood cops were that much on the ball.

[mac davis]

You're right.. sorry for the brain fart...

We went to a local cantina last night with a blues-rock band and the guitar player did a few tribute songs.. On a Gibson, of course.. He rocked..

mac

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[notbob]