Page 47 - Guitar Classics Magazine - The Les Paul Bible 2019

THE MAN BEHIND THE GUITAR

© Getty Images/Andrew Lepley

LES PAUL

THE MAN

BEHIND THE GUITAR

Lester Polsfuss was much more than the
iconic guitar that came to bear his name. TURNING HIS HAND ABOVE Les Paul was a true
pioneer in terms of playing
The only thing that Les was ever purist about was
Les Paul was also a musical pioneer and a sound quality, so although his heart was in jazz, technique, incorporating styles
recording trailblazer. We examine the life he was happy to play country under as Red Hot Red from all kinds of genres of the
of a true innovator… and Rhubarb Red if he could earn a living from it. day into his own playing
WORDS HUW PRICE By 1934, he’d relocated to Chicago and was backing
up artists signed to the Decca label. The first Rhubarb
Red records followed in 1936, along with a name
f ever there was a figure in the guitar world who change that stuck – Les Paul.
was deserving of the title ‘renaissance man’, it was Forming his own trio, with Chet Atkins’ brother
Lester William Polsfuss. At various times during Jim on rhythm guitar, Les and his band moved
I his life, Les could have listed his occupations to New York in 1938. Chet Atkins recalled that a
as guitar virtuoso, radio presenter, guitar builder, Gibson archtop given to his brother by Les became
audio engineer, record producer, inventor, TV star, the first professional quality guitar he ever owned.
hit-maker, studio designer, electronics engineer and Almost 40 years later, Les and Chet would team
hugely successful performing artist. He even came up up to record the Grammy Award-winning album,
with the idea of having a musical alter ego about 35 Chester & Lester.
years before David Bowie dreamed up Ziggy Stardust. His passion for tinkering was nearly fatal, however,
Born in 1915, Les began playing harmonica and and Les once seriously electrocuted himself while
soon graduated to guitar. As a teenager he built experimenting at home. His injuries led to a stay
a harmonica holder so he could play guitar and in hospital, coincidentally, in the same one where
harmonica simultaneously and by age 13, he was jazz legend Charlie Christian was being treated for
already a semi-pro country singer and guitarist. tuberculosis. Later, Les relocated to Hollywood and
To get heard at venues, he wired a phonograph was drafted into the Armed Forces Radio Network.
needle to his acoustic guitar and fed the signal to While there, he performed under his own name
a radio speaker. Then to get himself heard even and played for superstars such as Bing Crosby and
wider, he built his own radio transmitter and The Andrews Sisters. The association with Crosby
made a recording device from a Chevrolet flywheel continued with Les’ trio backing him on a single
to cut his own discs. He also experimented using a that hit No. 1 in 1945.
length of rail line to improve sustain. These early It’s probably unfair to call Les accident-prone,
recording and guitar-building experiments clearly but a 1948 car crash almost ended his career. His
weren’t to be his last. right elbow couldn’t be rebuilt and doctors advised

THE LES PAUL BIBLE 47