Les Paul
Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American 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. Paul taught himself how to play guitar, and while he is mainly known for jazz and popular music, he had an early career in country music. He is credited with many recording innovations. Although he was not the first to use the technique, his early experiments with overdubbing (also known as sound on sound), delay effects such as tape delay, phasing effects and multitrack recording were among the first to attract widespread attention. His innovative talents extended into his playing style, including licks, trills, chording sequences, fretting techniques and timing, which set him apart from his contemporaries and inspired many guitarists of the present day. He recorded with his wife, the singer and guitarist Mary Ford, in the 1950s, and they sold millions of records. Among his many honors, Paul is one of a handful of artists with a permanent, stand-alone exhibit in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is prominently named by the music museum on its website as an "architect" and a "key inductee" with Sam Phillips and Alan Freed. Les Paul is the only person to be included in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Inventors Hall of Fame. |
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Birth and Death Data: Born June 9, 1915 (Waukesha), Died August 13, 2009 (White Plains)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1936 - 1953
Roles Represented in DAHR: guitar, vocalist, harmonica, composer
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 1-25 of 44 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Decca | C 90732 | 10-in. | 5/20/1936 | Just because | Rhubarb Red [Les Paul] | instrumentalist, guitar, vocalist, harmonica | ||
Decca | C 90733 | 10-in. | 5/20/1936 | Answer to Just because | Rhubarb Red [Les Paul] | instrumentalist, guitar, vocalist, harmonica | ||
Decca | C 90734 | 10-in. | 5/20/1936 | Deep elem blues No. 2 | Rhubarb Red [Les Paul] | instrumentalist, guitar, vocalist, harmonica | ||
Decca | C 90735 | 10-in. | 5/20/1936 | Deep elem blues No. 2 | Rhubarb Red [Les Paul] | instrumentalist, guitar, vocalist, harmonica | ||
Decca | L 3659 | 10-in. | 10/26/1944 | Dream dust | Les Paul and his Trio | instrumentalist, guitar | ||
Decca | L 3660 | 10-in. | 10/26/1944 | Begin the beguine | Les Paul and his Trio | instrumentalist, guitar | ||
Decca | L 3661 | 10-in. | 10/26/1944 | Dark eyes | Les Paul and his Trio | instrumentalist, guitar | ||
Decca | L 3662 | 10-in. | 10/26/1944 | Blue skies | Les Paul and his Trio | instrumentalist, guitar | ||
Decca | L 3701 | 10-in. | 12/14/1944 | Blue skies | Les Paul and his Trio | instrumentalist, guitar | ||
Decca | L 3702 | 10-in. | 12/14/1944 | Begin the beguine | Les Paul and his Trio | instrumentalist, guitar | ||
Decca | L 3703 | 10-in. | 12/14/1944 | Dream dust | Les Paul and his Trio | instrumentalist, guitar | ||
Decca | L 3704 | 10-in. | 12/14/1944 | Dark eyes | Les Paul and his Trio | instrumentalist, guitar | ||
Decca | L 3889 | 10-in. | 7/12/1945 | It's been a long, long time | Bing Crosby | instrumentalist, guitar | ||
Decca | L 3890 | 10-in. | 7/12/1945 | Whose dream are you? | Bing Crosby | instrumentalist, guitar | ||
Decca | L 3945 | 10-in. | 8/31/1945 | Hawaiian paradise | Les Paul and his Trio | instrumentalist, guitar | ||
Decca | L 3946 | 10-in. | 8/31/1945 | My isle of golden dreams | Les Paul and his Trio | instrumentalist, guitar | ||
Decca | L 3965 | 10-in. | 9/13/1945 | Day by day | Bing Crosby | instrumentalist, guitar | ||
Decca | L 3966 | 10-in. | 9/13/1945 | Prove it by the things you do | Bing Crosby | instrumentalist, guitar | ||
Decca | L 3999 | 10-in. | 11/16/1945 | Spellbound | Helen Forrest | instrumentalist, guitar | ||
Decca | L 4000 | 10-in. | 11/16/1945 | Everybody knew but me | Helen Forrest | instrumentalist, guitar | ||
Decca | L 4044 | 10-in. | 12/28/1945 | Baby, what you do to me | Helen Forrest | instrumentalist, guitar | ||
Decca | L 4045 | 10-in. | 12/28/1945 | Everybody knew but me | Helen Forrest | instrumentalist, guitar | ||
Decca | L 4073 | 1/22/1946 | Song of the islands | Les Paul and his Trio | instrumentalist, guitar | |||
Decca | L 4074 | 1/22/1946 | Sweet Leilani | Les Paul and his Trio | instrumentalist, guitar | |||
Decca | L 4075 | 1/22/1946 | King's serenade | Les Paul and his Trio | instrumentalist, guitar |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Paul, Les," accessed February 9, 2023, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/207737.
Paul, Les. (2023). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved February 9, 2023, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/207737.
"Paul, Les." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2023. Web. 9 February 2023.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Paul, Les - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n81126814
Wikidata: Les Paul - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q262399
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/119989378
MusicBrainz: Les Paul - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/f671ebd2-917d-466f-b7bc-07c60e4d8990
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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