Les Paul Quotes
- Mini Bio
- Name: Lester William Polsfuss
- Born: 9th June 1915, Waukesha, Wisconsin, U.S.
- Died: 12th August 2009, White Plains, New York, U.S.
- Resting place: Prairie Home Cemetery, Waukesha, Wisconsin
- Nickname: Wizard of Waukesha
- Occupation: Musician, songwriter and inventor
- Stage name: He never legally changed his birth name to his adopted stage name Les Paul
- Genre: Country, jazz and blues
- Famous for: Pioneering the solid-body electric guitar.
- Trivia: Somewhat bizarrely for someone so talented who devoted his whole life to music he couldn't actually read sheet music
"The guitar is just a wonderful instrument. It's everything: a bartender, a psychiatrist, a housewife. It's everything, but it's elusive"
Les Paul"The audience, they're not professionals. They just love music. It isn't necessary to play over their heads to be admired"
Les Paul"I learned a long time ago that one note can go a long way if it's the right one, and it will probably whip the guy with twenty notes"
Les Paul"Here's the secret about the guitar, it's defiant. It will never let you conquer it. The more you get involved with it, the more you realize how little you know"
Les Paul"I never stop being amazed by all the different ways of playing the guitar and making it deliver a message"
Les Paul"That big, fat, round, ballsy sound with the bright high end is the Les Paul sound - nobody else has it"
Les Paul"I've never let anybody know exactly what kind of pick-ups or how I get my sound on records or onstage"
Les Paul"There are times when you want to go where you used to go and you can't go there"
Les Paul"Every setback might be the very thing that makes you carry on and fight all the harder and become much better"
Les Paul"To this day, no one has come up with a set of rules for originality. There aren't any"
Les Paul"When you just get mixed up & there's too much going on, then it's time to pick up your guitar"
Les Paul"It was not being on top. The fun was getting there, not staying there - that's hard work"
Les Paul"A guitar is something you can hold and love and it's never going to bug you"
Les Paul"You can't go to the store and buy a good ear and rhythm"
Les Paul
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Les Paul Biography
Bio By: Michael Joseph Farrelly
Les Paul is renowned as one of the early pioneers of electronic music and he is world famous in the music industry for creating the Les Paul electric guitar. A natural musician from an early age he progressed through several instruments and created his first invention while he was still a teenager by making a neck worn harmonica holder.
His early career was steeped in country music but he earned his musical stripes on the jazz scene. Les Paul first mooted the idea of a solid body electric guitar to the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1941 and he was rebuked, in a twist of irony Gibson came back to him when a competitor Fender starting selling them in 1950.
He met and married a singer called Mary Ford and they recorded a string of hits together through the 1950's. After his 2009 death a plethora of rocks finest came out to pay tribute to the revolutionary ways he influenced the music business throughout his lifetime.
During his career he released 40 albums (including compilations) and 54 singles with 3 of them topping the charts at number 1: "It's Been a Long, Long Time" (with Bing Crosby) in 1945, "How High the Moon" in 1951 and "Vaya Con Dios" in 1953.
Les Paul is the only person to be featured in the National Inventors Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and with such greatness and talent often comes fantastic one liners with real meaning, so here is my compilation of 10 of the best Les Paul quotes
Quotes About Les Paul
He inspired the rock and roll legend Jeff Beck: "I've copied more licks from Les Paul than I'd like to admit"
The guitarist Slash paid tribute: "He was one of the most stellar human beings I've ever known"
U2 guitarist The Edge was impressed to say: "His legacy as a musician and inventor will live on and his influence on rock and roll will never be forgotten"
Terry Stewart the president of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame got straight to the point: "Without Les Paul, we would not have rock and roll as we know it. His inventions created the infrastructure for the music and his playing style will ripple through generations. He was truly an architect of rock and roll"
The guitarist Joe Satriani called him: "The original guitar hero.... Les Paul set a standard for musicianship and innovation that remains unsurpassed"
