It is the music that I remember

 

Google featured a clever "Doodle" on June 9 to honor Les Paul; you could move the cursor over the strings to strum and pick out music. I completely forgot why I went to Google in the first place, I was having so much fun.

Les Paul and his wife Mary Ford were staples in my adolescent music world. Yes, I know that he practically  "invented" the solid-body electric guitar, and that he was the Father of multi-track recordings, and that after a horrific accident he had the doctors set his now-immobile arm permanently at a 90 degree angle so that he could continue to play the guitar, but it the music that I remember.

"How High the Moon," "Nola," The World is Waiting for the Sunrise," "Tiger Rag," and of course, "Vaya con Dios." Lush, close-miked vocals, literally dozens of instrument and vocal tracks, incredible guitar licks, trills, chording sequences, fretting techniques and timing. It was a totally unique sound. YouTube has dozens of Les Paul and Mary Ford recordings. Help yourself.

That was then. This is now. Looking back at the technology of what he accomplished is staggering. The Les Paul solid body guitar has been a staple in the music industry for more than 60 years! In this digital age, multi-track recording with effects and phase shifting is a yawn. Paul did it with multiple analog tape machines (at a time when they were experimental themselves). The Ampex professional machines that I used in the recording studio were the direct descendants of  Paul's workshop efforts. Impressive.

But it is the music that I remember.