Thanks for this, I miss him dearly. What an awesome human being that had such a driving passion for the instrument & music, his legacy shall live on forever. R.I.P. Lester
Thank you Rob! I heard about him passing when I was at a Starbucks, and my heart just sank. I got to meet him back in the '90s and he was just so damn cool and mellow. The guy was a legend and he never acted like it. Such a loss rip Les
@@guitarmeetsscience I have 78 recordings of both my Mom and Grandpa playing and singing with him and Mary. So it hit me like family. When he played at fat Tuesday's in 87 Page, Beck was there met them ALL my idols. What a night. Happy to be alive during this time and also EVH all masters. Thanks for responding and putting that together.
Great video. I met les Paul in 1993 at fat Tuesdays. He autographed a couple Les Paul guitars for me! We talked for about twenty minutes before his show started. What an absolutely wonderful soul. Anyone that's ever met him will tell you that he treated everyone the same way. With dignity and respect.
Thank you so much - and thank you for the awesome story! That totally describes him to a T, he was always very interested in anybody he talked to. He put me at ease within the first two seconds of meeting him and everybody else too. That's cool that you got some guitars signed!
Good call - and it's true he was always smiling in pictures. He brought good vibes everywhere he went. Congrats on your acquisition, the Les Paul plays like a dream!
I played Les Paul Gibson for many years and there is no other instrument that has that sound or ease of play I first saw it played in concert March 12 1971 at the Fillmore East by two of the greatest guitarist to ever play Duane Allman and Dicky Betts two weeks later and brought home my first one and I love it every day
Maestro and Genius of guitar and innovation... without Les Paul on planet earth it s just impossible..!! And E.Van Halen was a true dear genius musician and lovely human being. RIP both of you forever.
Excellent video, I really enjoyed watching it. I had the pleasure of meeting Les Paul at the Iridium and the narrator's comments about meeting him at the Iridium really mirrored my feelings and brought back good memories.
Thank you so much - Man that comment makes my day! That's cool you got to meet him at the same place. He really was such a down to earth guy. I appreciate you sharing your story!
I saw Les perform at State Theater in 2008. It was a tribute concert with 18 guitar players and bands. It started with Billy Gibbons and ended with Slash tipping his hat and saying: "Les is Next". Then a bought a gold top.
I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting les at a Berkley College of music jazz competition when i was in high school. Gave the band some really good advice and enjoyed the playing we did very much. Such grace. Amazing man
That is a great story - Les Paul was such a cool and down to earth dude. He treated everybody the same whether they were some big time accomplished player or somebody just starting out. Thanks for that story! I hope more folks who also got to meet him come in here and share their experience.
Wow Jimmy. Thanks so much for this in depth life story of the legend 'Les Paul'. It must have taken you an age to gather all the info you have presented us here. Well done my friend . .An awesome 25 minute upload! 🔥
Thanks so much Alan - it was fun doing a deep dive on Les Paul. I got to meet him back in the '90s and it was such a great experience. One amazing guy and very down to earth. Glad you like it man Thank you so much!
I met Les Paul at his house in NJ. A friend was building a studio above his garage and i went to pick him up. Les showed up and we had some laughs. A regular guy he was.
Les Paul IS the number one guitar player of all time. He INVENTED most of it. Literally & figuratively. There wouldn't be anybody else without him. There's many guitarists that are faster, or more technical or, more knowledgeable about music - we all have our favorites - someone has to be "the first" & God gave us Less Paul.
I am handing it to Les as well! And I'm really into all the heavy hitting players nowadays from Guthrie Govan to Mateo, but none of it could have happened in its current form without an architect like Les Paul. And of course if we dig back we get into Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt who were monsters in their own right. It is really cool to trace the lineage of these amazing players. But Les really definitely put it on the map!
💪🔥 RIP Sir🔥💪....I have almost certainly spent more time staring at (lusting after) Les Pauls than I have spent outside in the daylight...I'm happy with that
@LiamDTurner exactly - like butter! Props to the Les Paul though because it can snarl in the low position when you want it to. But the neck position is just sublime!
Wow, this is one of your best ones, Jimmy - certainly loaded with all sorts of interesting facts and some not very well known info about Les! The jam with Jeff Beck is one of my favorite videos (surprise!), and I still sometimes think about the moment he pulled Beck's cord out. I read somewhere that Les didn't realize Beck's soundman was off to the side, and promptly turned Les off - in the full vid, you can see him suddenly looking down and wondering what happened to his sound - all in good fun by the way! Les and Jeff were the best of friends. A good resource I would recommend for the Les Paul story is a book called "The Birth of Loud" by Ian S. Port, which has detailed historical info about not only Les, but has Leo Fender's story as well, focusing on how they (separately) developed the Les Paul, Strat, Tele, and Fender amps, among others. There is even detail about the New York City Les Paul birthday celebration in that book! The Chester and Lester album you mentioned is truly mind blowing - I bought that one when it first came out, and still listen to it to this day. Great post!
Thank you bluesrocker! I don't know for some reason I get the uncanny feeling that maybe you're into Jeff Beck or something I don't know what would have given that up though 😆 as am I, it's funny because some people got a bit confused by that little clip and so I had to explain it a little bit. I will definitely have to check out that book! I read a copy of the wizard of Waukesha cover to cover I don't know how many times. But it would be really cool to get another take and especially with Leo in there. Of course finding the time to read anything these days is kind of tricky lol But still worth the effort. I love how Les Paul would prank or just rib the other guitar players whether it was Eddie Van Halen or Joe satriani or Jeff Beck or whoever, And of course they would rip him back as well. He was just a real conduit and I'm sure he brought a lot of them together. When I met him I didn't even know what to expect and he was truly just like a real cool down-to-earth uncle. And he didn't care that I just kind of like hung around still even though he had already signed an autograph and everything. I just kept thinking to myself my God that's him... Thanks for sharing man I love your in-depth takes!
Great video! However, I think more time should have been spent talking about his invention, which is multi track recording. That truly changed the music industry forever.
Thanks so much! You are 100% right. The thing that most fascinated me about Les Paul besides his wild playing was his multitrack inventions. I do plan on covering that a little more in depth in a future video. I really appreciate the feedback!
I liked the part where his parents didn't want him making noise so they let him play a guitar. This only makes sense up until some time in the 1950s, partly due to Les.
I have a picture taken from an AARP magazine from around 2007 or so that has Les Paul in one of his later ventures - playing guitar on street corners in New York with donation hat on the sidewalk. He had something going right to the end. In late 1970s i knew a young kid and his father, the kid played a Les Paul guitar and could play anything Les played, and his dad played a Gretch Country Gentleman and he played like Chet Atkins. They had a tape of Chester and Lester and the three of us ( i was bass ) played most of that album. Some of the best music i was ever in the same room with.
That is a damn cool story! The fact that the kid in his dad were able to cop their styles perfectly it's pretty amazing in and of itself, I'm sure that was quite the jamming experience! I think had it not have been for contracting pneumonia Les Paul would have gone on another 10 years at least - because he was so embroiled in projects all the time. I was really sad when the news hit that he had passed away. Thanks for sharing that story!
@guitarmeetsscience I'm about 500 ft from Highway 59, aka Les Paul Parkway. There are about 50 unique 6 ft tall Les Pauls throughout the area that were commissioned by a local artist. Downtown Waukesha has some nice Les Paul murals painted on buildings. I've also been to Club 400, where Les Paul used to play. And, at least once a week, I pass by Prairie Home Cemetery where Les Paul was buried. I've even left a pick at his memorial. Waukesha is a nice place.
@@flyonwall360 That's got to be so cool to be surrounded by Les's legacy in that town. I'm really glad that they tricked it out for him! Being surrounded by Les Paul's in any way shape or form is definitely a good thing, real ones preferred but otherwise concrete is just fine too. Thanks for sharing that!
I remember the guitaar legends festival where Les played with his trio and he played so beautifully ! Same with his tribute show. He changed the music 🎸🎸🤘
He was amazing live. Besides playing the hell out of the guitar, he had such characteristic wit - I love all the little jokes that he would throw in to make it that much more entertaining. Yeah my Scottish brother, Les Paul really made quite a dent in music in general.
Listerine bought him a house, now no company even wants to provide health insurance 😂 Les caught the attention of that guy from the Pennsylvanians as he got off the elevator and was hired on the spot. I know it was a different time, but it’s just depressing when you hear stories from the mid 19th century and realize how jaded and shut-out the world is today, capitalism is locked in so hard and you have to be in the “club” to get in. I’ve seen it. Great video man, I’ve always loved Les Pauls, and over the years I’ve always enjoyed hearing more about him and learning how it all happened.
You nailed it right on the head! And really it wasn't up until more recently, within the last 25 years or so. Or at least that's how I've observed it. Nowadays it really is quite jaded and shut out. But with that it has morphed in different ways for the better as well, because at least now we have the opportunity to share our stuff with larger audiences without having to spend gobs of money so I guess social media kind of offset that whole thing. Still though to imagine that you could pretty much meet anybody back in those days just by showing up is mind-blowing. Now Fred Waring or today's equivalent would have such thick security detail. Thanks for sharing your take!
@@guitarmeetsscience thanks dude! I think you’re right, I’m a big Tech-enjoyer myself and have really loved growing up in the 90s/00s with all of the wonderful tech around us, so we just have to be grateful for what IS around us today and if we have dreams it’s up to us to make them happen, regardless of society ‘s level of locking us out. Thank for the reply man, great video
Les might've not liked the SG shape but it saved Gibson and is still the top selling Gibson every year. People forget the Les Paul shape was only selling about 600 a year in late 50s hence why they pulled the plug on the turkey.....until virtually a handful of mid 60s guitar slingers forced it back in '68. Still, I loves my SGs. 🎸
You make a really great point! The SG is a wicked sounding guitar. It's got its own vibe. I like them both for different reasons. Nice bit of history ...and I appreciate you sharing that!
Les Paul made "The Log" at the Epiphone factory using an Epiphone neck and body. No Gibson parts were any part of the guitar. Gibson later made replica with their logo on the headstock. In 1958, Chicago Musical Instruments (CMI) bought Epiphone and moved production to the Gibson factory in Kalamazoo, Gibson was one of the many brands owned by CMI.
I have a Les Paul studio. I had baught as a bare guitar. The heack has been played out of it. (I think it had those Shaw pickups) . It does nedd some work. Doyle's Coils this guy is a luthier and had worked with Les Paul for a very long time. I need to get in touch with this guy for parts. For the sake of heritage. Plus he does have some cool things i think will point this Guitar in the right direction.
It is a great sounding guitar - some years back I tried modding it but I ended up going back with the original PAF pickups. Nothing sounds quite like those, especially in the neck position. As Les Paul said -That is a great guitar!
The best thing Les Paul did was the Jazz at the Philharmonic with Nat King Cole (1944). I don't know what happened but he never played like that on any later recordings and it is like he became a different player.
I remember reading about that particular night. If I remember right Les Paul was having a bit of a friendly showdown with him trading licks and they were just feeding off of each other. I'm going to have to do some digging and check out their performance. Thanks for bringing it up!
Well that's interesting. I own a Les Paul Deluxe from the early 70s. It's got a Floyd Rose because of my love of VanHalen. Before anyone screams about modifying a vintage instrument, it was badly damaged in a fire and has a repaired headstock break.
Haha that is so cool! You won't find me screaming about that - I think it's a very cool combo myself. The Les Paul plays like butter, and if you couple that with a really good tremolo system You have so much more flexibility. And hey it has been reliced! 🤘😎🤘
so inspiring !!! i messed up my right arm too, and it is cocked and bent..... but it's bent just right for a guitar :). funny, but this arm can swing a golf club still as well..... i am over the moon me n les have the same disability and kept playin :)
Oh wow -that is awesome to hear that you could keep on going with it and get some golf in while you're at it! Thanks for sharing that - and I hope that inspires others who come in who might have gone through the same thing. That was always one part of Les Paul's story that stuck out in my mind. And when I met him I totally forgot about that until I shook his hand and even then it didn't really dawn on me until later when I was like oh yeah - that's right his arm is permanently bent. It was like by that time he didn't even notice. Thanks for sharing that!
That is cool! He struck everybody the same way - just very down to earth guy, had a wicked sense of humor and was this hybrid music / science nerd all the way through and through. He was a very interesting guy to talk with.
@@guitarmeetsscience if you can ever make it out to nj and you drive I will gladly give you a tour of guitar history in the area and maybe stop by Chris DiPinto's spot in Philly. Let's talk
What a Great Video, That Would of Been Great To See All The Greats With Les,You Rocked This Video,Dont know if You Seen It But Steven Seagal Was Playing Some Dam Place and Said He was Better Then Les on The Blues,😖Cracked Me Up,You Have the Best Storys Here,Didnt know He divorced his First Wife,Thought it was Cool they Played Together, Great Share, Keep Rockin 🎸🎸🎸
Oh yeah Rebel haha - I remember seeing the Steven seagal one. A bunch of guitar players were joking that they needed the tabs because there are trying to learn exactly what it was he was playing. So much I could say but I'll just narrow it down to the fact that no segal does not touch Les Paul one bit lol. Thanks for sharing that I needed the laugh 🤘😆🤘🔥😎🔥🎸🔥🎸🔥🎸🔥
Gibson came around because Leo Fender produced and successfully marketed the first production solid body electric guitar. Gibson suddenly didn't want to be left behind.
That really is true - and Les Paul himself would look back and talk about just how much he missed Mary. Unfortunately the story is still a bit marky as to what exactly happened between those two. But you are right that is definitely a sad chapter of it all.
Todd you are too kind man - thank you! I loved those kind of crazy sped up passages or something that he would do on stage. Les Paul had some crazy stuff happening up there.
Oh yeah! Of course he did everything obsessively really, between practicing and coming up with things, if it weren't for pneumonia I seriously think he would have gone on another 20 years.
Les Paul was playing a prank on Jeff Beck. They were old friends and they were both guitar legends. Les Paul loved to prank people all of the time. Jeff Beck pranked him too.
That one is easily confused I understand where you're coming from. Les Paul used to joke that people were amazed that he was a person and not a guitar lol
@@guitarmeetsscience Yeah. Learning that his real name is Lester William Polsfuss put it into conclusion that les paul actually is a person, and not an electric guitar. Now I believe that fender is also taken from an actual person's name 😁😁😁
As humans we've created alot of cool cool shit the Frigidaire the a/c unit central heat the v-twin engine and the p.a. system 8 track reel to reel recording and the electric guitar ,and alot of fowl Fowel shit like the a- bomb hell any thing that goes boom that ain't legal on the gorth or use responsible the ability too shoot bullets more than one every minute or so all Fowel fowel shit les Paul is way way in the kool kool category thank all the gods the essence of creation its self for les Paul may his work and shadow never dimm or leave the touch of man
8:01 "most people tend to listen with their eyes and needed the guitar to look somewhat conventional". Even today, guitarists are as traditional as people who wear tuxedos to concerts. Im remind of "all progress, therefore, depends on the unreasonable man"... Who puts fake dummy shapes on the thing he knows is better.
Lol no - he unplugged Jeff Beck's guitar. It was two Legends on the stage, and Les Paul was a real practical joker. That's why if you look at the guitarist he started cracking up. Somebody else tells me that right after that Jeff Beck had the sound man turn down les's guitar all the way so he couldn't figure out why he didn't have any sound. It was just a big practical joking session
@@guitarmeetsscience oh okay for sure. I just literally had no context lol it made it seem like that's just how he treated fender players and i was like thats not very cool lol.
@Gamewar5OOO hahaha no problem I should have put it a little more into context. Les Paul had a wicked sense of humor.... If he weren't playing guitar he could have doubled as a stand-up comedian no doubt.
I actually wonder how he and Leo Fender got along. They were obviously competing, but they also had so much in common. Reducing the electric guitar to its essentials, tinkering, engineering, inventing, etc. I could imagine Fender looking at Les Paul's log and saying "That's an almost perfect guitar, but it you need to make it look good on TV."
@@emulgatorxYou might be right on that - especially considering the time when all this was so new. Les Paul made a really good case for being able to make the guitar be amplified much louder, so I have no doubt any company that caught wind of this already started the process of r&d.
The truly great are usually humble about their talent, but Les didn't need to ACT humble, he was humble, and if you played an instrument, any instrument, he would be playing right along because he was in love with his life choice of music, and how to make it sound better and better, especially in the recording process, and that is what makes him a legendary player and inventor,he wanted to play, but he wanted to sound better every time he played, and he wanted to make a real electric guitar, not the semi hollow body of MOST guitars, and he knew it was a good idea, but ,as usual, the"experts" were all,"It won't work, and what the hell is that, but he knew, and now the world knows that if it were not for Les Paul, some of the greatest music ever played would not have happened, and the Strat and Tele were older, but they didn't have the same impact on RnR until after the first Les Paul guitars, and some of the greatest solo's in music have been played on a Les Paul, and you can take your pick of customs, standard, studio and, of course, the gold top and sunburst of the Eagles Hotel California. This man was more to music than any of the guitarists in this blog,and would have given any of them a run for their money in his prime, and they know it, too. He was Mr Music as far as I am concerned. And he would hate my praise, too.
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Wow whatta great history lesson of Les and Mary. A sad ending for a great duo.
Thank you so much! It definitely was a sad ending. They were an amazing duo
This man changed the course of music forever. Thanks Les. God bless you.
Sometimes even the title Legend doesnt cut it....Les Paul truly changed the world
Well said!
@@buzzedalldrink9131 you can keep it I prefer my Strat
Love the strat - I prefer both!
@@guitarmeetsscience I have both
🤘😆🤘
Where would modern music and recording be without him?
Thanks for this, I miss him dearly. What an awesome human being that had such a driving passion for the instrument & music, his legacy shall live on forever. R.I.P. Lester
Thank you Rob! I heard about him passing when I was at a Starbucks, and my heart just sank. I got to meet him back in the '90s and he was just so damn cool and mellow. The guy was a legend and he never acted like it. Such a loss rip Les
@@guitarmeetsscience I have 78 recordings of both my Mom and Grandpa playing and singing with him and Mary. So it hit me like family. When he played at fat Tuesday's in 87 Page, Beck was there met them ALL my idols. What a night. Happy to be alive during this time and also EVH all masters. Thanks for responding and putting that together.
Great video. I met les Paul in 1993 at fat Tuesdays. He autographed a couple Les Paul guitars for me! We talked for about twenty minutes before his show started. What an absolutely wonderful soul. Anyone that's ever met him will tell you that he treated everyone the same way. With dignity and respect.
Thank you so much - and thank you for the awesome story! That totally describes him to a T, he was always very interested in anybody he talked to. He put me at ease within the first two seconds of meeting him and everybody else too. That's cool that you got some guitars signed!
Every shot of Les and he's smiling, I bet he was such a nice guy. Anyway I now own a Les Paul that I've wanted to do for many years. Thanks Les.
Good call - and it's true he was always smiling in pictures. He brought good vibes everywhere he went. Congrats on your acquisition, the Les Paul plays like a dream!
I played Les Paul Gibson for many years and there is no other instrument that has that sound or ease of play I first saw it played in concert March 12 1971 at the Fillmore East by two of the greatest guitarist to ever play Duane Allman and Dicky Betts two weeks later and brought home my first one and I love it every day
You've got a real gem there - especially since it falls in the category of a vintage one. That is freaking awesome!
Superb feature. Thanks for sharing your "deep dive" into Les Paul's career, Guitar Meets Science.
Thank you Mark much appreciated! 🙏
Maestro and Genius of guitar and innovation... without Les Paul on planet earth it s just impossible..!!
And E.Van Halen was a true dear genius musician and lovely human being.
RIP both of you forever.
Excellent video, I really enjoyed watching it. I had the pleasure of meeting Les Paul at the Iridium and the narrator's comments about meeting him at the Iridium really mirrored my feelings and brought back good memories.
Thank you so much - Man that comment makes my day! That's cool you got to meet him at the same place. He really was such a down to earth guy. I appreciate you sharing your story!
Thanks so much for making this, love the conversational style. Your enthusiasm shines right through, all the best.
Thank you so much! Your kind words are truly encouraging 🙏
WOW. What a great presentation. Very well done, I think you've done Les and the guitar world justice.
That is a huge compliment! Thank you so much I really appreciate it! 🙏
Killer mini-doc on the great Les!
Thank you so much!! 🙏
So much has gone on in the entire world of music where his named is mentioned while he was still alive,because of his guitar.
That’s just amazing.
Great video. Jeff Beck and Les Paul
Thank you kindly!
I saw Les perform at State Theater in 2008. It was a tribute concert with 18 guitar players and bands. It started with Billy Gibbons and ended with Slash tipping his hat and saying: "Les is Next". Then a bought a gold top.
That is a cool story!
I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting les at a Berkley College of music jazz competition when i was in high school. Gave the band some really good advice and enjoyed the playing we did very much. Such grace. Amazing man
That is a great story - Les Paul was such a cool and down to earth dude. He treated everybody the same whether they were some big time accomplished player or somebody just starting out. Thanks for that story! I hope more folks who also got to meet him come in here and share their experience.
Wow Jimmy. Thanks so much for this in depth life story of the legend 'Les Paul'. It must have taken you an age to gather all the info you have presented us here. Well done my friend . .An awesome 25 minute upload! 🔥
Thanks so much Alan - it was fun doing a deep dive on Les Paul. I got to meet him back in the '90s and it was such a great experience. One amazing guy and very down to earth. Glad you like it man Thank you so much!
Most welcome buddy! @@guitarmeetsscience
That guy and his harmonica changed everything
@@BigSunn0 exactly right - turned out to be revolutionary, though at the time it was just a bit of utility for him. Amazing how things work!
I met Les Paul at his house in NJ. A friend was building a studio above his garage and i went to pick him up. Les showed up and we had some laughs. A regular guy he was.
That had to have been one cool experience!
@@guitarmeetsscience it was.
Les Paul IS the number one guitar player of all time. He INVENTED most of it. Literally & figuratively. There wouldn't be anybody else without him. There's many guitarists that are faster, or more technical or, more knowledgeable about music - we all have our favorites - someone has to be "the first" & God gave us Less Paul.
I am handing it to Les as well! And I'm really into all the heavy hitting players nowadays from Guthrie Govan to Mateo, but none of it could have happened in its current form without an architect like Les Paul. And of course if we dig back we get into Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt who were monsters in their own right. It is really cool to trace the lineage of these amazing players. But Les really definitely put it on the map!
💪🔥 RIP Sir🔥💪....I have almost certainly spent more time staring at (lusting after) Les Pauls than I have spent outside in the daylight...I'm happy with that
The Les Paul is definitely a sweet guitar! Truly a beast on the neck pickup!
@@guitarmeetsscience I must admit I don't use that bridge position too much 🤔 I mean the neck pup is just THAT SOUND...
@LiamDTurner exactly - like butter! Props to the Les Paul though because it can snarl in the low position when you want it to. But the neck position is just sublime!
Wow, this is one of your best ones, Jimmy - certainly loaded with all sorts of interesting facts and some not very well known info about Les! The jam with Jeff Beck is one of my favorite videos (surprise!), and I still sometimes think about the moment he pulled Beck's cord out. I read somewhere that Les didn't realize Beck's soundman was off to the side, and promptly turned Les off - in the full vid, you can see him suddenly looking down and wondering what happened to his sound - all in good fun by the way! Les and Jeff were the best of friends. A good resource I would recommend for the Les Paul story is a book called "The Birth of Loud" by Ian S. Port, which has detailed historical info about not only Les, but has Leo Fender's story as well, focusing on how they (separately) developed the Les Paul, Strat, Tele, and Fender amps, among others. There is even detail about the New York City Les Paul birthday celebration in that book! The Chester and Lester album you mentioned is truly mind blowing - I bought that one when it first came out, and still listen to it to this day. Great post!
Thank you bluesrocker! I don't know for some reason I get the uncanny feeling that maybe you're into Jeff Beck or something I don't know what would have given that up though 😆 as am I, it's funny because some people got a bit confused by that little clip and so I had to explain it a little bit. I will definitely have to check out that book! I read a copy of the wizard of Waukesha cover to cover I don't know how many times. But it would be really cool to get another take and especially with Leo in there. Of course finding the time to read anything these days is kind of tricky lol But still worth the effort. I love how Les Paul would prank or just rib the other guitar players whether it was Eddie Van Halen or Joe satriani or Jeff Beck or whoever, And of course they would rip him back as well. He was just a real conduit and I'm sure he brought a lot of them together. When I met him I didn't even know what to expect and he was truly just like a real cool down-to-earth uncle. And he didn't care that I just kind of like hung around still even though he had already signed an autograph and everything. I just kept thinking to myself my God that's him... Thanks for sharing man I love your in-depth takes!
Great video! However, I think more time should have been spent talking about his invention, which is multi track recording. That truly changed the music industry forever.
Thanks so much! You are 100% right. The thing that most fascinated me about Les Paul besides his wild playing was his multitrack inventions. I do plan on covering that a little more in depth in a future video. I really appreciate the feedback!
@@guitarmeetsscience thank you, I look forward to seeing it!
I liked the part where his parents didn't want him making noise so they let him play a guitar.
This only makes sense up until some time in the 1950s, partly due to Les.
Haha yep!
I have a picture taken from an AARP magazine from around 2007 or so that has Les Paul in one of his later ventures - playing guitar on street corners in New York with donation hat on the sidewalk.
He had something going right to the end.
In late 1970s i knew a young kid and his father, the kid played a Les Paul guitar and could play anything Les played, and his dad played a Gretch Country Gentleman and he played like Chet Atkins. They had a tape of Chester and Lester and the three of us ( i was bass ) played most of that album.
Some of the best music i was ever in the same room with.
That is a damn cool story! The fact that the kid in his dad were able to cop their styles perfectly it's pretty amazing in and of itself, I'm sure that was quite the jamming experience! I think had it not have been for contracting pneumonia Les Paul would have gone on another 10 years at least - because he was so embroiled in projects all the time. I was really sad when the news hit that he had passed away. Thanks for sharing that story!
Awesome video. Growing up in upstate NY, I had no idea that someday I would end up owning a Les Paul and living in Waukesha.
Oh damn that is really cool! Is there a lot of Les Paul memorabilia around town?
@guitarmeetsscience I'm about 500 ft from Highway 59, aka Les Paul Parkway. There are about 50 unique 6 ft tall Les Pauls throughout the area that were commissioned by a local artist. Downtown Waukesha has some nice Les Paul murals painted on buildings. I've also been to Club 400, where Les Paul used to play. And, at least once a week, I pass by Prairie Home Cemetery where Les Paul was buried. I've even left a pick at his memorial. Waukesha is a nice place.
@@flyonwall360 That's got to be so cool to be surrounded by Les's legacy in that town. I'm really glad that they tricked it out for him! Being surrounded by Les Paul's in any way shape or form is definitely a good thing, real ones preferred but otherwise concrete is just fine too. Thanks for sharing that!
I remember the guitaar legends festival where Les played with his trio and he played so beautifully ! Same with his tribute show. He changed the music 🎸🎸🤘
He was amazing live. Besides playing the hell out of the guitar, he had such characteristic wit - I love all the little jokes that he would throw in to make it that much more entertaining. Yeah my Scottish brother, Les Paul really made quite a dent in music in general.
Simply excellent... My thanks.
Thank you! 🙏
Listerine bought him a house, now no company even wants to provide health insurance 😂
Les caught the attention of that guy from the Pennsylvanians as he got off the elevator and was hired on the spot.
I know it was a different time, but it’s just depressing when you hear stories from the mid 19th century and realize how jaded and shut-out the world is today, capitalism is locked in so hard and you have to be in the “club” to get in. I’ve seen it.
Great video man, I’ve always loved Les Pauls, and over the years I’ve always enjoyed hearing more about him and learning how it all happened.
You nailed it right on the head! And really it wasn't up until more recently, within the last 25 years or so. Or at least that's how I've observed it. Nowadays it really is quite jaded and shut out. But with that it has morphed in different ways for the better as well, because at least now we have the opportunity to share our stuff with larger audiences without having to spend gobs of money so I guess social media kind of offset that whole thing. Still though to imagine that you could pretty much meet anybody back in those days just by showing up is mind-blowing. Now Fred Waring or today's equivalent would have such thick security detail. Thanks for sharing your take!
@@guitarmeetsscience thanks dude! I think you’re right, I’m a big Tech-enjoyer myself and have really loved growing up in the 90s/00s with all of the wonderful tech around us, so we just have to be grateful for what IS around us today and if we have dreams it’s up to us to make them happen, regardless of society ‘s level of locking us out.
Thank for the reply man, great video
@nurk_barry They may try.... But we'll always find a hack 🤘😆🤘
Les might've not liked the SG shape but it saved Gibson and is still the top selling Gibson every year. People forget the Les Paul shape was only selling about 600 a year in late 50s hence why they pulled the plug on the turkey.....until virtually a handful of mid 60s guitar slingers forced it back in '68. Still, I loves my SGs. 🎸
You make a really great point! The SG is a wicked sounding guitar. It's got its own vibe. I like them both for different reasons. Nice bit of history ...and I appreciate you sharing that!
Les Paul made "The Log" at the Epiphone factory using an Epiphone neck and body. No Gibson parts were any part of the guitar. Gibson later made replica with their logo on the headstock. In 1958, Chicago Musical Instruments (CMI) bought Epiphone and moved production to the Gibson factory in Kalamazoo, Gibson was one of the many brands owned by CMI.
You filled in some good stuff there -Thanks for that!
Thank you, I appreciate you. Keep it up! 76
Thank you so much I appreciate it :-)
I have a Les Paul studio. I had baught as a bare guitar. The heack has been played out of it. (I think it had those Shaw pickups) . It does nedd some work. Doyle's Coils this guy is a luthier and had worked with Les Paul for a very long time. I need to get in touch with this guy for parts. For the sake of heritage. Plus he does have some cool things i think will point this Guitar in the right direction.
It is a great sounding guitar - some years back I tried modding it but I ended up going back with the original PAF pickups. Nothing sounds quite like those, especially in the neck position. As Les Paul said -That is a great guitar!
The best thing Les Paul did was the Jazz at the Philharmonic with Nat King Cole (1944). I don't know what happened but he never played like that on any later recordings and it is like he became a different player.
I remember reading about that particular night. If I remember right Les Paul was having a bit of a friendly showdown with him trading licks and they were just feeding off of each other. I'm going to have to do some digging and check out their performance. Thanks for bringing it up!
Nicely done brother!🤘
Thank you my fellow Jimmy! Stay rocking brother 🤘🤘
Thank you.
🙏 Thank you - I'm really glad you like it!
Leo Fender has been doing solid non hollow body guitar since at least 1948. Gibson saw the success of this then communicated with Les Paul.
Well that's interesting.
I own a Les Paul Deluxe from the early 70s.
It's got a Floyd Rose because of my love of VanHalen.
Before anyone screams about modifying a vintage instrument, it was badly damaged in a fire and has a repaired headstock break.
Haha that is so cool! You won't find me screaming about that - I think it's a very cool combo myself. The Les Paul plays like butter, and if you couple that with a really good tremolo system You have so much more flexibility. And hey it has been reliced! 🤘😎🤘
so inspiring !!! i messed up my right arm too, and it is cocked and bent..... but it's bent just right for a guitar :). funny, but this arm can swing a golf club still as well..... i am over the moon me n les have the same disability and kept playin :)
Oh wow -that is awesome to hear that you could keep on going with it and get some golf in while you're at it! Thanks for sharing that - and I hope that inspires others who come in who might have gone through the same thing. That was always one part of Les Paul's story that stuck out in my mind. And when I met him I totally forgot about that until I shook his hand and even then it didn't really dawn on me until later when I was like oh yeah - that's right his arm is permanently bent. It was like by that time he didn't even notice. Thanks for sharing that!
right on sir :) i never knew that about les paul.... makes me admire dude even more :)@@guitarmeetsscience
There are still a few ppl here in Princeton NJ that remember him. He was just a normal guy who loved science and music.
That is cool! He struck everybody the same way - just very down to earth guy, had a wicked sense of humor and was this hybrid music / science nerd all the way through and through. He was a very interesting guy to talk with.
@@guitarmeetsscience if you can ever make it out to nj and you drive I will gladly give you a tour of guitar history in the area and maybe stop by Chris DiPinto's spot in Philly. Let's talk
@@kennethobrien6537Thank you so much Kenneth - I will definitely keep that in mind. I appreciate the offer!
Great video Jimmy. Really enjoyed this. ✌😎
I finally learned something about Les Paul
Thank you so much Merrill! I appreciate it bud
@@melvinpough8349 Thank you so much! I'm really glad you got something out of it, it was a lot of fun researching Les Paul. He was a great guy!
What a Great Video, That Would of Been Great To See All The Greats With Les,You Rocked This Video,Dont know if You Seen It But Steven Seagal Was Playing Some Dam Place and Said He was Better Then Les on The Blues,😖Cracked Me Up,You Have the Best Storys Here,Didnt know He divorced his First Wife,Thought it was Cool they Played Together, Great Share, Keep Rockin 🎸🎸🎸
Oh yeah Rebel haha - I remember seeing the Steven seagal one. A bunch of guitar players were joking that they needed the tabs because there are trying to learn exactly what it was he was playing. So much I could say but I'll just narrow it down to the fact that no segal does not touch Les Paul one bit lol. Thanks for sharing that I needed the laugh 🤘😆🤘🔥😎🔥🎸🔥🎸🔥🎸🔥
😂That's the One !!
I play a LP Recording because that is what Les deigned an played
It is definitely a great guitar!
Gibson came around because Leo Fender produced and successfully marketed the first production solid body electric guitar. Gibson suddenly didn't want to be left behind.
Love Les Paul, but the sadness of the divorce and demise of his wife Mary, overshadowed the celebration of Les's achievements. Truly sad story.
That really is true - and Les Paul himself would look back and talk about just how much he missed Mary. Unfortunately the story is still a bit marky as to what exactly happened between those two. But you are right that is definitely a sad chapter of it all.
Without Les Paul model, Gibson would be no more.
Gibson definitely owed a lot to them!
I swear Jimmy, are you sure that wasn’t you playing at the beginning ..
Todd you are too kind man - thank you! I loved those kind of crazy sped up passages or something that he would do on stage. Les Paul had some crazy stuff happening up there.
And if not for Les Paul and Epiphone the Gibson solid body guitar wouldn't even exist today a historic fact
Absolutely right!
Les "practiced obsessively.."
He sure did!
Oh yeah! Of course he did everything obsessively really, between practicing and coming up with things, if it weren't for pneumonia I seriously think he would have gone on another 20 years.
Lester William Polsfuss
Thanks for indirectly inventing heavy metal.
absolutely well said!!! He really did architect metal indirectly. Good one!
0:28 - What's happening here?
Hes yanking the cable out because the guy wasn't playing a gibson les paul? I guess les was a sensitive guy..
Les Paul was playing a prank on Jeff Beck. They were old friends and they were both guitar legends. Les Paul loved to prank people all of the time. Jeff Beck pranked him too.
@@Gamewar5OOO lol no just see the comment I responded to in this thread. It was a prank
gibson guitars owes everything to this man , gibson guitars are shit nowadays , the les paul is his guitar from gibson and he hated it
Leo Fender
I thought les paul is an off shoot of a gibson guitars. Now its clear to me, he's a separate entity from gibson.
That one is easily confused I understand where you're coming from. Les Paul used to joke that people were amazed that he was a person and not a guitar lol
@@guitarmeetsscience
Yeah. Learning that his real name is Lester William Polsfuss put it into conclusion that les paul actually is a person, and not an electric guitar. Now I believe that fender is also taken from an actual person's name 😁😁😁
@emersonsrandomvideos248 haha yep! Leo probably had a bit of a hard time as well lol
50 cents !! Harmonica. I bought a couple in the late 60s in Santa Cruz Calif. Cost me $3.50 wtf happened greed?
Why are they now 50 bucks or more ???
Oh goodness tell me about it - full on greedflation at this point!!!
As humans we've created alot of cool cool shit the Frigidaire the a/c unit central heat the v-twin engine and the p.a. system 8 track reel to reel recording and the electric guitar ,and alot of fowl Fowel shit like the a- bomb hell any thing that goes boom that ain't legal on the gorth or use responsible the ability too shoot bullets more than one every minute or so all Fowel fowel shit les Paul is way way in the kool kool category thank all the gods the essence of creation its self for les Paul may his work and shadow never dimm or leave the touch of man
8:01 "most people tend to listen with their eyes and needed the guitar to look somewhat conventional". Even today, guitarists are as traditional as people who wear tuxedos to concerts. Im remind of "all progress, therefore, depends on the unreasonable man"... Who puts fake dummy shapes on the thing he knows is better.
You perfectly said what I was thinking! Absolutely spot on!
@@guitarmeetssciencethanks for the video!
Dude, did he really flip out and unplug that dudes guitar bc he was playing a fender? Thats kinda petty imo
Lol no - he unplugged Jeff Beck's guitar. It was two Legends on the stage, and Les Paul was a real practical joker. That's why if you look at the guitarist he started cracking up. Somebody else tells me that right after that Jeff Beck had the sound man turn down les's guitar all the way so he couldn't figure out why he didn't have any sound. It was just a big practical joking session
@@guitarmeetsscience oh okay for sure. I just literally had no context lol it made it seem like that's just how he treated fender players and i was like thats not very cool lol.
@Gamewar5OOO hahaha no problem I should have put it a little more into context. Les Paul had a wicked sense of humor.... If he weren't playing guitar he could have doubled as a stand-up comedian no doubt.
I actually wonder how he and Leo Fender got along. They were obviously competing, but they also had so much in common. Reducing the electric guitar to its essentials, tinkering, engineering, inventing, etc. I could imagine Fender looking at Les Paul's log and saying "That's an almost perfect guitar, but it you need to make it look good on TV."
@@emulgatorxYou might be right on that - especially considering the time when all this was so new. Les Paul made a really good case for being able to make the guitar be amplified much louder, so I have no doubt any company that caught wind of this already started the process of r&d.
The truly great are usually humble about their talent, but Les didn't need to ACT humble, he was humble, and if you played an instrument, any instrument, he would be playing right along because he was in love with his life choice of music, and how to make it sound better and better, especially in the recording process, and that is what makes him a legendary player and inventor,he wanted to play, but he wanted to sound better every time he played, and he wanted to make a real electric guitar, not the semi hollow body of MOST guitars, and he knew it was a good idea, but ,as usual, the"experts" were all,"It won't work, and what the hell is that, but he knew, and now the world knows that if it were not for Les Paul, some of the greatest music ever played would not have happened, and the Strat and Tele were older, but they didn't have the same impact on RnR until after the first Les Paul guitars, and some of the greatest solo's in music have been played on a Les Paul, and you can take your pick of customs, standard, studio and, of course, the gold top and sunburst of the Eagles Hotel California. This man was more to music than any of the guitarists in this blog,and would have given any of them a run for their money in his prime, and they know it, too. He was Mr Music as far as I am concerned. And he would hate my praise, too.
He's the most beloved guitar player of all time.
Agreed 100%