We stand on the shoulders of giants.
Les Paul died the other day. Who was Les Paul, you might ask? Paul, a guitar virtuoso, created a technology that made him stand above all others as the original master of rock and jazz innovation. Clearly, he was one of the most important people in the creation of American popular music.
Les Paul invented the solid-body electric guitar, an instrument played by Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page, and Justin Hayward among other notables. An iconic figure beyond description, Paul developed technology that would become the cornerstones of rock, pop and jazz recordings for the second half of the 20th century. His use of multitrack recording that allowed for multiple layers of "overdubs" spawned the careers of Buddy Holly, the Beach Boys and the Beatles.
Paul was a futurist who acted upon his ideas. Les Paul, who passed away at 94, was the first visionary of rock-n-roll.
Its hard to believe that that cute old man was one of the stepping stones towards Rock n Roll. Without Les I would never hear stories about my moms first crush on a "hair" band singer and I would've never found my love for Rock n Roll. Thank you Les Paul.
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