Interview: Les Paul

Les Paul is 92 yet he still gigs every Monday night at a jazz club in New York City. Whilst most rock legends were pushing up the daisies by their 30th year, Les was busy inventing the concept of the solid body electric guitar, famously experimenting with a length of railroad track and the talkie bit from a telephone. He was also the first guitarist to use multi-track recording – incredibly, he developed the tape-based system from captured Nazi technology - and Les actually released the first single to utilise multi-tracking, Lover (When You’re Near Me). He recorded the song in his basement making him the first guitarist to own a home recording studio. And, as if you didn’t know this already, wily old Les will forever be associated with a famous guitar that bears his name. Here’s a short interview with the original shredder…

Ed: You’ve been playing guitar for over 70 years. How did you get started?
Les: “I actually tried out many different instruments before I chose the guitar. I gave the banjo a go and my mother said, ‘No, that’s not it.’ I tried the saxophone and she said, ‘now you can’t sing! You’ve got something in your mouth and you can only play one note at a time.’ And you know, if you play piano, you can’t lug it around with you. There you are stuck with this monster. The process was eliminating everything. And get rid of the accordion by all means (laughs).”

Ed: What’s the greatest thing about playing the guitar?
Les: “Surrounding myself with the very people that I admire. Those people who have carried this flag of the guitar to such a great height. I love to just listen to guys like Clapton and Beck and hear what they’re doing with the instrument now. Who would ever have dreamed that the guitar would be so prominent in popular culture and so successful? And continue like it’s endless. You can’t really say that about any other instrument.”

Ed: How did it feel to finally see your Les Paul signature guitar released in the early 50s?
Les: “It was a dream-come-true for me! I started experimenting with the idea of an electric guitar in the late 20s. I never in my wildest imagination thought that I would see my own signature guitar. Or be part of it. And I love hearing what people are doing with that guitar – experimenting with new sounds.”

Ed: What’s the secret of your success?
Les: “I feel that I have been very blessed. You can’t go to the store and buy an ear for music. You can’t buy rhythm and you certainly can’t buy a sense of humour. You can’t buy any of that stuff. Those are God given virtues. I think that you have to be lucky, work hard and you have to believe in yourself. Above all, you must be a lover of the guitar, and music.”