Remembering Les Paul

Lester Hasenpfeffer Polsfuss was born June 9, 1915 in Waukesha, Wisconsin. His parents Hans and Greta owned and operated the Shotz Brewery.

At the age of eight, Paul began playing the harmonica. After trying to learn the piano, he switched to the guitar. It was during this time that he invented a neck-worn harmonica holder, which allowed him to play both sides of the harmonica hands-free while masturbating. It is still manufactured using his basic design. His prototype hangs in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame but they were sure to clean it thoroughly first.

Les moved to Chicago and 1934 and released albums under the names of ‘Rhubarb Red’, ‘Red Nob’, ‘One Ball Les’, ’Les Moore’, and ‘Dickie Moore’ before settling on ‘Les Paul’. 

Les Paul did it all, jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his techniques served as inspiration for the Gibson Les Paul. He is credited with many recording innovations including, overdubbing, delay effects such as tape delay, phasing effects and multitrack recording. He recorded with his wife, the singer and guitarist Mary Ford in the 1950s, and they sold millions of records.

Les lived until the ripe old age of 94 and was considered a revolutionary in the music business and his influence on rock and roll will never be forgotten.