Striking a chord: In memory of Les Paul

Les Paul truly was an American legend. He was an extraordinary musician, inventor, and innovator who greatly influenced popular culture.

Although Les Paul did not invent the first solid-body electric guitar as is frequently claimed, he was an electric guitar pioneer and virtuoso musician who should be best remembered for his inventions related to sound recording. Paul’s revolutionary recording techniques—including multi-tracking, overdubbing, and reverb—forever changed how the world hears music.

In 1996, the Smithsonian Institution awarded him the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal along with Julia Child and other luminaries. That same year, Paul was featured in the Lemelson Center’s “Electrified, Amplified, and Deified: The Electric Guitar, Its Makers, and Its Players” program series at the museum. While he was here, he was thrilled to get a chance to hold his 1941 “Log” guitar (pictured at left), which was on loan from the Country Music Hall of Fame for the Lemelson Center’s temporary exhibition From Frying Pan to Flying V: The Rise of the Electric Guitar.

Over the years many museum staff members—including me—enjoyed meeting Paul, who was a wonderful storyteller. A few even had the opportunity to interview him on camera for projects including the documentary Les Paul—Chasing Sound.

My last encounter with Les Paul was seeing him perform at the Iridium club in New York City in July 2007. At the age of 92 his love for playing the guitar, entertaining people, and mentoring young musicians was clearly evident and very inspiring. As my colleague, curator John Hasse said, Les Paul was “a man of amazing energy, stories, and legacy.”

Monica Smith is Exhibition Program Manager for the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the National Museum of American History.

Comments

[Marcel S]

My son learned about Les Paul last year in school. I was impressed that they would take the time to chronicle his achievements in a 7th grade public classroom. He truly changed the music industry. I never had the privileged of seeing him on stage.
He is missed.

[Peter]

Although most of the time I do listen to electronic music, I also like guitar music a lot. Helps me to relax after a hard day of work. This really is a great loss for all guitar music lovers.

Great article. I really hadn't fully appreciated the impact Les had on the business until I checked out the movie Chasing Sound which is a sort of documentary on Les. Of course I knew about the multi-tracking and solid body electric creation, but he really was a genius character and inspiring on so many levels. You can check out the movie chasing sound on Netflix which is where I saw it. I highly recommend it.

[cindy]

Too bad for our generation who haven't experience some of his legacy music and rich talent in using the guitar. Although many musicians or guitarist have adored him for his undeniable talent, there are a lot of new talent that are coming out like the boy who started playing a guitar when he was 3 years old. Sungha Jung is a great talent too where i can compare his talent with Sir Les. there are new breed of talents that are not yet discovered. I hope that they can be as good as Sir Les Paul.

[Denver]

The guitar has a computer built into the guitar body with a master control knob next to the volume knobs, which can be pulled out, turned, or pressed to issue different commands to the guitar. One of the more memorable features is the capability to tune the guitar to standard tuning simply by pulling out on the master control knob and strumming the guitar, while the tuning pegs amazingly adjust themselves to standard tuning.

he is one of my favorite singer, I love talking about him with my friends, we're a team who play guitar and try to play like Les Paul, anywhere thanks for what you've done for us guitarist.

[Rosa]

Truly a legend. May his soul rest in peace.

I loved playing the guitar since I was a kid and I remember making a short report about this great person, Les Paul. I even wished I had an electric guitar then. He really made great contributions to the music industry. Will always be remembered.

[Rosa]

Truly a legend. May his soul rest in peace.

I loved playing the guitar since I was a kid and I remember making a short report about this great person, Les Paul. I even wished I had an electric guitar then. He really made great contributions to the music industry. Will always be remembered.

[Jim]

My second Guitar was a Black Les Paul, and I wished that I had never sold it. It took me a few years to pay for it because I was only a kid, but I swapped it for an SG, which was great but not as classy. I didn't even know who Les was and only discovered his music years later, I only bought one because Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols had one!
Innovator and gentleman, he is missed.

[Santiago Nuno]

Hi

I think he deserves to be given the title more than a musician, he is a maestro, he's a genius, and every guitarist should be very know about him.

[Miguel Sanchez]

I have been playing guitar for more than 30 years and in all that time the best guitars I owned were Gibson Les Pauls. Guys like Les Paul seem to have a natural aptitude for guitar - I only wish I could play half as well!

[Michael England]

What a true pioneer of not only the guitar but also recording as well. The man truly was a music master. To be so talented is truly amazing. Most people just know him for the guitar with his name. But, he was an amazing player and pretty much revolutionized the recording industry also. What a huge loss.

[Neal]

A great man that will truly be missed! Some of the most amazing sounds came when he would strum! Awesome!

[Gibson Les Paul]

I've been doing a lot of research on the history of the Gibson Les Paul guitar, and ultimately Les Paul himself... and finding him to have been a truly remarkable man and inspiration to all musicians and entrepreneurs.

It would have been an amazing experience to have met him.

[Tom]

Les Paul's contribution to music, and in particular to the guitar will live on for the rest of time. He remains a true icon of music, and will be sadly missed.

[steve beaton]

Les Paul was a true innovator. He changed the music industry, he changed the way music was recorded and performed and the Les Paul guitar he put his name to is still a truly wonderful instrument.

[Sheryl]

He will surely be missed. it's always sad when we lose talented people who have contributed a lot to the music world. Rest in peace LP!

[Laura]

I loved the music of Les Paul, fantastic guitarist, his chord voicing were amazing!

[Tom Boyd]

He is such a legend and will be missed by everyone. What he did for music will never be forgotten.

[Mark Blayney]

Hi

Did some consultancy work a while ago with a small business building hand made electric guitars.

Never seen a business where so much love and effort went into the finished goods. Was a work of devotion and art not business. Great stuff.

Mark

[Glennstrumpetnotes.wordpress.com]

Yes, Les Paul, true pioneer of electric guitar music, belongs in the National Museum of American History. His genius spanned both the technological and musical worlds, and he brought them together in a totally new way. Few of us can say we created anything truly original in our lifetimes. Les Paul did that. And on top of that, he loved playing for people, and he did it so well--a rare man with a great legacy. I wonder if there are any trumpet players in the Smithsonian Institution...

[TJ]

He was a true innovator and entrepreneur, there will never be another Les Paul.

[Eric]

I agree with Michael, if it wasn't for Les Paul music as we know it would not have been the same. People don't seem to know he actually invented multitrack recording. True Legend, one of the reasons I wanted to learn lead guitar

[Barry]

Some of my songwriting has been done on a Les Paul - RIP!

[stephen clarke]

Praise be to the late great Les Paul, my first ever guitar was a Les Paul Standard and as far as electric guitars go they rule the world. Worth every single penny!!