Les Paul: 7 Grammys And 91 Years

Les Paul turned 91 years old this month, and if you don't know who he is keep reading because it’s a name you should instantly recognize. But if you play the guitar, and you don’t know of the many contributions Paul has made for music, then shame on you.

Not only is Paul one of the greatest jazz guitarist of all-time, but he is the guy that pioneered multi-track recording and introduced to the world that sweet sounding solid body guitar, the Gibson Les Paul. A model that can be said to be the only true rival of the Fender Stratocaster.

In the rock ‘n’ roll world there are a host of loyal players that choose to play the Gibson Les Paul: Jimmy Page, Ace Frehley, Neil Young, Slash, Pete Townshend, Zakk Wylde, Joe Perry, the Edge among others.

Paul’s guitars are built to last, and it is quite obvious by the way that he still commands the fretboard, that so is he. Not only does he exhibit the skill and dexterity of an accomplished musician half his age, but at 91 years old his mind is as sharp as the tip of a high E string.

Throughout his set, Paul moves from intricate chords to improvised jazz runs with ease. Watching him play, it is apparent that there is a definite connection between the music that he plays and his celebrated longevity.

The band that backs up Paul consists of Lou Pallo on guitar, Nicki Parrott on the upright bass and John Colianni at the piano. Les Paul and his Trio gives a solid performance, one that would have any musicians in the audience nodding their head with approval.

It’s important to mention that not only does Paul play the guitar, but he is also a classic entertainer as well. He cracks jokes throughout his entire set, and sometimes his humor is directed at his talented and beautiful bass player, Nicki Parrott.

At one point during the show, after she did a solo performance of her song Big Instruments, Paul glanced at Nicki and said, “I feel like a condemned building with a new flag pole on it.”

And here’s a little something that I bet you didn’t know about Les Paul. Last year, he did something different, he recorded his first rock album with a host of famous friends. The record is titled, Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played.

The album features Sting, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Buddy Guy, Joe Perry, Billy Gibbons, Jeff Beck, Ritchie Sambora, Steve Miller, Peter Frampton among others, and it won Paul two Grammys for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for the song, Caravan and Best Rock Instrumental Performance for the song 69 Freedom Special.

That gives Paul a total of seven Grammys. I would be willing to bet some good money that none of the other artists that won Grammys in 2005 will be bringing home any awards in their 90's. Any takers?

Unfortunately, Paul did not make it to the ceremony because he was in the hospital with double pneumonia, so his awards were presented to him at his birthday celebration at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York on June 12th.

The lovely and gorgeous, Fox 5 NY News Anchor Lucy Noland presented the awards to Paul. And not to miss a chance to get a laugh, while posing for pictures with his Grammys. Paul stuck up his middle finger and said, “Here’s one for the drivers in New Jersey.”

Not only is Paul good humored, but he is also very generous with his stage. A host of talented musicians and entertainers were able to join him for a couple of songs. From a talented tap dancer, Andrew Nemr to a unique percussionist Badal Roy on the Indian drums to an impressive electric violinist Christian Howes, they were all welcome to showcase their talents, but the absolute standout of his special guests, was an amazing jazz guitarist from Sweden named Andreas Oberg.

Think Yngwie Malmsteen, but instead of sweeping arpeggios and neo-classical licks, Oberg rips the freteboard up with an array of soulful and energetic jazz solos. Even Paul was in awe of Oberg’s performance, “That will learn you,” he said with a smile.

I caught up with Paul backstage, and was able to speak with him briefly about still performing at 91 years old. “It feels good to play.”

When asked about the future of guitar and whether or not he had any more innovative ideas to offer, he said: “I got all kind of things.”

Being a guitarist myself, I was curious now, so I asked him to let me in on some of his secrets. He told me that his new projects were coming along great, but he said, “I’d rather not divulge any of that. I’ll give it to the Gibson people.”

Talk about loyalty. Alright then, how about the guitar in general? “It’s a proven item,” Paul said. “It’s the number one instrument in the world.”

I couldn’t agree with him more, the guitar is as cool as it ever was, and we can all thank Paul for helping shape the industry that has held the electric guitar aloft for all these years.

Les Paul and his Trio are at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City every Monday night. For tickets and showtimes - click here

Richard Livsey © 2006

Comments

[edawg]

les paul...what a guy! my favorite is birth of the blues on the "chester and lester" albumn.

[Jules]

That's how it should be.
Les Paul you rock
and have my eternal respect for revolutionising.
The music, the instrument and the artist.
you are an inspiration for generations!

[ctb]

One of the most important people in music history

[Mky]

Long live Les Paul! 91 Years old and still rockin' out, that's the spirit!

[TimmyPage06]

Long live Les Paul.

Oberg is absolutely amazing too.

[BlistienZepp]

I had the pleasure of meeting him a couple of months ago. Really funny guy, he has a great sence of humor.

[rollingstones]

Paul is an amazing person. He created the best guitar in the world has his own band, won seven emey and hes 91 years old. If you dont htink that is impressive i dont no what is
long live Les Paul
\m/(..)\m/

[metal_matt6]

91 years old and still rockin

[The Demiurge]

nice artical

[marvelboy_04]

but at 91 years old his mind is as sharp as the tip of a high E string.

lol
and yeah, go les

[METSOAD]

les paul is god

[ledzep1991]

RHDIII wrote:

omg i hate him so much,, GO LEO FENDER!

F uck off

Les Paul, you are god, period

[rocktilludrop]

LP rocks

[iammetal]

eh, fender....the walmart of guitars, cool (i guess) but EVERYWHERE.

Les Paul, not my personal fav. but quality.

[Mortigi Tempo]

RHDIII wrote:

omg i hate him so much,, GO LEO FENDER!

leo fender couldnt even play guitar I think xP but still theyre both great guitars anyway

[BlueOyster23]

I think the world could use another 91 years of Les Paul at least. My grandpa was a big Les Paul fan, and has one of the earlier Les Paul guitars.

[edibledevilboy]

amazing guitarist, same with Andreas Oberg, but i really hate playing les paul guitar's - just uncomfortable...

[kiefermatot]

Paul stuck up his middle finger and said, ?Here?s one for the drivers in New Jersey.?

Haha.

That's the spirit!

[jmt]

This guy's pretty cool, and had an enormous influence on music and the guitar world. My father saw him at the Iridium a month ago, and bought me a t-shirt. Les Paul said that he has arthritis, and only plays the important notes in his songs, not the little embellishments.

[joshsirjoshules]

Les Paul...god I love his playing. I don't like his guitar so much, except for the goldtop with P-90s, but I really like everything else he's done.

[RHDIII]

kidding up there of course

[ibanez916]

great accomplishments at any age

[fiftysteps]

Cant believe we had someone hate Les Paul, stupid really, I mean he is Les Paul, he in someway is the grandpa of any and every musician out there, and just anybody who listens to music

Long Live Paul!

[all4guitars055]

To Bad I didn't read the post 3 posts ahead of this one...but still its true =P

[sirpsycho85]

phenomenal guitarist, and obviously the guitars are great too. oberg is a great djangophile as well.

[Homer F.]

Leo Fender wasn´t able to play guitar! Thank you les paul, for your music and your guitar.
@all4guitars055: you´re right

[carlsbad]

Good man, he is yes.

[INNOCENT VICTIM]

Gee.. i sure hope i can play when i'm 91

[Guitar_Dude777]

all4guitars055 wrote:

[RHDIII wrote:

omg i hate him so much,, GO LEO FENDER!

Are you a f**kin idiot? Les Paul kicks way more ass than Leo Fender. Leo Fender is like dirt in Les Pauls toe nails.

It would be an honor to be the dirt in Les Pauls toe nails.....just kidding thats gross and twisted

[Scourge441]

Gee.. i sure hope i can play when i'm 91

I'm sure msot of us won't be alive at 91.

Les Paul is a hero to musicians everywhere.

[ArcherTheVMan]

Guitar_Dude777 wrote:

all4guitars055 wrote:

[RHDIII wrote:

omg i hate him so much,, GO LEO FENDER!

Are you a f**kin idiot? Les Paul kicks way more ass than Leo Fender. Leo Fender is like dirt in Les Pauls toe nails.


It would be an honor to be the dirt in Les Pauls toe nails.....just kidding thats gross and twisted

Your such ignorant fools. Leo didn't do half the things for music that Les Paul did, i mean yeah the strat and the tele and the fender basses big wow (and i like fender guitars and basses very much), but it doesn't really compare to les paul who was a pioneer in the construction of solid body guitars in the first place, revolutionised the face of recording by inventing multi-track recording, creating the gibson les paul (which in reality without that the sg wouldnt exist either) and also being an incredibly influencial jazz guitarist.

[ArcherTheVMan]

All Hail Les Paul.

[Wilstysabsinthe]

ALL HAIL Mandolins!

http://s3.bitefight.org/c.php?uid=25249

[EZLN libertad]

I SAW HIM
I SAW HIM
I SAW HIM LAST SUMMER

*is cool*

[EZLN libertad]

also for that argument, les paul invented it before leo, so suck on that

Checked.

[BLACKRAVEN]

maby by the time i get to 91 i will be half as good as les paul, i think i could die a very happy man to get anywhere near his achievements.

long live the legend

RAVEN

[MAXWELLMURDER]

^ Actually the FENDER broadcaster (later named the telecaster) was the first solid body guitar thank you very much

[MAXWELLMURDER]

.....and Les Paul ****in rocks

[Guitar_Dude777]

ArcherTheVMan wrote:

Guitar_Dude777 wrote:

all4guitars055 wrote:

[RHDIII wrote:

omg i hate him so much,, GO LEO FENDER!

Are you a f**kin idiot? Les Paul kicks way more ass than Leo Fender. Leo Fender is like dirt in Les Pauls toe nails.


It would be an honor to be the dirt in Les Pauls toe nails.....just kidding thats gross and twisted

Your such ignorant fools. Leo didn't do half the things for music that Les Paul did, i mean yeah the strat and the tele and the fender basses big wow (and i like fender guitars and basses very much), but it doesn't really compare to les paul who was a pioneer in the construction of solid body guitars in the first place, revolutionised the face of recording by inventing multi-track recording, creating the gibson les paul (which in reality without that the sg wouldnt exist either) and also being an incredibly influencial jazz guitarist.

goddammit you didnt have to quote me...i was making a joke

[MeTaLJP13]

Damn 91 years old! Well he stood the test of time as well as his guitars and Les Pauls are the SHIT! strats come nowhere close to LP's.

[Guitar_Poet]

RHDIII wrote:

kidding up there of course

I guess no1 noticed (s)he said (s)he was just kidding about his/her previous comment...

oh well. Les Paul is cool

[RockDragon]

INNOCENT VICTIM :
Gee.. i sure hope i can play when i'm 91

Hell I hope I live to 91!!! Seriously though, he is a legend, and the Les Paul kicks serious ass. Looks the biz and plays great, unfortunately, the Fender's can only acheive the latter, hence my preference . Absolute legend, rock on LP an here's to another 91!!!!!

[Metalology]

Les Paul owns.

[EZLN libertad]

"Actually the FENDER broadcaster (later named the telecaster) was the first solid body guitar thank you very much"
wrong
les paul invented the electric before leo, took it to gibson, gibson said, we dont want it, its too new, so he hid away, then leo fender did it while les paul was waiting

[MastaBassist10]

Woah, a man named after my guitar! Sweet!

[toha33]

I'm not a big fan of Les Paul guitars because they're really expensive but I love Les Paul as a person. I wish I was like him at 91.

[-mick-]

MastaBassist10 wrote:

Woah, a man named after my guitar! Sweet!

guitar is named after him

[punge]

haha i saw him august 05 in new york, in this really small restraunt/club, he and his group played a really nice show, but the best thing was, for the last song Pete Best came out and played drums as a special guest. That was some cool shhit

[CrashedTheShow3]

nice article.

i live a town away from him

[hang.em.high.]

Les Paul is amazing. Someday when I have money, I'll own a Les Paul Black Beauty. Until then...

[wigers will die]

Gibson Les Paul Desert Burst, will soon be mine

[Mortigi Tempo]

actually I thought rickenbakers made the first electric guitars... if I'm wrong no need to go OMG youre such a dumbass cause its not something that I really care about but thats what I always thought

[Jeff Manthei]

How can anyone hate Les Paul? Most of us would be dead by the time we were 91 let alone playing gigs. I'm not a big fender fan because well... Gibson Les Pauls are alot better in my opinion.

Keep up the Good Work Les Paul!

[scarfacesuit]

hang.em.high. wrote:

Les Paul is amazing. Someday when I have money, I'll own a Les Paul Black Beauty. Until then...

haha i wish i had money too.. i played one over at a local music store and the tone and feel was just outstanding. it's pretty cool the dude's 91 now

[wigers will die]

With Seymour Duncan Humbuckers pickups

[Seph_Sepiku]

I would give 3 of my 5 nuts to meet this guy. A Gibson is the only guitar that feels right in my hands. Heck I might move to new york just to watch him play on Mondays!

[R0CKER1220]

Way to go Les, you're a great guitarist, innovator, and human being.

[zeppelin_2112]

i have the AMERICAN PLAYED album its a fantastic record. 5/stars. I also play a lespaul.

[santy]

hey u know whats the saddest thing? michael jackson got more grammys in one night as he did his whole life!

[ninja3]

I would love to see his guitar collection.....Les pauls are my favorite guitars of all time....Fenders I always thought were ugly, plus I never felt comfortable playing one.

[awesomegear16]

Happy Birthday Les! All gibson fans have your respect!

[distilledspirit]

Happy B-Day dude, thanks the Paul is working/sounding great!

[Howe-n-Harrison]

LES...YOUR MY BOY

[Sun of a Studio]

Gibson makes my stomach churn. I like the guitar the Les Paul, I have two after all, but Gibson makes me want to puke. 12,999.99 for a guitar because of a "Carved aluminum top" sounds a lot like price gauging. In regards to the guitar, the Les Paul, personally I think it's one of the most least comfortable guitars out there. Play them sitting down and it's unbalanced, play them standing up and your shoulder kills. They sound nice, but it's like trying to play a rhino. Could just imagine, that 91 year old bucket of bones tries playing one of his hefty lp's and his shoulder rips off and both fall to the floor with a cloud of dust coming from the socket.

[killthelights17]

Amazing..

[Nirvana_RATM2]

the man is a musical genius! Guitar's , Recording , he was a pioneer geniuely one of a kind. Orginally a drummer right lol? I remember hearing Slash say that he play's chords that no one has ever seen lol!

[rick21]

Les Paul has my respect.

checked

[Aftter-Forever]

woah that man is amazing
i dont think thats great of the guitars tho,
i did a report on les paul (the human being) and hes very cool!

[ifeastonbums]

woah this made me listen to him for the first time I normally don't listen to that kind of music but he's really really good where can I find some tabs?

[Vans2639]

" ...the Gibson Les Paul. A model that can be said to be the only true rival of the Fender Stratocaster."

are you kidding me? i have yet to hear a strat that pleases me. so far, the only fender i like is the showmaster telecaster. fender sucks on pauls hairy left nut. true story. the end.

[xDanx]

rollingstones wrote:

Paul is an amazing person. He created the best guitar in the world has his own band, won seven emey and hes 91 years old. If you dont htink that is impressive i dont no what is
long live Les Paul
\m/(..)\m/

Grammy sir, emmy is an award for movies/ tv/ whatever the hell they wanna give one out for nowadays.
I personally can't afford a Gibson, or a Femder Strat... I'm happy with a guitar period.

[Vinura]

gotta love his guitars

[erotic sweaters]

I definitely agree with rollingstones except for the emey part of course, 7 grammys is quite impressive.

[IPLAYBASS]

Les Paul Deserves more respect than all of us put together can give the man. Les Paul turning 91 just shows how if your a smart musician you can rock quite a long time.

[ChubbyLove]

who the **** is les paul?
K I D D I N G! ! ! ! ! ! !
Paul is the god, he created a beauty of a guitar
and inspired millions, also the duet with Chet Atkins = Amazing

[bigal_85]

les paul is the greatest! how could you not like his guitars? although they are heavyish, such a good sound! plus hes 91, give the guy some credit!

[bigal_85]

haha simple plan ahahah

[MastaBassist10]

-mick- wrote:

MastaBassist10 wrote:
I was kidding, smart one.


Woah, a man named after my guitar! Sweet!



guitar is named after him

[dicki-nee]

les paul... a real milestone

[rock_or_roll]

actually slash doesn play a gibson les paul....he plays les paul copies

[gunner_011]

^^^^^ i think slashs first electric guitar was a les paul copy....

[carrotjames]

Yes slash does play a gibson les paul, when he has his own signature model...iv seen him live, my dads see nhim twice. He does also play BC rich's...

[CheeseMuffin909]

Slash lots of different les pauls. He has a few that are copies that he claims are better than gibsons, but nowdays he's using his signature mainly.


Oh and rock on Les Paul. You're a legend.

[Yassine]

MastaBassist10 wrote:

Woah, a man named after my guitar! Sweet!

that was a joke yea?

[gnr_fan_17]

Four words guys.

Coolest old guy ever.

By the way, I loved that joke directed at his bassist. Haha. Disturbing though funny.

[##_Guitar-newb]

91 years YOUNG please! this guy has lots of beans left in him!

[livefortoday]

-mick- wrote:

MastaBassist10 wrote:

Woah, a man named after my guitar! Sweet!


guitar is named after him

he was joking

[Gosman]

awwww someone eraseded mine simple plan comment