Birth of the Blues
(with Chet Atkins)
The Les Paul-verizer
Hold the Tiger
(with Mary Ford)
World Is Waiting For The Sunrise
Les Paul (born Lester William Polsfuss on June 9, 1915) is an American jazz guitarist and inventor. He
is a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which "made the sound of rock and
roll possible."  His many recording innovations include overdubbing, delay effects such as "sound on
sound" and tape delay, phasing effects, and multitrack recording.

He was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin to George and Evelyn Polsfuss. The family name was first
simplified by his mother to Polfuss before he took his stage name of Les Paul. He also used the
nickname "Red Hot Red".

Paul first became interested in music at the age of eight, when he began playing the harmonica.
After an attempt at learning to play the banjo, he began to play the guitar. By 13, Paul was
performing semi-professionally as a country-music guitarist. At the age of 17, Paul played with Rube
Tronson's Cowboys. Soon after, he dropped out of high school to join Wolverton's Radio Band in St.
Louis, Missouri on KMOX.

In the 1930s, Paul worked in Chicago in radio, where he performed jazz music. Paul's first two
records were released in 1936. One was credited to Rhubarb Red, Paul's hillbilly alter ego, and the
other was as an accompanist for blues artist Georgia White.

In January 1948, Paul was injured in a near-fatal automobile accident in Oklahoma, which shattered
his right arm and elbow. Doctors told Paul that there was no way for them to rebuild his elbow in a
way that would let him regain movement, and that his arm would remain in whatever position they
placed it in permanently. Paul then instructed the surgeons to set his arm at an angle that would
allow him to cradle and pick the guitar. It took him a year and a half to recover.

--
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: January 15, 2009
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Paul)
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