This is incredibly sad news. Les was HUGE. If you like rock, you should take a moment of silence right now. http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/13/obit.les.paul/index.html
"Tears are sometimes an inappropriate response to death. When a life has been lived completely honestly, completely successfully, or just completely, the correct response to death's perfect punctuation mark is a smile." - ? R.I.P. Les Paul, life was better because music was better, because you existed.
I ride past his house in Mahwah on my Mountain bike all the time. RIP But I will say, he lived 94 years living the life of a rocker, not to shabby!
I'm glad to see the media are treating this with the gravity it deserves. Les was a genius -- not just as a guitarist, but a technological pioneer.
How many MILLIONS of people over the past half century have owned a LES PAUL guitar. They don't own a Gibson or Epiphone Les Paul. Just a Les Paul. The impact this man had....check that....HAS on music cannot be understated. He and Leo Fender pretty much own the last 50 years of music.
At the same time...the man lived 94 years, and gave a gift to the world that can not only never be repaid, but will keep giving for centuries. Most of us should be so lucky to be able to be remembered like that. Instead of mourning his passing, I hope people celebrate his life.
One of my very fondest memories was listening to my dad play along with his Chester and Lester LP -- a must-have gem featuring fantastic duets and gentle banter between Paul and Chet Atkins. In fact, I think I may have to look for it on Amazon tonight.
What a precious and wonderful gift he gave the world. And what a bright and magnificent soul. He played simply because he loved to play guitar, loved music and loved to make people happy. RIP and thank you Les Paul.
He played at concerts even when he was an old man, the guy was a musical genius, no one will ever have that talent again.
Some nice quotes from his fans at the end of the article. http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/News/les-paul-passes-away-at-94-813/
Somewhere theres Music but its in Heaven now Les Paul passed and not a word was spoken. May he rest in peace. What would the world of music have been like without you Les. Thank you so very much for sharing your gift with us lesser mortals. Now you get to play for The Man, truly How high the Moon! It seems I was wrong about no post, sorry, but I didn't see any.
I don't get why threads have to be moved based on such narrow definition. Les Paul was a giant whose influence transcended music and permeated popular culture; why couldn't his memorial thread stay in the lounge? Are the Ed McMahon, Michael Jackson and other memorial threads moved as well?
Joe, there were several Les Paul threads that got merged with the one I created first in Music and Movies.
