Les Paul, Guitar Innovator, Dies at 94

"Les Paul, the virtuoso guitarist and inventor whose solid-body electric guitar and recording studio innovations changed the course of 20th-century popular music, died Thursday in White Plains, N.Y. . He was 94.

"Mr. Paul was a remarkable musician as well as a tireless tinkerer. He played guitar alongside leading prewar jazz and pop musicians from Louis Armstrong to Bing Crosby. In the 1930s he began experimenting with guitar amplification, and by 1941 he had built what was probably the first solid-body electric guitar, although there are other claimants. With his guitar and the vocals of his wife, Mary Ford, he used overdubbing, multitrack recording and new electronic effects to create a string of hits in the 1950s.

"Mr. Paul’s style encompassed the twang of country music, the harmonic richness of jazz and, later, the bite of rock ’n’ roll. For all his technological impact, though, he remained a down-home performer whose main goal, he often said, was to make people happy."

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I loved listening to Les Paul and Mary Ford in the 1950s. I was as old as my grandkids Robyn and Mike. In 1976 he won a Grammy for Chester and Lester with Chet Atkins. I have that on vinyl. I bought it when it came out and it is amazing. The modern electric guitar exists because of Les Paul. Modern multi-track recording exists because of Les Paul. But, and I think most important of all, when I listen to his music or listen to him talk it makes my happy.