Somewhere There's Music

While my wife and I were living Back East, we learned that Les Paul, then in his 80s, still had a gig, Monday nights, at the Iridium Jazz Club in Manhattan. Our son-in-law, Mark, expert on the metal guitar, was coming to visit, so we took him and our daughter into Manhattan, where we had a few drinks in a crowded bar and listened to Les Paul play and then talk a bit about Mary Ford between songs. I suspect that one day Mark and Sarah will be telling their grandchildren, "Yes, we heard Les Paul live."

Les Paul was one of the inventors of the solid body electric guitar. In a sense, this made rock music possible. The various Les Paul guitars produced by Gibson have been central to the lives of major rock musicians. Paul invented the home studio. He was one of the inventors of overdubbing, multi-track recording and many guitar licks.

Les Paul and his wife, Mary Ford, made a string of mega-hits at home on which he provided the guitar and she did the voice: "Lover," "How High the Moon," "Bye Bye Blues, "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise" and "Vaya Con Dios." Earlier Paul had recorded a major hit with the Andrews Sisters, "It's Been A Long Long Time."

Les Paul is dead at 94. Somewhere there's music/ how faint the tune. . . .