Now you may have heard of Lester William Polsfuss. No? He’s probably better know as Les Paul. He’s been around a while. Since 9 June 1915 to be exact, which makes him 94 today so happy birthday Les Paul! He has been associated with guitar for most of his life and in the 1950s worked with the Gibson Guitar Corporation to develop the Gibson Les Paul; probably one of the most iconic electric guitars in the world favoured by the likes of Slash, Keith Richards and Paul McCartney to name just a few.
I was listening to Rock Radio (Scotland) on my way to work this morning and heard a great little story about Les Paul. Back in 1948 he was involved in a car accident, which left his right arm and hand shattered. He was going to lose freedom of movement in his arm but such was the importance of guitar to him, he asked surgeons to set his arm at the correct angle to allow him to keep playing guitar. The man is a legend.
Footage from the great man’s 92nd birthday jam: