Les Paul, legendary musician and inventor, passed away this past August 13th at the age of 94. He was a personal hero of mine.
Paul became a professional musician in his early teens in Waukesha WI, playing Country & Western. He would listen to jazz coming from the big cities on a home-made crystal radio. In 1934 he arrived in Chicago, jamming with the top jazz musicians all night while performing ‘hillbilly music’ on the radio during the day (it paid better). He had become a recording artist for Decca records in 1936. After a short hitch in the Army during World War II, Paul went on to put out more than 40 hit records between 1945 and 1961. He and his wife Mary Ford had dozens of hits and their own television show. I, personally, am not a major fan of this style of music, but am awed by the artistry and skills he had.
In 1948, Paul and Ford had an auto accident that had the doctors ready to amputate Paul’s right arm. He told them to do whatever they could to save it. When they said the best they could do was fuse his arm he told them “point my hand to my belly”. He went on for the next 61 years as one of the top guitarists in the nation despite his fused arm.
Les Paul had always been fascinated by electronics and sound ever since making his own crystal radio as a boy. He invented and developed the solid-body electric guitar. After recording sessions with Bing Crosby, he presented Paul with a then-state of the art reel to reel tape recorder. Paul designed a way of adding a second recording head and, for the first time, dubbing multiple recordings on a single tape. He then went on to invent a multi-track recorder, the principle of which is still used in every recording studio today. A top line of Gibson guitars designed and refined in the 1950s and ‘60s bear the name ‘Les Paul’. Paul has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his invention and development of the solid-body electric guitar. He was also inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame for his electronic breakthroughs.
In 1993, in order to keep himself mentally alert, active, and to keep limber despite crippling arthritis, Paul began performing on Monday nights at Fat Tuesdays in NYC. In 1999 he switched over to the Iridium Jazz Club where he performed most every Monday night for 10 years. I had the fortune of seeing him at the Iridium on several occasions. Interesting thing about his shows was that you would be disappointed if you expected a brilliant guitar performance, but would be delighted by his sharp, irreverent wit (which is right up my alley), wonderful stories, interaction with the audience and short bursts of good playing. As he got older, his playing deteriorated, but he was still the best 90-year-old arthritic guitarist I had ever heard. In the book, Living the Martial Way, by Forrest E. Morgan, Maj. USAF, he discusses the difference between ‘tactics’ and ‘strategy’, with ‘tactics’ being the various techniques in your arsenal, and ‘strategy’ being the plan in which you employ these techniques. A ‘Les Paul’ performance was a perfect example of these principles, as he would employ the proper strategy to best display his limited tactics.
Striving for excellence, training to hone ones skills to the highest degree, thinking outside the box, doing whatever it takes to achieve ones goal, employing the proper strategy to take best advantage of ones tactics - I propose that Les Paul displayed the finest martial arts skills. I will miss him, and always remember what he stood for.
