Les Paul 1915-2009

[TOK]

 

The first celebrity death of the year that actually affected me. Damn.
 

[Ginsu Victim]

RIP

A nice, long life. This man touched a lot of lives.

[RTSDaddy2]

Very true...and what kills me is all the fuss made over Michael Jackson, yet news like this will be here today and gone tomorrow.

Those of us musicians, however, know that Les Paul was the true "king" of the guitars and had more influence on more musicians than we could count here....Michael couldn't even hold the man's guitar pick.

[Nipedley]

It's saddening how many high profile deaths there seem to be lately. Not just MJ but tons, it seems quite a few from cancer. Maybe it's just me growing older and noticing these things more. Anyhow, RIP Les Paul, at least he had a good long life.

[RTSDaddy2]

For those that have never heard, or seen, Les Paul play....or for those of us who just had to hear it one more time.  Here's Les & Mary Ford doing "The World Is Waiting for the Sunshine."  Guitarists, watch this guy's fingers fly....guitar hero games may be fun, but there are some things we just can't emulate.

[RTSDaddy2]

Oh what the heck....here's one more.  When I was growing up, my parents had what would amount to the greatest hits of Les Paul & Mary Ford.  This song immediately became my favorite, and remains so to this day.  The audio is not great on this clip, but it'll do....and once again shows off the guy's fingers of fire.

Come on - name me somebody who is even close to Les Paul. You sure won't find the man's equal today.  For that matter, name me a singer that can keep up with all those "Here kitty kitty's" that seem to just roll off Mary Ford's tongue.     Like I said, 30 years later and it's still the damndest thing I've ever heard / seen.