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Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009)
Les Paul worked as a professional musician from his late teens, and was leading his own trio in New York City by the age of 21. After serving with Armed Forces Radio in World War Two, he became a staff musician with NBC radio in Los Angeles. His experimentation with guitars became a frenzy in the late 1940s, building the first solid-body electric guitar in 1946 and releasing a six-way overdub, “Lover,” which became a hit for Capitol, as did its flip side, “Brazil.” Les Paul’s sound was like nothing before it: fast, multi-layered, and deep.

He married the singer Mary Ford (born Colleen Somerset) in 1949, and together they recorded some of the biggest hits of the 1950s: “How High the Moon,” “Vaya con Dios,” “The World is Waiting for the Sunrise,” and “Mockin’ Bird Hill.” He overdubbed both his guitar work and her vocals, working almost exclusively in his home studio, using an 8-track tape deck he designed and built himself. Paul was a perfectionist, and his recordings sound better today than almost anything coming from major label studios of the same period. In fact, the legendary sound engineer Tom Dowd credited Les Paul for inspiring Atlantic Records to purchase one of the first commercially-produced 8-track recorders, on which many of the label’s best-known records were recorded.

Paul and Ford divorced in 1963, and he retired from recording except for an occasional appearance. He cut a solo (overdub) album for London, “Les Paul Now,” in 1968, and a collaboration with Chet Atkins in 1976. He returned to live work in 1984, appearing with a trio in New York City jazz clubs. In 1988, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his influence as a player and engineer. He continued to perform live once at weekly, usually at the Iridium Club in Manhattan. His 90th birthday was marked by a tribute concert at Carnegie Hall featuring Eric Clapton and others. And in 2006, he set the record as the oldest performer to win a Grammy Award in a rock music category with his first new album since his work with Chet Atkins: “Les Paul & Friends: American Made, World Played,” which included Clapton, Peter Frampton, and Jeff Beck among his collaborators.

Recordings

* The Les Paul Trio, Glendale Records GL 6014
* Swingin’ South, CBS CL 1206
* Lover’s Luau, CBS CS 8086
* Warm & Wonderful, Columbia CS 8488
* New Sound, Capitol T-286
* Hits of Les and Mary, Capitol DT-1476
* Les Paul Now!, London Phase 4 SP 44101
* Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played, Capitol CD
Les Paul Carrier
In 1965, Paul went into semi-retirement, although he did return to the studio occasionally. He and Ford had divorced in December 1962, as she could no longer cope with the traveling lifestyle their act required of them.[citation needed] Paul’s most-recognizable recordings from then through the mid-1970s were an album for London Records/Phase 4 Stereo, Les Paul Now (1968), on which he updated some of his earlier hits; and, backed by some of Nashville’s celebrated studio musicians, a meld of jazz and country improvisation with fellow guitar virtuoso Chet Atkins, Chester and Lester (1976), for RCA Victor.

By the late 1980s, Paul had returned to active live performance, continuing into his 80s even though he often found it painful to play the guitar because of arthritis in his hands. In 2006, at age 90, he won two Grammys at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards for his album Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played. He also performed every Monday night, accompanied by a trio which included guitarist Lou Pallo, bassist Paul Nowinksi (and later, Nicki Parrott) and pianist John Colianni, originally at Fat Tuesdays, and later at the Iridium Jazz Club on Broadway in the Times Square area of New York City.[34][35][36]

Composer Richard Stein (1909–1992) sued Paul for plagiarism, charging that Paul’s “Johnny (Is the Boy for Me)” was taken from Stein’s 1937 song “Sanie cu zurgălăi” (Romanian for “Sledge with Bells”). A 2000 cover version of “Johnny” by Belgian musical group Vaya Con Dios that credited Paul prompted another action by the Romanian Musical Performing and Mechanical Rights Society.[37]

For many years Les Paul would sometimes surprise radio hosts Steve King and Johnnie Putman with a call to the “Life After Dark Show” on WGN (AM) in Chicago. These calls would take place in the wee hours of Tuesday Morning following his show at the Iridium Jazz Club. Steve and Johnnie continue to honor Les on Tuesday Mornings at 2:35 AM with their segment “A Little More Les” drawing from around 30 hours of recorded conversations with Les.