Whilst a consumate musician and someone who was keen to adapt and re-invent his guitar playing, it is Les Paul's invention of the Les Paul guitar that has had the profound and lasting impact on popular music. Here we take a look at a few famous players...
Neil Young (pictured)
Neil has a '53 Les Paul nicknamed Old Black, many of his famous guitar parts have been played on it over the years.
Marc Bolan
To glam rock what Paul Weller is to Mods, Bolan was a big Les Paul fan - playing a custom Les Paul painted to match his hero Chuck Berry's guitar (sadly not a Les Paul).
Slash
The former Guns 'N' Roses axe man is rarely seen without a Les Paul, going so far as to tell Gibson.com (the guitar manufacturers), "I keep the guitar in my bedroom, and also on tour, just in my hotel room. There's never been a morning where I haven't woken up and gone, 'God that's awesome to look at.' adding "Anytime I saw anybody with one of those guitars, they were instantly cool to me." The famous opening riff on Sweet Child O' Mine and many more G'n'R hits wouldn't sound the same without a Les Paul.
Paul McCartney and others followed suit:
"On-stage I wanted something that I knew was great. And I know Les Pauls' are great. I wanted something reliable. And I know you can get subtle tones and subtle combinations of sounds"
Jeff Beck
"in the '60s when most of the guys I was playing with were playing Les Pauls. In a small band they had a voice -- a big, powerful, thick sound through Marshalls [guitar amps] that no other guitar had."
Les Paul's original electric guitar didn't have a full body. When he took it to a club to play in the 1940's people laughed and thought he was a "nut", he later added the wings to create the shape that is now recognisable to many (aswell as having been widely imitated).
Over the years the range of Les Paulguitars has increased immensely with more and more variations and custom artist models being issued as it's popularity has increased.
Gibson Les Paul guitar on wikipedia.
More background and history on the Les Paul at Gibson Les Paul guitars.
Related:
Les Paul 1915 - 2009: Mini-obit and documentary.
6:22 PM | 13/08/2009
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He's the Greatest! Very, very sad.
Posted by oleg at 5:17 AM | 15/08/2009 | Report Abuse
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