Les Paul

American jazz guitarist, country guitarist, songwriter and inventor

Photo by: William P. Gottlieb · Public Domain · Wikimedia Commons

Born:June 9, 1915

Died:August 12, 2009

Age at death:94

Manner of death:Natural Causes

Cause of death:Pneumonia

Zodiac Sign:Gemini

Born in:Waukesha, United States

Buried in:United States

Languages:English

Inventor Musical Instrument Maker Radio Personality Banjoist Composer Musician Guitarist Jazz Guitarist

Links

Wikipedia Official Website IMDb

Famous For

Bands

Les Paul and Mary Ford

Songs & Albums

Les Paul & Friends: American Made World PlayedBouquet of RosesThe Best of the Capitol Masters: Selections from "The Legend and the Legacy" Box SetMandolinoDon'cha Hear Them Bells

Awards

New Jersey Hall of Fame (2010)National Inventors Hall of Fame (2005)Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1988)Grammy Trustees Award (1983)الميدالية الوطنية للفنون

Les Paul

American jazz guitarist, country guitarist, songwriter and inventor

Biography

Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype, called the Log, served as inspiration for the Gibson Les Paul. Paul taught himself how to play guitar, and while he is mainly known for jazz and popular music, he had an early career in country music. In the 1950s, he and his wife, singer and guitarist Mary Ford, made numerous recordings, selling millions of copies. Paul is credited with many recording innovations. His early experiments with overdubbing (also known as sound on sound), delay effects such as tape delay, phasing, and multitrack recording were among the first to attract widespread attention. His licks, trills, chording sequences, fretting techniques, and timing set him apart from his contemporaries and inspired many guitarists of the present day. Among his many honors, Paul is one of a handful of artists with a permanent exhibit in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is prominently named by the music museum on its website as an "architect" and a "key inductee" with Sam Phillips and Alan Freed. Paul is the only inductee in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

This biography uses content from the Wikipedia article “Les Paul”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License.

Photos

Les Paul, ca. January 1947 (Photograph by William P. Gottlieb)

Lester William Polfus (Les Paul) in New York

Gottlieb, William P., 1917-, photographer. [Portrait of Les Paul, Fat Tuesday, New York, N.Y., ca. 1980s] 1 negative : b&w ; 4 x 5 in. Notes: Gottlieb Collection Assignment No. 384 Purchase William P. Gottlieb Forms part of: William P. Gottlieb Collection (Library of Congress). Subjects: Paul, Les Jazz musicians--1970-1990. Guitarists--1970-1990. Fat Tuesday Format: Portrait photographs--1970-1990. Film negatives--1970-1990. Rights Info: Mr. Gottlieb has dedicated these works to the public domain, but rights of privacy and publicity may apply. lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/gottlieb/gottlieb-copyrig... Repository: (negative) Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Washington D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print Part Of: William P. Gottlieb Collection (DLC) 99-401005 General information about the Gottlieb Collection is available at lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/gottlieb/gottlieb-home.html Persistent URL: hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/gottlieb.16231 Call Number: LC-GLB13- 1623 Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse This work is from the William P. Gottlieb collection at the Library of Congress. Rights and restrictions. In accordance with the wishes of William Gottlieb, the photographs in this collection entered into the public domain on February 16, 2010.

Gottlieb, William P., 1917-, photographer. [Portrait of Les Paul, New York, N.Y.(?), ca. Jan. 1947] 1 negative : b&w ; 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 in. Caption from Down Beat: Finding cabs mobbed by holiday shoppers, had Superman sweep me from 24th floor, RKO bldg., to Paramount theater. Posed poser to Les Paul, former studio guitarist who in '46 gained fame with Bing, the Andrews Sisters, records and nite clubs. Notes: Gottlieb Collection Assignment No. 437 Reference print available in Music Division, Library of Congress. Purchase William P. Gottlieb Forms part of: William P. Gottlieb Collection (Library of Congress). In: "Posin'," Down Beat, v. 16, no. 2 (Jan. 15, 1947), p. 3. Subjects: Paul, Les Jazz musicians--1940-1950. Guitarists--1940-1950. Format: Portrait photographs--1940-1950. Film negatives--1940-1950. Rights Info: Mr. Gottlieb has dedicated these works to the public domain, but rights of privacy and publicity may apply. lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/gottlieb/gottlieb-copyrig... Repository: (negative) Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Washington D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print (reference print) Library of Congress, Music Division, Washington D.C. 20540 USA, loc.gov/rr/perform/ Part Of: William P. Gottlieb Collection (DLC) 99-401005 General information about the Gottlieb Collection is available at lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/gottlieb/gottlieb-home.html Persistent URL: hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/gottlieb.07001 Call Number: LC-GLB23- 0700 Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse This work is from the William P. Gottlieb collection at the Library of Congress. Rights and restrictions. In accordance with the wishes of William Gottlieb, the photographs in this collection entered into the public domain on February 16, 2010.

Gottlieb, William P., 1917-, photographer. [Portrait of Les Paul, New York, N.Y.(?), ca. Jan. 1947] 1 negative : b&w ; 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 in. Notes: Gottlieb Collection Assignment No. 437 Reference print available in Music Division, Library of Congress. Purchase William P. Gottlieb Forms part of: William P. Gottlieb Collection (Library of Congress). Subjects: Paul, Les Jazz musicians--1940-1950. Guitarists--1940-1950. Format: Portrait photographs--1940-1950. Film negatives--1940-1950. Rights Info: Mr. Gottlieb has dedicated these works to the public domain, but rights of privacy and publicity may apply. lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/gottlieb/gottlieb-copyrig... Repository: (negative) Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Washington D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print (reference print) Library of Congress, Music Division, Washington D.C. 20540 USA, loc.gov/rr/perform/ Part Of: William P. Gottlieb Collection (DLC) 99-401005 General information about the Gottlieb Collection is available at lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/gottlieb/gottlieb-home.html Persistent URL: hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/gottlieb.06991 Call Number: LC-GLB23- 0699 Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse This work is from the William P. Gottlieb collection at the Library of Congress. Rights and restrictions. In accordance with the wishes of William Gottlieb, the photographs in this collection entered into the public domain on February 16, 2010.

Photo of Les Paul and Mary Ford.

Montage of photographs of Les Paul and Mary Ford in the August 1951 issue of The American Magazine. The photomontage illustrates the department "America's Interesting People", in a section headed "Orchestra and Chorus"

Crown Les Paul Custom

Guitar and Case

Les Paul's Les Paul LES PAUL LES PAUL TOOK ELECTRIC GUITAR WATTAGE TO NEW HEIGHTS WITH HIS INNOVATIVE MULTI-TRACK RECORDING. HERE WE HAVE LES PAUL OWN "RECORDING" MODEL GIBSON LES PAUL.