PBS to feature Guitar Legend Les Paul
by frets on Aug.19, 2009, under Inspiration, Whats On
Did this guy have fun or what?
PBS will air American Masters: Chasing Sound, on guitar legend Les Paul next week. Local PBS stations control programming, so check your local listings for specifics. Les died last week at 94.
PBS has a nice tribute to Les on their Web site. The Les Paul American Masters special is also available on DVD.
My first electric guitar was a black and gold Les Paul Custom, and I sure wish I hadn’t sold it. If I can dig up a picture of me playing it, I’ll post it. It was a beauty.
Thank you, Les. Rest in peace.
THE WIZARD OF WAUKESHA
By Dave Tianen
reprinted with permission from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
New York – For decades, arthritis has slowly devoured the talent in Les Paul’s hands.
The right essentially has become a stiff claw. The ring and pinkie are all that is usable on the left, and arthritis is eating away at them.
The right arm is mangled too, permanently bent at a 90 degree angle from a car wreck in 1948. There are seven screws in the arm, and the tendon in the elbow is shot.
Yet he continues to play.
Every Monday night, the great guitarist carries his 92-year-old body and his 44-year-old Gibson onstage at the Iridium Jazz Club at 51st and Broadway. Still introduced as “The Wizard of Waukesha,” he does two shows – one at 8, one at 10 – in the basement nightclub.
Both are packed. Always.
Many, perhaps most, in the crowd weren’t even born in the early ’50s when Paul and his wife Mary Ford were major stars on TV and radio, topping the charts with a succession of hits: “Tennessee Waltz,” “Mockin’ Bird Hill,” “How High the Moon,” “Tiger Rag” and “Vaya Con Dios.”
That music helped define an era, but Paul ignores most of it now, opting instead for the standards he played during his jazz days in the ’30s and ’40s. It matters little.
August 22nd, 2009 on 9:17 pm
[...] Les Paul: Chasing Sound (PBS), documentary about the legendary guitarist and innovator who died last week at 94. Times vary, check your local PBS schedule. If you see nothing else, catch this one! [...]