Electric guitar hero Les Paul dead at 94: Hit-maker, musical designer, pioneer

BY Jim Farber
DAILY NEWS MUSIC CRITIC

Friday, August 14th 2009, 5:36 AM

Paul, dubbed the "Father of the Electric Guitar," died Thursday at White Plains Hospital from complications of pneumonia at age 94. Family and friends were with him when he died.

Paul will be remembered for many things: as a hit-maker with his late wife, Mary Ford; as a key figure in the development of the electric guitar; as a wily experimenter in electronic effects and guitar design, and as a pioneer of multitrack recording.

Born Lester William Polsfuss in Waukesha, Wis., on June 9, 1915, he began playing publicly when he was 13. At 17, he dropped out of high school to play with Sonny Joe Wolverton's radio band in St. Louis.

Wolverton gave Paul his first stage name, "Rhubarb Red." The style Paul forged at the time mixed hillbilly with influences from the great gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt.

By 1938, Paul moved to New York, where his trio became popular on national radio. Always a tinkerer, Paul began making his guitars in the late 1930s.

He disliked the reedy tone of early hollow-bodied guitars, so he set out to create a prototype for a solid one, the early result of which he dubbed "the log."

During World War II, Paul played on Armed Forces Radio and then formed the Les Paul Trio, where he focused his creamy tone and gelatto-smooth runs.

The trio's recordings with Bing Crosby scored a No.1, million seller with "It's Been a Long, Long Time."

In 1947, Paul began experimenting with what would become multitrack recording, cutting eight different guitar parts for a single song, "Lover (When You're Near Me)."

By 1949 Paul also advanced the technique of tape-delay. He used these techniques on smash recordings in the '50s such as "How High The Moon" and "Tiger Rag," all featuring his second wife, Mary Ford.

In 1952, Paul formed a pact with Gibson Guitars that led to his design for the Gibson Les Paul, whose "Black Beauty" version has been played, and prized, at various times by every subsequent guitar hero of the rock 'n' roll era, from Jimmy Page to Jack White. That achievement kept his name alive with the young, long after his hits ended.

A worsening case of arthritis caused Paul to slow down in later years, but until recently, he still performed regular shows at New York's Iridium Jazz Club.

There, stars from Paul McCartney to Keith Richards would sit in with him, and pay homage to the man they considered the "Father of the Electric Guitar."

jfarber@nydailynews.com