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63-615: Tieffenbrucker is a large multigenerational family of luthiers , originally from Bavaria , active in Venice and Padua , Italy from the beginning of the 16th century till around 1630. Several of their 16th- and 17th-century lutes are on display at the Lobkowicz Palace in Prague. This Italian biographical article related to music is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This German musical biography article

126-574: A bow maker or archetier. Luthiers may also teach string-instrument making, either through apprenticeship or formal classroom instruction. Early producers of lutes , archlutes , theorbos and vihuelas include the Tieffenbrucker family, Martin Hoffmann and Matteo Sellas . Two luthiers of the early 19th century connected with the development of the modern classical guitar are Louis Panormo and Georg Staufer . Antonio Torres Jurado

189-543: A "revolutionary in the music business". The Edge said, "His legacy as a musician and inventor will live on and his influence on rock and roll will never be forgotten." On August 21, 2009, he was buried in Prairie Home Cemetery, Waukesha, Wisconsin . A few of Les Paul's many awards are listed below. In 2007, he was given the National Medal of Arts from U.S. President George W. Bush . Paul

252-403: A Long, Long Time ", which was a No. 1 hit in 1945. Paul recorded several albums for Decca in the 1940s. The Andrews Sisters hired his trio to open for them during a tour in 1946. Their manager, Lou Levy, said watching Paul's fingers while he played guitar was like watching a train go by. Their conductor, Vic Schoen , said his playing was always original. Maxine Andrews said, "He'd tune into

315-483: A common construction material often referred to as a “4×4 stud post”, which provided a unique neck-thru design. The “stud post” (a 4″ × 4″ section of Douglas fir ) was then equipped with a crude bridge and an electromagnetic pickup , neck and strings. The Log was constructed by Paul after-hours in the New York City Epiphone guitar factory, and is one of the first solid-body electric guitars. For

378-436: A day, five days a week, and therefore was used as a brief interlude or fill-in for programming schedules. Since Paul created the entire show himself, including audio and video, he maintained the original recordings and was in the process of restoring them to current quality standards until his death. During his radio shows, Paul introduced the fictional " Les Paulverizer " device, which multiplies anything fed into it, such as

441-441: A featured spot with Fred Waring's radio show . Chet Atkins later wrote that his brother, home on a family visit, presented him with an expensive Gibson archtop guitar that Les Paul had given to Jim. Chet recalled that it was the first professional-quality instrument he ever owned. While jamming in his apartment basement in 1941, Paul nearly succumbed to electrocution. During two years of recuperation, he moved to Chicago where he

504-783: A few years after the master's death. David Tecchler , who was born in Austria, later worked in both Venice and Rome . Luthiers from the early 18th century include Nicolò Gagliano of Naples , Italy, Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi of Milan, and Giovanni Battista Guadagnini , who roamed throughout Italy during his lifetime. From Austria originally, Leopold Widhalm later established himself in Nürnberg , Germany. The Jérôme-Thibouville-Lamy firm started making wind instruments around 1730 at La Couture-Boussey , then moved to Mirecourt around 1760 and started making violins, guitars, mandolins, and musical accessories. The early 19th-century luthiers of

567-465: A few years, pianist John Colianni . Paul, Pallo and Nowinski also performed at Fat Tuesdays . Composer Richard Stein sued Paul for plagiarism, charging that Paul's " Johnny (is the Boy for Me) " was taken from Stein's 1937 song "Sanie cu zurgălăi" (Romanian for "Sleigh with Bells"). In 2000, a cover version of "Johnny" by Belgian musical group Vaya Con Dios that credited Paul prompted another action by

630-410: A frame. The craft of luthiers, lutherie (rarely called "luthiery", but this often refers to stringed instruments other than those in the violin family), is commonly divided into the two main categories of makers of stringed instruments that are plucked or strummed and makers of stringed instruments that are bowed . Since bowed instruments require a bow, the second category includes a subtype known as

693-621: A guitar sound or a voice. It was Paul's way of explaining how his single guitar could be multiplied to become a group of guitars. The device even became the subject of comedy, with Ford multiplying herself and her vacuum cleaner with it so she could finish the housework faster. Later, Paul created a real Les Paulverizer that he attached to his guitar. The invention allowed Paul to access pre-recorded layers of songs during live performances so he could replicate his recorded sound on stage. In 1965, Paul went into semi-retirement, although he did return to his studio occasionally. He and Ford had divorced at

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756-441: A hotel room. The show appeared on television a few years later with the same format, but excluding the trio and retitled Les Paul & Mary Ford at Home with "Vaya Con Dios" as the theme song . Sponsored by Warner–Lambert 's Listerine mouthwash , it was aired on NBC television during 1954–1955, and then was syndicated until 1960. The five-minute show, consisting of the performance of only one or two songs, aired five times

819-403: A large pick that was easier to hold in his arthritic hand. In 2006, at the age of 90, he won two Grammy Awards at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards for his album Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played . He also performed every Monday night at Manhattan's Iridium Jazz Club with guitarist Lou Pallo, bassist Paul Nowinski (and later, Nicki Parrott ), and guitarist Frank Vignola and for

882-526: A meld of jazz and country improvisation with guitar virtuoso Chet Atkins , backed by some of Nashville 's celebrated studio musicians. In 1969 Paul produced the album Poe Through the Glass Prism for RCA. The album featured songs based on Edgar Allan Poe's writing by the northeastern Pennsylvania band the Glass Prism. The album produced a single titled "The Raven" that appeared on Billboard's Hot 100. As years progressed Paul played at slower tempos with

945-551: A teen he had built a disc-cutter assembly using the flywheel from a Cadillac , a dental belt and other parts from his father's car repair shop. Years later in his Hollywood garage, he used the acetate disc setup to record parts at different speeds and with delay, resulting in his signature sound with echoes and birdsong-like guitar riffs. In 1949, Crosby gave Paul one of the first Ampex Model 200A reel to reel tape recorders . Paul invented sound on sound recording using this machine by placing an additional playback head, located before

1008-621: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Luthier The word luthier is originally French and comes from luth , the French word for " lute ". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be used in French for makers of most bowed and plucked stringed instruments such as members of the violin family (including violas , cellos , and double basses ) and guitars . Luthiers, however, do not make harps or pianos; these require different skills and construction methods because their strings are secured to

1071-422: Is credited with developing the form of classical guitar still in use. C.F. Martin of Germany developed a form that evolved into the modern steel-string acoustic guitar. The American luthier Orville Gibson specialized in mandolins, and is credited with creating the archtop guitar . The 20th-century American luthiers John D'Angelico and Jimmy D'Aquisto made archtop guitars. Lloyd Loar worked briefly for

1134-449: 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

1197-459: Is not working as hard. The result is a singing style which diverged from the unamplified theater style of the musical comedies of the 1930s and 1940s. They also performed music-hall style semi-comic routines with Mary mimicking whatever line Les decided to improvise. Paul hosted a 15-minute radio program, The Les Paul Show , on NBC Radio in 1950, featuring his trio (himself, Ford and rhythm player Eddie Stapleton) and his electronics. The program

1260-717: 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 . Paul was born Lester William Polsfuss in Waukesha , Wisconsin, to George and Evelyn (Stutz) Polsfuss, both of German ancestry. Paul's mother

1323-606: The Gibson Guitar Corporation making mandolins and guitars. His designs for a family of arch top instruments (mandolin, mandola, guitar, et cetera) are held in high esteem by today's luthiers, who seek to reproduce their sound. C. F. Martin apprenticed to Johann Georg Stauffer, a guitar maker in Vienna, Austria and Martin & Co. was born, with the X bracing being developed in the 1850s. Martin & Co still produce acoustic guitars. Paul Bigsby 's innovation of

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1386-697: The Mirecourt school of violin making in France were the Vuillaume family, Charles Jean Baptiste Collin-Mezin , and Collin-Mezin's son, Charles Collin-Mezin, Jr. , Honore Derazey, Nicolas Lupot, Charles Macoutel, Charles Mennégand , and Pierre Silvestre. Nicola Utili (also known as Nicola da Castel Bolognese) (Ravenna, Italy, 1888–1962), beside traditional lute works, experimented the making of "pear-shaped" violins. Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul ,

1449-662: The New Jersey Hall of Fame (2010). Two of his songs entered the Grammy Hall of Fame : " How High the Moon " and " Vaya Con Dios ". In 1976, he and Chet Atkins received the Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental . In 2005, he won Best Pop Instrumental for "Caravan" and Best Rock Instrumental for "69 Freedom Special." In 1983, Paul received a Grammy Trustees Award for lifetime achievement. In 2001, he

1512-467: The master . This was the first time he used multitracking in a recording. His early multitrack recordings, including "Lover" and "Brazil", were made with acetate discs . He recorded a track onto a disk, then recorded himself playing another part with the first. He built the multitrack recording with overlaid tracks rather than parallel ones as he did later. By the time he had a result that satisfied him, he had discarded some five hundred recording disks. As

1575-514: The tremolo arm for archtop and electric guitars is still in use and may have influenced Leo Fender 's design for the Stratocaster solid-body electric guitar, as well as the Jaguar and Jazzmaster . Concurrent with Fender's work, guitarist Les Paul independently developed a solid-body electric guitar. These were the first fretted, solid-body electric guitars—though they were preceded by

1638-685: The 1934 Chicago World's Fair. While in Chicago, Paul learned jazz from the great performers on Chicago's Southside. During the day, he played country music as Rhubarb Red on the radio. At night, he was Les Paul, playing jazz. He met pianist Art Tatum , whose playing influenced him to continue with the guitar rather than play jazz on the piano. His first two records were released in 1936, credited to "Rhubarb Red", Paul's hillbilly alter ego. He also served as an accompanist for other bands signed to Decca . During this time, he began adding different sounds and adopted his stage name of Les Paul. Paul's guitar style

1701-631: The Andrews Sisters . In January 1948, Paul shattered his right arm and elbow among multiple injuries in a near-fatal automobile accident on an icy Route 66 west of Davenport , Oklahoma . Mary Ford was driving the Buick convertible, which plunged off the side of a railroad overpass and dropped twenty feet into a ravine. They were returning from Wisconsin to Los Angeles after visiting family. Doctors at Oklahoma City's Wesley Hospital told Paul that they could not rebuild his elbow. Their other option

1764-963: The Les Paul Foundation, which was designed to remain dormant until his death. The Les Paul Foundation aims to inspire innovative and creative thinking by sharing the legacy of Les Paul through support of music education, recording, innovation, and medical research related to hearing. The Foundation established the Les Paul Innovation Award in 1991 and the Les Paul Spirit Award in 2016. On August 12, 2009, Paul died of complications from pneumonia at White Plains Hospital in White Plains, New York . After hearing about his death, many musicians commented on his importance. Slash called him "vibrant and full of positive energy", while Richie Sambora called him

1827-497: The Romanian Musical Performing and Mechanical Rights Society. Les Paul married Virginia Webb in 1937. They had two children, Les Paul Jr. (Rusty) (1941–2015), and Gene (1944), who was named after actor-songwriter Gene Lockhart . After getting divorced in 1949, Paul married Mary Ford (born Iris Colleen Summers). The best man and matron of honor were the parents of guitarist Steve Miller , whose family

1890-596: The SG), but then still bearing the Les Paul name. Not liking the new look and severe problems with the strength of the body and neck, made Paul dissatisfied with this new Gibson guitar. This, and a pending divorce from Mary Ford , led to Paul ending his endorsement and use of his name on Gibson guitars from 1964 until 1966, by which time his divorce was completed. Paul continued to suggest technical improvements, although they were not always successful commercially. In 1962, Paul

1953-538: The benefit of his expertise. His experiments included microphone placement, track speed, and recording overdubs. These methods resulted in a clarity previously unheard in this type of multitrack recording. People began to consider his recording techniques as instruments—as important to production as a guitar, bass, or drums. Capitol Records released " Lover (When You're Near Me) ", on which Paul played eight different parts on electric guitar, some recorded at half-speed, hence "double-fast" when played back at normal speed for

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2016-622: The cast aluminum " frying pan ", a solid-body electric lap steel guitar developed and eventually patented by George Beauchamp , and built by Adolph Rickenbacher . A company founded by luthier Friedrich Gretsch and continued by his son and grandson, Fred and Fred, Jr., originally made banjos, but now mainly produce electric guitars. Bowed instruments include: cello , crwth , double bass , erhu , fiddle , hudok , morin khuur , nyckelharpa , hurdy-gurdy , rabab , rebec , sarangi , viol ( viola da gamba ), viola , viola da braccio , viola d'amore , and violin . The purported inventor of

2079-481: The conventional erase/record/playback heads. This allowed Paul to play along with a previously recorded track, both of which were mixed together onto a new track. The Ampex was a monophonic tape recorder with only one track across the entire width of quarter-inch tape, and therefore, the recording was "destructive" in the sense that the original recording was permanently replaced with the new, mixed recording. He eventually enhanced this by using one tape machine to play back

2142-499: The end of 1964 after she became tired of touring. One of Paul's most recognizable recordings from then through the mid-1970s was an album for London Records / Phase 4 Stereo , Les Paul Now (1968), on which he updated some of his earlier hits. Paul played the initial guitar track, and George Barnes laid down the additional tracks while Paul engineered in his home studio. He also recorded two albums, Chester and Lester (1976) and Guitar Monsters (1978), for RCA Victor , comprising

2205-598: The harmonica. After learning the piano, he switched to the banjo and guitar. During this time, Paul invented a neck-worn harmonica holder, which allowed him to play both sides of the harmonica, hands-free, while performing on the banjo and guitar. Les Paul's hands-free design is still widely manufactured today. By age thirteen, Paul was performing semi-professionally as a country-music singer, guitarist, and harmonica player. While playing at Waukesha area drive-ins and roadhouses , Paul began his first experiment with sound. Wanting to make his acoustic guitar heard by more people at

2268-533: The inaugural Jazz at the Philharmonic concert in Los Angeles , California , on July 2, 1944. His solo on " Body and Soul " is a demonstration of his admiration for and emulation of Django Reinhardt, as well as his development of original lines. Also that year, Paul's trio appeared on Bing Crosby's radio show. Crosby sponsored Paul's recordings. They recorded together several times, including " It's Been

2331-455: The instrument reading "A&H". Antonio died having no known offspring, but Hieronymus became a father. His son Nicolò (1596–1684) was himself a master luthier who had several apprentices of note, including Antonio Stradivari (probably), Andrea Guarneri , Bartolomeo Pasta, Jacob Railich, Giovanni Battista Rogeri, Matthias Klotz , and possibly Jacob Stainer and Francesco Rugeri . It is even possible Bartolomeo Cristofori , later inventor of

2394-569: The local venues, he wired a phonograph needle to his guitar and connected it to a radio speaker. As a teen Paul experimented with sustain by using a 2-foot piece of rail from a nearby train line. At age seventeen, Paul played with Rube Tronson's Texas Cowboys, and soon after he dropped out of high school to team up with Sunny Joe Wolverton's Radio Band in St. Louis , Missouri, on KMOX . Paul and Wolverton moved to Chicago in 1934, where they continued to perform country music on radio station WBBM and at

2457-410: The microphone is less than 6 inches (15 cm) from the singer's mouth. This produces a more intimate, less reverberant sound than when a singer is 1 foot (30 cm) or more from the microphone. When using a pressure-gradient (uni- or bi-directional) microphone, it emphasizes low-frequency sounds in the voice due to the microphone's proximity effect and gives a more relaxed feel because the performer

2520-581: The mid-17th century include Giovanni Grancino , Vincenzo Rugeri , Carlo Giuseppe Testore , and his sons Carlo Antonio Testore and Paolo Antonio Testore , all from Milan . From Venice the luthiers Matteo Goffriller , Domenico Montagnana , Sanctus Seraphin , and Carlo Annibale Tononi were principals in the Venetian school of violin making (although the latter began his career in Bologna ). Carlo Bergonzi (luthier) purchased Antonio Stradivari's shop

2583-508: The music industry with his New Sound in 1948. Paul recorded several songs with Bing Crosby, most notably " It's Been a Long, Long Time ," which was a number-one single in 1945. After a recording session, Bing Crosby suggested that Paul build a recording studio so he could produce the sound he wanted. Paul started his studio in the garage of his home on North Curson Street in Hollywood. The studio drew many vocalists and musicians who wanted

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2646-412: The original recording and a second to record the combined track. This preserved the original recording. In 1952, Paul invented the flange effect , wherein two recordings of the same sound run slightly asynchronously, causing phase cancellations that sweep through the frequency range. The first example of this can be heard on his song "Mammy's Boogie". Observing film recordings inspired Paul to design

2709-438: The passages we were singing and lightly play the melody, sometimes in harmony. We'd sing these fancy licks and he'd keep up with us note for note in exactly the same rhythm... almost contributing a fourth voice. But he never once took the attention away from what we were doing. He did everything he could to make us sound better." In the 1950s, when he recorded Mary Ford's vocals on multiple tracks, he created music that sounded like

2772-419: The piano, apprenticed under him (although census data does not support this, which paints this as a possible myth). Gasparo Duiffopruggar of Füssen , Germany, was once incorrectly credited as the inventor of the violin. He was likely a maker, but no documentation survives, and no instruments survive that experts unequivocally know are his. Gasparo da Salò of Brescia (Italy) was another early luthier of

2835-411: The sake of appearance, he attached the body of an Epiphone hollow-body guitar sawn lengthwise with The Log in the middle. This solved his two main problems: feedback , as the acoustic body no longer resonated with the amplified sound, and sustain, as the energy of the strings was not dissipated in generating sound through the guitar body. These instruments were constantly being improved and modified over

2898-489: The stacking of eight tape recorders. He worked with Ross Snyder on the design of the first eight-track recording deck built for him by Ampex for his home studio. Rein Narma built a custom 8-channel mixing console for him. The mixing board included in-line equalization and vibrato effects. He named the recorder "The Octopus" and the mixing console "The Monster". The name "octopus" was inspired by comedian W. C. Fields , who

2961-588: The stage name Mary Ford . They married in Milwaukee in 1949. Their hits included " How High the Moon ", " Bye Bye Blues ", "Song in Blue", "Don'cha Hear Them Bells", " The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise ", and " Vaya con Dios ". The songs were recorded with multiple tracks where Ford harmonized with herself and Paul played multiple layers of guitars. They used the recording technique known as close miking where

3024-659: The violin family. About 80 of his instruments survive, and around 100 documents that relate to his work. He was also a double bass player and son and nephew of two violin players: Francesco and Agosti, respectively. Da Salò made many instruments and exported to France and Spain, and probably to England. He had at least five apprentices: his son Francesco, a helper named Battista, Alexander of Marsiglia, Giacomo Lafranchini and Giovanni Paolo Maggini . Maggini inherited da Salò's business in Brescia. Valentino Siani worked with Maggini. In 1620, Maggini moved to Florence. Luthiers born in

3087-593: The violin is Andrea Amati . Amati was originally a lute maker, but turned to the new instrument form of violin in the mid-16th century. He was the progenitor of the Amati family of luthiers active in Cremona, Italy until the 18th century. Andrea Amati had two sons. His eldest was Antonio Amati ( circa 1537–1607), and the younger, Girolamo Amati ( circa 1561–1630). Girolamo is better known as Hieronymus, and together with his brother, produced many violins with labels inside

3150-528: The years, and Paul continued to use them in his recordings even after the development of his eponymous Gibson model. Paul approached the Gibson Guitar Corporation with his idea of a solid-body electric guitar in 1941, but Gibson showed no interest until Fender began marketing its Esquire and Broadcaster guitars in 1950 (the Broadcaster was renamed the Telecaster in 1952). Gibson's Ted McCarty

3213-412: Was amputation . Paul was flown to Los Angeles, where his arm was set at an angle—just over 90 degrees—that allowed him to cradle and pick the guitar. It took him nearly a year and a half to recover. In 1940, Les Paul revisited his experiments with the train rail. This time he created a similar prototype instrument, a one-off solid-body electric guitar known as "The Log", which was manufactured utilizing

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3276-621: 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 , recorded numerous records, selling millions of copies. Paul

3339-616: Was from Milwaukee . Paul was Miller's godfather and his first guitar teacher. Ford gave birth to their first child on November 30, 1954, but the girl was born prematurely and died when she was four days old. They adopted a girl, Colleen, in 1958, and their son, Robert (Bobby), was born the following year. Paul and Ford divorced in December 1964. Paul and Ford maintained a house in Mahwah, New Jersey , and after their divorce Ford lived there until her death in 1977. In 1995, Paul established

3402-581: Was further developed by others, most successfully Ned Steinberger . A less-expensive version of the Les Paul guitar is manufactured for Gibson's Epiphone brand. Paul first experimented with sound on sound while in elementary school when he punched holes in the piano roll for his mother's player piano . In 1946, his mother complimented him on a song she had heard on the radio, when in fact she had heard George Barnes, not Paul. This motivated Paul to spend two years in his Hollywood garage recording studio, creating his unique sound, his New Sound. Paul stunned

3465-585: Was honored with the Special Merit/ Technical Grammy Award , which recognizes "individuals or institutions that have set the highest standards of excellence in the creative application of audio technology," a select award given to masters of audio innovation including Thomas Alva Edison , Leo Fender , and Beatles recording engineer Geoff Emerick . In 2004, he received an Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award in Engineering and

3528-642: Was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame (2005) for his development of the solid-body electric guitar. In 1988, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by guitarist Jeff Beck , who said, "I've copied more licks from Les Paul than I'd like to admit." He was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (2005), the Big Band & Jazz Hall of Fame (1990), the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame (1996), and

3591-474: Was issued U.S. patent 3,018,680 , for a pickup in which the coil was integrated into the bridge. In the mid-1940s, he introduced an aluminum guitar with the tuning mechanisms below the bridge. As it had no headstock, and the string attachments were at the nut, it was the first "headless" guitar. Unfortunately, Paul's guitar was so sensitive to the heat from stage lights that it would not keep tune. However, he used it for several of his hit recordings. This style

3654-609: Was recorded from their home and with gentle humor between Paul and Ford bridging musical selections, some of which had already been successful on records, some of which anticipated the couple's recordings, and many of which presented re-interpretations of such jazz and pop selections as " In the Mood ", "Little Rock Getaway", "Brazil", and " Tiger Rag ". Many of these shows survive and are available from various sources. When Paul used magnetic tape, he could take his recording equipment on tour, making episodes for his fifteen-minute radio show in

3717-550: Was related to the founders of Milwaukee 's Valentin Blatz Brewing Company and the makers of the Stutz automobile. His parents divorced when he was a child. His mother simplified their Prussian family name first to Polfuss, then to Polfus, although Les Paul never legally changed his name . Before taking the stage name Les Paul, he performed as Red Hot Red and Rhubarb Red. At the age of eight, Paul began playing

3780-543: Was strongly influenced by the music of Django Reinhardt , whom he greatly admired. Following World War II , Paul sought out and made friends with Reinhardt. When Reinhardt died in 1953, Paul paid for part of the funeral's cost. One of Paul's prized possessions was a Selmer acoustic guitar given to him by Reinhardt's widow. Paul formed a trio in 1937 with rhythm guitarist Jim Atkins (older half-brother of guitarist Chet Atkins ) and bassist /percussionist Ernie "Darius" Newton. They left Chicago for New York in 1938, landing

3843-414: Was the chief designer of the guitar, which was based on Paul's drawings and later dubbed the Gibson Les Paul . Gibson entered into a promotional and financial arrangement with Les Paul, paying him a royalty on sales. The guitar went on sale in 1952. Paul continued to make design suggestions. In 1960, sales of the original Les Paul model had dropped, so a more modernistic model was introduced (today called

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3906-477: Was the first person to hear Paul play his multi-tracked guitar experiments. "He came to my garage to make a little record (in 1946)," Les recalled. "I played him the acetate of 'Lover' that I'd done. When he heard it, he said, 'My boy, you sound like an octopus. ' " In the summer of 1945, Paul met country-western singer Iris Colleen Summers. They began working together on Paul's radio show, as Rhubarb Red and The Ozark Apple Knockers with Mary Lou. Later Paul suggested

3969-521: Was the music director for radio stations WJJD and WIND. In 1943, he moved to Hollywood where he performed on radio and formed a new trio. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943, where he served in the Armed Forces Radio Network , backing such artists as Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters , and performing in his own right. As a last-minute replacement for Oscar Moore , Paul played with Nat King Cole and other artists in

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