Original Les Paul Superstar
The top guitarists he influenced
Following geeks celebration of the anniversary of Mr. Fender it would seem highly disproportionate not to honour in the same way the life of Mr. Les Paul and his legacy cast on the world of guitars.
Lester William Polsfuss was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin to George and Evelyn Polsfuss to Jewish-Prussian lineage.
He first became interested in music at the age of eight, when he began playing the harmonica and moved onto the banjo then guitar.
At just 13, Paul was performing semi-professionally as a country-music guitarist before releasing country and jazz records in the 1930′s.
The legend goes that after a near-fatal car accident, Les Paul was unable to freely use his right arm and doctors had to lodge it in a position of his choice where it would sit for life. He chose a guitar-friendly right angle and customised his first Les Paul to his own specifications.
Paul died in New York yesterday after complications with pneumonia as reported by Gibson, the firm that sold his guitars.
Guns N’ Roses star Slash was amongst many guitar icons who paid tribute to the pioneer who died aged 94, calling him “vibrant and full of positive energy”.
Paul is credited with developing one of the first solid-body electric guitar models which went on sale in 1952, and soon became a sensation across the globe synonymous with rock n roll and legendary axemanship.
The inventor was also credited with creating other influential recording innovations such as multi-track recording, overdubbing and the eight-track tape recorder, used in studios around the world before digital recording took over.
Paul was not only a hugely successful inventor and pioneer but a successful performer in his own right, notching up 11 number one singles and 36 gold records with his wife Mary Ford.
He was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1978 and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
Les Paul Guitarists
Marc Bolan – T-Rex
Legendary T-Rex frontman Marc Bolan was a Les Paul aficionado. A true rock and roller, Bolan amplified his first musical outfit by buying a vintage Gibson Les Paul guitar which later featured on the cover of the album T. Rex in 1970. Riffs like the unmistakable 20th Century Boy were written on Les Paul’s model.
Billie Joe Armstrong – Green Day
Green Day leader and neo politicist Billy Joe’s collection of guitars includes twenty Les Paul Junior models from the 1950′s. He notes his favorite guitar as a 1956 Gibson Les Paul Junior he calls “Floyd” which was purchased just before 2000′s album Warning.
The Edge – U2
Edge (or Dave Evans’) cream Gibson Les Paul was played on every U2 tour from 1985 to 2007 before he sold it at auction to benefit musicians struggling in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The instrument was highly significant to the career of U2.
Generally used for the bombastic rock orientated sound, not the jangly effects he’s known for. The Edge’s Les Paul axe was used in live renditions for poignant rock number Sunday Bloody Sunday and New Year’s Day on their 2006 sell-out stadium tour.
Peter Frampton
Face of the year 1968, Frampton has played with anyone who’s anyone in music. He’s also been on the Simpsons AND Family Guy. Frampton became such a prolific artist before and especially after his best-selling Frampton Comes Alive album in 1976. He toured relentlessly with the great and the good with his custom Gibson Les Paul signature guitar.
Ace Frehley – KISS
As lead guitarist for the classic supergroup, Frehley was known for his frenetic, atmospheric timbre all hummed out to perfection, when he wasn’t drunk, on his Gibson Les Paul. He became one of the most popular guitarists in the 70′s as KISS became one of the most commercially successful, corporation rock band on the books.
Frehley is well recognised for using Gibson Les Paul guitars, including his trademarked conversion, adding a device which fills the stage full of smoke during his live guitar solo.
Billy Gibbons – ZZ Top
Beardy Billy from ZZ Top looked like the grandfathers of Southern American rock n roll even 30 years ago, yet still rock out with their lead guitarmeister banging out those respected blues riffs on a Gibson Les Paul he named ‘Pearly Gates’.
He took his Mrs. round the world with him and hammered out those trademark blues lines with his thicker gauged strings on TV, radio and it was one of the first guitars ever seen on MTV.
Mick Jones – The Clash
Punk startups The Clash’s lead player wanted to be like his hero Johnny Thunders of the New York Dolls so bought his guitar, a Gibson Les Paul Junior. He liked the weight (it’s incredibly heavy) and was no stranger to smashing them up. The industrial fizz that Jones liked so much, arguably helped define Punk as Steve Jones, lead player for the Sex Pistols, also used a Gibson Les Paul.
Genre busting riffs like London’s Calling and I Fought the Law were recorded and played with a Gibson.
James Dean Bradfield – Manic Street Preachers
Just like Mick Jones wanted to be like Johnny Thunders, so James Dean from the Manic Street Preachers wanted to be like his hero Mick Jones from The Clash and to this day, is never seen without his trusty white Gibson Les Paul on stage.
Manics tunes A Design for Life, Motorcycle Emptiness, Kevin Carter, Faster all on a beautiful ivory white Gibson Les Paul.
John Lennon
When in the Beatles, Lennon used a Rickenbacker 325JG which became more of a trademark for him than a Les Paul yet the Gibson Les Paul Junior was one of the guitars he obtained after the breakup of the Beatles and used or many years, concert dates and appearances.
After he and Yoko co-hosted the Mike Douglas Show on American television, he and guest Chuck Berry jammed versions of Johnny B. Goode, John using his newly modified Tobacco Sunburst Gibson Les Paul Junior with the Charlie Christian pickup.
His modified red Gibson Les Paul Jr. was on stage with him at his famous 1972 Madison Square Garden benefit concert
Today, the guitar is part of the Lennon estate and is currently on display at the John Lennon Museum in Japan.
Neil Young
Super grouper seminal American songwriting extraordinaire Young uses a 1953 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop nicknamed “Old Black,” as his primary electric guitar.
The axe is featured on Rust Never Sleeps and many other bestselling albums.
Young acquired the guitar in the late 1960′s. In 1972, a mini Humbucker pickup from another model in the Gibson range was installed in the lead/treble position proving a crucial component of Neil’s vibrato-tastic bombastic sound.
Slash – Guns N Roses
Perhaps the most instantly recognisable, even iconic example of a man and guitar in perfect harmony is watching Stoke-on-Trent born Saul ‘Slash’ Hudson playing a trademark Guns n Roses solo on his Gibson Les Paul.
Whereas other artists flirted with newer models over time, Slash remained committed to the beast through his years with Snakepit, Velvet Revolver and a host of side-projects.
We leave you with the crisp riff-friendly Sweet Child o’ Mine which demonstrates the guitars flexibility and multilingualism. All the noises coming from Slash’s amp were recorded from the belly of the beast. Ladies and Gentlemen the Les Paul.
