quote:

---

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Les Paul, who invented the solid-body electric guitar later wielded by a legion of rock 'n' roll greats, died Thursday of complications from pneumonia. He was 94.

---

 

---

Posted by Derrell (Member # 6062) on :
 

 

---

Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
 
Whoaa.... he was still alive? I thought he died 40 years ago at least.
 

---

Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
 
He was still performing as of last year, no less. I'm pretty sure my parents managed to see him in person within the past two years.
 

---

Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
 
That's impressive.
 

---

Posted by Flaming Toad on a Stick (Member # 9302) on :
 

 

---

Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
 
Don't you know that you are a shooting star, Don't you know, yeah,
Don't you know that you are a shooting star, now,
And all the world will love you just as long, As long you are you.

Les Paul died one night, died in his bed, well, okay, he didn't die right when I said. Johnny's life passed him by like a
warm summer day, a really long summer day, like, a really really long summer day, damn, he's still goin,

Oh oh oh, Don't you know that you are a shooting star,
Don't you know, yeah, don't you know', Don't you know that
you are a shooting star,
Don't you know, yeah,
Don't you know that you are a shooting star,
Don't you, don't you,
Man, you're still going
How old are you, seriously
You're sure living the crap outta life there bud
This was supposed to be a song about
Like you know
The candle that burnt twice as bright
The whole shooting star thing
Is an analogy
See
An analogy about living fast
And dying pretty quick
Like burning yourself out
But christ man
You just keep going
Like some sort of rock star,
Energizer bunny crap
This is nuts
This is Bad Company signing off
We can't keep singing this song all day
We have to sleep
 

---

Posted by Flying Fish (Member # 12032) on :
 
The first thing that came to mind was what a tremendous genius. He's almost like a 1930's pulp fiction scientist hero, tinkering alone in his lab, gets an idea, "Why don't I take this guitar, which has been around for centuries, and make it POWERED?" then follows through and does it, with his own hands.

The Grote Reber of the musical world.
 

---

Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
 
Paul's invention was not the electric guitar. That had been around for several decades. What he did was recognize that the acoustic properties of a sounding board robbed the strings of their ability to sustain a note. This is necessary when the sounding board transmits the sound to the air, but not when the sound is picked up electronically.

With this in mind, Paul built a solid body guitar with the neck mounting reinforced by a bolster, to reduce the vibration loss through the body. The very fact that the guitar was virtually silent when not amplified, resulted in a guitar with incredible sustain, which give the spinal tap bit quite a bit more subtle humor than is generally recognized.
 

---

Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
 
I don't know if you could even go that far and say he was the first person to figure that out. Certainly he was best craftsman and salesman to figure it out, but 70 years of publicity through the Gibson guitar company (their premium model is named after him) never hurt his public image.
 

---