The Musicians of New Jersey: Les Paul

While going through a pile of old magazines to donate to a good cause, I happened upon a 2007 copy of New Jersey Monthly magazine dedicated to the musicians of NJ. This prompted me to write this series and pay tribute to the wonderful music and musicians behind it.

Although not a native of New Jersey, Les Paul spent the last sixty years of his life in Mahwah. He was born and raised in Wisconsin and was known as "The Wizard of Waukesha" for his inventiveness. Known mostly as a country and jazz guitarist, his invention of the solid-body electric guitar opened the door to the birth of rock and roll. He never stopped experimenting with overdubbing, delay effects and other musical techniques that musicians and sound mixers take for granted. While still in his youth and attempting to learn how to play the guitar; he designed a hands-free device to hold his harmonica while he played the guitar with both hands and accompanied himself with both music forms. To this day, this invention continues to be used in the music industry. Musicians love the Gibson Les Paul Guitar and it is one of the most sought after instruments on the market. First issued in 1952, it was reissued again in 1958 and 1959 are especially sought after. Many popular guitarists have specially made Les Paul Gibson guitars in their repertoire.

Les Paul as I remember him had a television show with Mary Ford in the 1950's. They were married at the time and sang together while Les played the guitar. I remember hearing them sing songs like; "Vaya con Dios," "How High the Moon," "The World is Waiting for the Sunshine," "Tennessee Waltz," and "Bye Bye Blues." You can listen to these songs here. They were married at the time but the stress of all the traveling caused their bitter divorce after twelve years which also ended their duet. He died of complications from pneumonia in August of 2009 at 94 years of age but as many musicians will attest; his legacy and contributions to rock and roll will never be forgotten.

Sources:

http://njmonthly.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Paul

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_Les_Paul