Les Paul Biography
How the Wizard of Waukesha Developed the Solid-body Electric Guitar
Biography of Les Paul, developer of the solid-body electric guitar and pioneer of modern recording studio techniques.
It seems altogether fitting that future Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Steve Miller got his first guitar lessons from guitar icon Les Paul. Paul is both Miller’s godfather and the godfather of the solid-body electric guitar.
Early Life
Born Lester William Polsfuss on June 9, 1915 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Les Paul became interested in music at a young age. He began playing instruments at age 8, and by age 13 had learned the harmonica, banjo and guitar well enough to begin performing professionally.
Paul moved to Chicago in 1932 and became a regular radio performer with Rube Tronson’s Cowboys, for whom he created the performing persona “Rhubarb Red”, the singing cowboy.
Paul had a keen interest in the design and functionality of the instruments he played. He hand-built his first electric guitar pickup in 1934 from parts scavenged from a ham radio headphone. It was the beginning of a lifelong quest to design the perfect electric guitar.
Hitting the Big TIme
In 1936, he formed the Les Paul Trio with Jimmy Atkins doing rhythm/vocals and Ernie Newton on bass. The group moved to New York in 1937, joining Fred Waring’s radio show as regulars in Waring’s Pennsylvanians band.
During this time, Paul’s performing aspirations turned toward jazz, and he left Waring in 1941, pursuing the styles of artists like Art Tatum, Nick Lucas, and Eddie Lang.
The "Log"
That same year, Paul built his famous “log”, an early prototype solid-body electric guitar. It was really nothing more than a four-foot long section of four-inch-square fencepost with strings, an electric pickup and a plug. Paul sawed an Epiphone hollow body guitar in half and attached the two halves to the “log” for the sake of appearance. The “log” has since become an item that may well end up in the Smithsonian Institution.
The genius of the “log” design was two-fold: it helped reduce feedback (the acoustic body no longer resonated with amplified sound) and increase sustain (the strings’ vibrational energy was not dissipated through the guitar body). “What I wanted to do is not have two things vibrating”, said Paul. “I wanted to have the strong vibrating and nothing else. I wanted the guitar to sustain longer than an acoustical box and have different sounds than an acoustical box.”
The “log” was not immediately well received by guitar builders and enthusiasts, one of whom referred to it as a “broom stick with pickups”.
Hollywood Calls
Paul moved to Hollywood in 1942, where he was drafted and worked for the Armed Forces Radio Service playing behind big name acts like Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters. Crosby later sponsored Paul’s groundbreaking work in recording techniques, helping Paul fund his first recording studio (built in his garage) in 1945. In that studio, Paul pioneered techniques that are industry standards today, including close miking, echo delay, and multi-tracking.
Paul continued to perform and record. In 1947, Capitol released Paul’s “Lover (When You're Near Me)”, the first commercially-released multi-track recording.
Disaster Strikes
Paul was involved in a near-fatal automobile accident in 1948 when his car skidded off a bridge and fell 500 feet into a river. He lay in the water for 8 hours with a broken back, broken ribs, broken nose, broken collarbone, and a broken right arm. Doctors told him they could not restore any movement in his right elbow and would have to set it in one fixed position. Paul told them to set it at an angle that would let him play the guitar. It took him a year and a half to recover fully.
Back at Work
In the late 40’s Paul met and married singer Mary Ford, and the duo recorded the hits “How High the Moon” and “Vaya Con Dios”, which are among earliest multi-tracked pop songs.
In the early 50’s Paul licensed his multi-track technology to Ampex Corporation to build the first commercial 8-track tape recorder. He also patented the floating bridge pickup and the electrodynamic pickup.
The Gibson Guitar Company began marketing its famous Gibson “Les Paul” model electric guitar in 1952. Today it is an iconic mainstay of the professional music industry and a favorite of guitarists around the world.
Paul returned to performing in 1974, recording a Grammy-winning album called “Chester and Lester” with Chet Atkins.
An Honored Life
Numerous honors have come to Les Paul as a performer and inventor, including:
1988--Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
2001—Awarded a Grammy for lifetime technical achievement
2003—Named by Rolling Stone magazine as the 46th best guitarist of all time
2005—Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his development of electric guitars
2006--Inducted in to National Broadcasters hall of fame
2006-- At age 90, awarded Grammys for his album “Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played”
A Living Legend Still Performs
Guitar legend Les Paul can still be heard playing in his unique style during his weekly gig at the Iridium Jazz Club near Lincoln Center in New York City. Arthritis has stilled all but 2 fingers of his left hand, but Les Paul never was one to let a challenge get the better of him.
