The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (December 2010)

Timber in storage for later processing at a sawmill

Wood cut from Victorian Eucalyptus regnans

Lumber (also known as timber) is wood in any of its stages from felling to readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production.

Lumber is supplied either rough or finished. Besides pulpwood, rough lumber is the raw material for furniture-making and other items requiring additional cutting and shaping. It is available in many species, usually hardwoods.^{[citation needed]} Finished lumber is supplied in standard sizes, mostly for the construction industry, primarily softwood from coniferous species including pine, fir and spruce (collectively known as Spruce-pine-fir), cedar, and hemlock, but also some hardwood, for high-grade flooring.

Terminology[link]

In the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth Countries such as Australia and New Zealand, timber is a term used for sawn wood products, such as floor boards, whereas generally in the United States and Canada, it refers to felled trees, later milled into boards referred to as lumber. "Timber" is also used there to describe sawn lumber not less than 5 inches (127 mm) in its smallest dimension.^[1] An example of the latter is the often partially finished lumber used in timber-frame construction.

In the United Kingdom the word lumber has several other meanings, including unused or unwanted items.

Dimensional lumber[link]

Example of 2×6.

Dimensional lumber is a term used for lumber that is finished/planed and cut to standardized width and depth specified in inches. Examples of common sizes are 2×4 (also two-by-four and other variants, such as four-by-two in the UK, Australia, New Zealand), 2×6 (pictured), and 4×4. The length of a board is usually specified separately from the width and depth. It is thus possible to find 2×4s that are four, eight, or 12 feet in length. In the United States and Canada the standard lengths of lumber are 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, and 24 feet. For wall framing, "stud," or "precut" sizes are available, and commonly used. For an eight, nine, or ten foot ceiling height, studs are available in 92 5/8 inches, 104 5/8 inches, and 116 5/8 inches. (Because the term "stud" is used inconsistently when referring to length, care should be taken to always specify the exact, actual length required.) 

Solid dimensional lumber typically is only available up to lengths of 24 ft. Engineered wood products, manufactured by binding the strands, particles, fibers, or veneers of wood, together with adhesives, to form composite materials, offer more flexibility and greater structural strength than typical wood building materials.^[2]

Pre-cut studs save a framer a lot of time as they are pre-cut by the manufacturer to be used in 8 ft, 9 ft & 10 ft ceiling applications, which means they have removed a few inches of the piece to allow for the sill plate and the double top plate with no additional sizing necessary.

In the Americas, two-bys (2×4s, 2×6s, 2×8s, 2×10s, and 2×12s), along with the 4×4, are common lumber sizes used in modern construction. They are the basic building block for such common structures as balloon-frame or platform-frame housing. Dimensional lumber made from softwood is typically used for construction, while hardwood boards are more commonly used for making cabinets or furniture.

Lumber's nominal dimensions are given in terms of green (not dried), rough (unfinished) dimensions. The finished size is smaller, as a result of drying (which shrinks the wood), and planing to smooth the wood. However, the difference between "nominal" and "finished" lumber size can vary. So various standards have specified the difference between nominal size, and finished size, of lumber.

Early standards called for green rough lumber to be of full nominal dimension when dry, but the requirements have diminished over time. For example, in 1910, a typical finished 1-inch- (25 mm) board was ¹³⁄₁₆ in (21 mm). In 1928, that was reduced by 4%, and yet again by 4% in 1956. In 1961, at a meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, the Committee on Grade Simplification and Standardization agreed to what is now the current U.S. standard: in part, the dressed size of a 1 inch (nominal) board was fixed at ³⁄₄ inch; while the dressed size of 2 inch (nominal) lumber was reduced from 1 ⁵⁄₈ inch to the now standard 1 ¹⁄₂ inch.^[3]

Grades and standards[link]

Individual pieces of lumber exhibit a wide range in quality and appearance with respect to knots, slope of grain, shakes and other natural characteristics. Therefore, they vary considerably in strength, utility and value.

The move to set national standards for lumber in the United States began with publication of the American Lumber Standard in 1924, which set specifications for lumber dimensions, grade, and moisture content; it also developed inspection and accreditation programs. These standards have changed over the years to meet the changing needs of manufacturers and distributors, with the goal of keeping lumber competitive with other construction products. Current standards are set by the American Lumber Standard Committee, appointed by the Secretary of Commerce.^[4]

Design values for most species and grades of visually graded structural products are determined in accordance with ASTM standards, which consider the effect of strength reducing characteristics, load duration, safety and other influencing factors. The applicable standards are based on results of tests conducted in cooperation with the USDA Forest Products Laboratory. Design Values for Wood Construction, which is a supplement to the ANSI/AF&PA National Design Specification® for Wood Construction, provides these lumber design values, which are recognized by the model building codes. A summary of the six published design values—including bending (Fb), shear parallel to grain (Fv), compression perpendicular to grain (Fc-perp), compression parallel to grain (Fc), tension parallel to grain (Ft), and modulus of elasticity (E and Emin) can be found in Structural Properties and Performance^[5] published by WoodWorks.

Canada has grading rules that maintain a standard among mills manufacturing similar woods to assure customers of uniform quality. Grades standardize the quality of lumber at different levels and are based on moisture content, size and manufacture at the time of grading, shipping and unloading by the buyer. The National Lumber Grades Authority (NLGA)^[6] is responsible for writing, interpreting and maintaining Canadian lumber grading rules and standards. The Canadian Lumber Standards Accreditation Board (CLSAB)^[7] monitors the quality of Canada's lumber grading and identification system.

Attempts to maintain lumber quality over time have been challenged by historical changes in the timber resources of the United States—from the slow-growing virgin forests common over a century ago to the fast-growing plantations now common in today's commercial forests. Resulting declines in lumber quality have been of concern to both the lumber industry and consumers and have caused increased use of alternative construction products^[8][9]

Machine stress-rated and machine-evaluated lumber is readily available for end-uses where high strength is critical, such as truss rafters, laminating stock, I-beams and web joints. Machine grading measures a characteristic such as stiffness or density that correlates with the structural properties of interest, such as bending strength. The result is a more precise understanding of the strength of each piece of lumber than is possible with visually graded lumber, which allows designers to use full-design strength and avoid overbuilding.^[10]

In Europe, strength grading of sawn softwood is done according to EN-14081-1/2/3/4 and sorted into 9 classes; In increasing strength these are: C14, C16, C18, С22, С24, С27, С30, С35 and С40^[11]

• C14 Used for Scaffolding or Formwork
• C24 General construction
• C30 Prefab Rooftrusses and where design requires somewhat stronger joists than C24 can offer
• C40 Usually seen in Glulam

Hardwoods[link]

In North America, sizes for dimensional lumber made from hardwoods varies from the sizes for softwoods. Boards are usually supplied in random widths and lengths of a specified thickness, and sold by the board-foot (144 cubic inches or 2,360 cubic centimetres, ¹⁄₁₂th of 1 cubic foot or 0.028 cubic metres. This does not apply in all countries; for example, in Australia many boards are sold to timber yards in packs with a common profile (dimensions) but not necessarily consisting of the same length boards.

Also in North America, hardwood lumber is commonly sold in a "quarter" system when referring to thickness. 4/4 (four quarters) refers to a 1-inch-thick (25 mm) board, 8/4 (eight quarters) is a 2-inch-thick (51 mm) board, etc. This system is not usually used for softwood lumber, although softwood decking is sometimes sold as 5/4 (actually one inch thick).

Hardwoods cut for furniture are cut in the fall and winter, after the sap has stopped running in the trees. If hardwoods are cut in the spring or summer the sap ruins the natural color of the timber and decreases the value of the timber for furniture.

Engineered lumber[link]

Engineered lumber is lumber created by a manufacturer and designed for a certain structural purpose. The main categories of engineered lumber are:^[12]

1. Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) – LVL comes in 1 ³⁄₄ inch thicknesses with depths such as 9 ¹⁄₂, 11 ⁷⁄₈, 14, 16, 18, or 24 inches, and are often doubled or tripled up. They function as beams to provide support over large spans, such as removed support walls and garage door openings, places where dimensional lumber isn't sufficient, and also in areas where a heavy load is bearing from a floor, wall or roof above on a somewhat short span where dimensional lumber isn't practical. This type of lumber cannot be altered by holes or notches anywhere within the span or at the ends, as it compromises the integrity of the beam, but nails can be driven into it wherever necessary to anchor the beam or to add hangers for I-joists or dimensional lumber joists that terminate at an LVL beam.
2. Wood I-Joists – Sometimes called "TJI","Trus Joists" or "BCI", all of which are brands of wood I-joists, they are used for floor joists on upper floors and also in first floor conventional foundation construction on piers as opposed to slab floor construction. They are engineered for long spans and are doubled up in places where a wall will be aligned over them, and sometimes tripled where heavy roof-loaded support walls are placed above them. They consist of a top and bottom chord/flange made from dimensional lumber with a webbing in-between made from oriented strand board (OSB). The webbing can be removed up to certain sizes/shapes according to the manufacturer's or engineer's specifications, but for small holes, wood I-joists come with "knockouts", which are perforated, pre-cut areas where holes can be made easily, typically without engineering approval. When large holes are needed, they can typically be made in the webbing only and only in the center third of the span; the top and bottom chords cannot be cut. Sizes and shapes of the hole, and typically the placing of a hole itself, must be approved by an engineer prior to the cutting of the hole and in many areas, a sheet showing the calculations made by the engineer must be provided to the building inspection authorities before the hole will be approved. Some I-joists are made with W-style webbing like a truss to eliminate cutting and allow ductwork to pass through.
   File:Freshlycutlogs.JPG

   Freshly cut logs showing sap running from beneath bark
3. Finger-Jointed Lumber – Solid dimensional lumber lengths typically are limited to lengths of 22 to 24 feet, but can be made longer by the technique of "finger-jointing" lumber by using small solid pieces, usually 18 to 24 inches long, and joining them together using finger joints and glue to produce lengths that can be up to 36 feet long in 2×6 size. Finger-jointing also is predominant in precut wall studs. It is also an affordable alternative for non-structural hardwood that will be painted (staining would leave the finger-joints visible). Care must be taken during construction to avoid nailing directly into a glued joint as stud breakage can occur.
4. Glu-lam Beams – Created from 2×4 or 2×6 stock by gluing the faces together to create beams such as 4×12 or 6×16. By gluing multiple, common sized pieces of lumber together, they act as one larger piece of lumber - thus eliminating the need to harvest larger, older trees for the same size beam.
5. Manufactured Trusses – Trusses are used in home construction as a pre-fabricated replacement for roof rafters and ceiling joists (stick-framing). It is seen as an easier installation and a better solution for supporting roofs as opposed to the use of dimensional lumber's struts and purlins as bracing. In the southern USA and other parts, stick-framing with dimensional lumber roof support is still predominant. The main drawback of trusses are reduced attic space, time required for engineering and ordering, and a cost higher than the dimensional lumber needed if the same project were conventionally framed. The advantages are significantly reduced labor costs (installation is faster than conventional framing), consistency, and overall schedule savings.

Timber piles[link]

In the US pilings are mainly cut from Southern Yellow Pine (SYP) and Douglas Fir (DF). Treated Piling are available in CCA retentions of .60, .80, and 2.50 pcf (pounds per cubic foot) if treatment is required.

Defects in lumber[link]

Defects occurring in timber are grouped into the following five divisions:

Conversion[link]

During the process of converting timber to commercial form the following defects may occur:

1. Chip mark: this defect is indicated by the marks or signs placed by chips on the finished surface of timber
2. Diagonal grain: improper sawing of timber
3. Torn grain: when a small depression is made on the finished surface due to falling of some tool
4. Wane: presence of original rounded surface in the finished product

Defects due to fungi[link]

Fungi attack timber when these conditions are all present:

1. The timber moisture content is above 25% on a dry-weight basis
2. The environment is warm enough
3. Air is present

Wood with less than 25% moisture (dry weight basis) can remain free of decay for centuries. Similarly, wood submerged in water may not be attacked by fungi if the amount of oxygen is inadequate.

Fungi timber defects:

1. Blue stain
2. Brown rot
3. Dry rot
4. Heart rot
5. Sap stain
6. Wet rot
7. White rot

Insects[link]

Following are the insects which are usually responsible for the decay of timber:

1. Beetles
2. Marine borers (Barnea similis)
3. Termites
4. Carpenter ants

Natural forces[link]

There are two main natural forces responsible for causing defects in timber: abnormal growth and rupture of tissues.

Seasoning[link]

Defects due to seasoning are the number one cause for splinters and slivers.

Durability and service life[link]

Under proper conditions, wood provides excellent, lasting performance. However, it also faces several potential threats to service life, including fungal activity and insect damage—which can be avoided in numerous ways. Section 2304.11 of the International Building Code (IBC) addresses protection against decay and termites. This section provides requirements for non-residential construction applications, such as wood used above ground (e.g., for framing, decks, stairs, etc.), as well as other applications.

There are four recommended methods to protect wood-frame structures against durability hazards and thus provide maximum service life for the building. All require proper design and construction:

1. Control moisture using design techniques to avoid decay. 2. Provide effective control of termites and other insects. 3. Use durable materials such as pressure treated or naturally durable species of wood where appropriate. 4. Provide quality assurance during design and construction and throughout the building’s service life using appropriate maintenance practices.

Moisture control[link]

Wood is a hygroscopic material, which means it naturally absorbs and releases water to balance its internal moisture content with the surrounding environment. The moisture content of wood is measured by the weight of water as a percentage of the oven-dry weight of the wood fiber. The key to controlling decay is to control moisture. Once decay fungi are established, the minimum moisture content for decay to propagate is 22 to 24 percent, so building experts recommend 19 percent as the maximum safe moisture content for untreated wood in service. Water by itself does not harm the wood, but rather, wood with consistently high moisture content enables fungal organisms to grow.

The primary objective when addressing moisture loads is to keep water from entering the building envelope in the first place, and to balance the moisture content within the building itself. Moisture control by means of accepted design and construction details is a simple and practical method of protecting a wood-frame building against decay. Finally, for applications with a high risk of staying wet, designers should specify durable materials such as naturally decay-resistant species or wood that’s been treated with preservatives. Cladding, shingles, sill plates and exposed timbers or glulam beams are examples of potential applications for treated wood.

Controlling termites and other insects[link]

For buildings in termite zones, basic protection practices addressed in current building codes include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Grade the building site away from the foundation to provide proper drainage. • Cover exposed ground in any crawl spaces with 6-mil polyethylene film and maintain at least 12 to 18 inches of clearance between the ground and the bottom of framing members above (12 inches to beams or girders, 18 inches to joists or plank flooring members). • Support post columns by concrete piers so there’s at least six inches of clear space between the wood and exposed earth. • Install wood framing and sheathing in exterior walls at least eight inches above exposed earth; locate siding at least six inches from the finished grade. • Where appropriate and desired, ventilate crawl spaces according to local building codes. • Remove building material scraps from the job site before backfilling. If termites are found, eliminate their nests. • If allowed by local regulation, treat the soil around the foundation with an approved termiticide to provide protection against subterranean termites.

Preservatives[link]

Special fastners should be used with treated lumber because of the corrosive chemicals used in its preservation process

To avoid decay and termite infestation, it is important to separate untreated wood from the ground and other sources of moisture. These separations are required by many building codes and are considered necessary to maintain wood elements in permanent structures at a safe moisture content for decay protection. When it is not possible to separate wood from the sources of moisture, designers often rely on preservative-treated wood.^[13]

Wood can be treated with a preservative that improves service life under severe conditions without altering its basic characteristics. It can also be pressure-impregnated with fire-retardant chemicals that improve its performance in a fire.^[14] One of the early treatments to fireproof lumber which retard fires was developed in 1936 by Protexol Corporation in which lumber is heavily treated with salt.^[15] Wood does not deteriorate just because it gets wet. When wood breaks down, it is because an organism is eating it as food. Preservatives work by making the food source inedible to these organisms. Properly preservative-treated wood can have 5 to 10 times the service life of untreated wood. Preserved wood is used most often for railroad ties, utility poles, marine piles, decks, fences and other outdoor applications. Various treatment methods and types of chemicals are available, depending on the attributes required in the particular application and the level of protection needed.^[16]

There are two basic methods of treating: with and without pressure. Non-pressure methods are the application of preservative by brushing, spraying or dipping the piece to be treated. Deeper, more thorough penetration is achieved by driving the preservative into the wood cells with pressure. Various combinations of pressure and vacuum are used to force adequate levels of chemical into the wood. Pressure-treating preservatives consist of chemicals carried in a solvent. Chromated copper arsenate (CCA), once the most commonly used wood preservative in North America began being phased out of most residential applications in 2004. Replacing it are amine copper quat (ACQ) and copper azole (CA).

All wood preservatives used in the U.S. and Canada are registered and regularly re-examined for safety by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Health Canada's Pest Management and Regulatory Agency, respectively.^[17]

Timber framing[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Timber framing is a style of construction which uses heavier framing elements than modern stick framing, which uses dimensional lumber. The timbers originally were tree boles squared with a broadaxe or adze and joined together with joinery without nails. A modern imitation with sawn timbers is growing in popularity in the United States.

Residual wood[link]

The conversion from coal to biomass power is a growing trend in the United States.^[18]

The U.S. and Canadian governments both support an increased role for energy derived from biomass, which are organic materials available on a renewable basis and include residues and/or byproducts of the logging, sawmilling and papermaking processes. In particular, they view it as a way to lower greenhouse gas emissions by reducing consumption of oil and gas while supporting the growth of forestry, agriculture and rural economies. Studies by the U.S. government have found the country’s combined forest and agriculture land resources have the power to sustainably supply more than one-third of its current petroleum consumption.^[19]

Three potentially large sources of forest biomass currently not being used in abundance are harvesting residues, particularly those left at the roadside, thinning treatments done in conjunction with efforts to reduce forest fire hazards (mostly in the U.S.), and salvage and recovery of beetle-killed timber (mostly in Canada).

Biomass is already an important source of energy for the North American forest products industry. It is common for companies to have cogeneration facilities, also known as combined heat and power, which convert some of the biomass that results from wood and paper manufacturing to electrical and thermal energy in the form of steam. The electricity is used to, among other things, dry lumber and supply heat to the dryers used in paper-making.

Remanufactured lumber[link]

Remanufactured Lumber refers to secondary or tertiary processing/cutting of previously milled lumber. The term specifically refers to lumber cut for industrial or wood packaging use. Lumber is cut by ripsaw or resaw to create dimensions that are not usually processed by a primary sawmill.

Resawing is the process of splitting 1 inch through 12 inch hardwood or softwood lumber into two or more thinner pieces of full length boards. For example, splitting a ten foot 2x4 into two ten foot 1x4s is considered resawing.

In addition to resawing lumber, remanufactured lumber can be ripped on a ripsaw using single or multiple blades. Ripping is the process of splitting 1" through 12" hardwood or softwood lumber into two or more narrower pieces of full length boards. For example, splitting a ten foot 2x4 into two ten foot 2x2s is considered ripping.^[20]

Environmental benefits of lumber[link]

Green building minimizes the impact or "environmental footprint" of a building. Wood is a major building material that is renewable and uses the sun’s energy to renew itself in a continuous sustainable cycle.^[21] Studies show manufacturing wood uses less energy and results in less air and water pollution than steel and concrete.

See also[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Sathre, R; O'Conner, J (2010). A Synthesis of Research on Wood Products and Greenhouse Gas Impacts (2 ed.). FPInnovations. ISBN 978-0-86488-546-3. http://www.forintek.ca/public/pdf/Public_Information/technical_rpt/TR19%20Complete%20Pub-web.pdf. 

External links[link]

Look up lumber or timber in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• National Hardwood Lumber Association (Rules for Grading Hardwood Lumber - Inspector Training School)
• Timber Development Association of NSW - Australia
• TRADA: Timber Research And Development Association
• The Forest Products Laboratory. US main wood products research lab. Madison, WI (E)
• WCTE, World Conference on Timber Engineering　June 20–24, 2010, Riva del Garda, Trentino, Italy
• Canadian Wood Council

Les Paul
Les Paul playing a Gibson Les Paul in a live show at Iridium Jazz Club in New York City, 2008.
Background information
Birth name	Lester William Polsfuss[1]
Born	(1915-06-09)June 9, 1915 Waukesha, Wisconsin, United States
Died	August 13, 2009(2009-08-13) (aged 94) White Plains, New York, United States[2]
Genres	Jazz, country, blues, rock and roll
Occupations	Innovator, Inventor, Musician, Songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, Banjo, Harmonica
Years active	1928–2009
Website	lespaulfoundation.org
Notable instruments
Gibson Les Paul

Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 13, 2009)^[3][4][5]—known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was the inventor of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible.^[6] He is credited with many recording innovations. Although he was not the first to use the technique, his early experiments with overdubbing (also known as sound on sound),^[7] delay effects such as tape delay, phasing effects and multitrack recording were among the first to attract widespread attention.^[8]

His innovative talents extended into his playing style, including licks, trills, chording sequences, fretting techniques and timing, which set him apart from his contemporaries and inspired many guitarists of the present day.^{[9][10][11][12]} He recorded with his wife Mary Ford in the 1950s, and they sold millions of records.

Among his many honors, Paul is one of a handful of artists with a permanent, stand-alone exhibit in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.^[13] He is prominently named by the music museum on its website as an "architect" and a "key inductee" along with Sam Phillips and Alan Freed.^[14]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Les Paul was born Lester William Polsfuss outside Milwaukee, in Waukesha, Wisconsin, to George and Evelyn (1888–1989) (née Stutz) Polsfus. His family was of German ancestry.^[15] Paul's mother was related to the founders of Milwaukee's Valentin Blatz Brewing Company and the makers of the Stutz automobile.^[16] His parents divorced when he was a child.^[17] The Prussian family name was first simplified by his mother to Polfuss before he took his stage name of Les Paul. He also used the nicknames Red Hot Red^[18] and Rhubarb Red.^[19]

While living in Wisconsin, he first became interested in music at age eight when he began playing the harmonica. After an attempt at learning the banjo, he began to play the guitar. It was during this time that he invented a neck-worn harmonica holder, which allowed him to play the harmonica hands-free while accompanying himself on the guitar. Paul's device is still manufactured using his basic design.^[20] By age thirteen, Paul was performing semi-professionally as a country-music singer, guitarist and harmonica player. While playing at the Waukesha area drive-ins and roadhouses, Paul began his first experiment with sound. Wanting to make himself heard by more people at the local venues, he wired a phonograph needle to a radio speaker, using that to amplify his acoustic guitar.^[21] At age seventeen, Paul played with Rube Tronson's Texas Cowboys, and soon after he dropped out of high school to join Wolverton's Radio Band in St. Louis, Missouri, on KMOX.

Early career[link]

Paul migrated to Chicago in 1934, where he continued to perform on radio, and met pianist Art Tatum, whose playing influenced him to a career devoted to guitar rather than original plans of taking on the piano. ^[22] His first two records were released in 1936. One was credited to "Rhubarb Red", Paul's hillbilly alter ego, and the other was as an accompanist for blues-artist Georgia White. It was during this time that he began playing jazz and adopted his stage name.^[23]

Paul's jazz-guitar style was strongly influenced by the music of Django Reinhardt, whom he greatly admired. Following World War II, Paul sought out and befriended Reinhardt. After Reinhardt's death in 1953, Paul furnished his headstone.^{[citation needed]} One of Paul's prize possessions was a Selmer Maccaferri acoustic guitar given to him by Reinhardt's widow.^[18]

Paul formed a trio in 1937 with singer/rhythm guitarist Jim Atkins^[24] (older half-brother of guitarist Chet Atkins) and bassist/percussionist Ernie "Darius" Newton. They left Chicago for New York in 1939, landing a featured spot with Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians radio show. Chet Atkins later wrote that his brother, home on a family visit, presented the younger Atkins with an expensive Gibson archtop guitar that had been given to Jim Atkins by Les Paul. Chet recalled that it was the first professional-quality instrument he ever owned.^[25]

Paul was dissatisfied with acoustic-electric guitars and began experimenting at his apartment in Queens, NY with a few designs of his own. Famously, he created several versions of "The Log", which was nothing more than a length of common 4x4 lumber with a bridge, guitar neck and pickup attached. For the sake of appearance, he attached the body of an Epiphone hollow-body guitar, sawn lengthwise with The Log in the middle. This solved his two main problems: feedback, as the acoustic body no longer resonated with the amplified sound, and sustain, as the energy of the strings was not dissipated in generating sound through the guitar body. These instruments were constantly being improved and modified over the years, and Paul continued to use them in his recordings long after the development of his eponymous Gibson model. In 1945, Richard D. Bourgerie made an electric guitar pickup and amplifier for professional guitar player George Barnes. Bourgerie worked through World War II at Howard Radio Company making electronic equipment for the American military. Barnes showed the result to Les Paul, who then arranged for Bourgerie to have one made for him.

While experimenting in his apartment in 1940, Paul nearly succumbed to electrocution. During two years of recuperation, he relocated to Hollywood, supporting himself by producing radio music and forming a new trio. He was drafted into the US Army shortly after the beginning of World War II, where he served in the Armed Forces Network, backing such artists as Bing Crosby, the Andrews Sisters, and performing in his own right.^[26]

Les Paul, ca. January 1947 (Photograph by William P. Gottlieb)

As a last-minute replacement for Oscar Moore, Paul played with Nat King Cole and other artists in the inaugural Jazz at the Philharmonic concert in Los Angeles, California, on July 2, 1944. The recording, still available as Jazz at the Philharmonic- the first concert- shows Paul at the top of his game, both in his solid four to the bar comping in the style of Freddie Green and for the originality of his solo lines. Paul's solo on 'Blues' is an astonishing tour de force and represents a memorable contest between himself and Nat 'King' Cole. Much later in his career, Paul declared that he had been the victor and that this had been conceded by Cole.^{[citation needed]} His solo on Body and Soul is a fine demonstration both of his admiration for and emulation of the playing of Django Reinhardt, as well as his development of some very original lines.

Also that year, Paul's trio appeared on Bing Crosby's radio show. Crosby went on to sponsor Paul's recording experiments. The two also recorded together several times, including a 1945 number-one hit, "It's Been a Long, Long Time." In addition to backing Crosby, The Andrews Sisters and other artists, Paul's trio also recorded a few albums of their own on the Decca label in the late 1940s. Paul was particularly enamored by the famous Andrews Sisters, who hired The Les Paul Trio as their opening act while they toured in 1946. Lou Levy, the sisters' manager and a music publishing giant of the big band era and beyond, once said, "Watching his fingers work was like watching a locomotive go."^[27] The trio's longtime conductor, Vic Schoen, said of Les, "You could always count on him to come up with something no one else had thought of,"^[28] while Maxene Andrews once remembered, "It was wonderful having him perform with us. He'd tune into the passages we were singing and lightly play the melody, sometimes in harmony. We'd sing these fancy licks and he'd keep up with us note for note in exactly the same rhythm...almost contributing a fourth voice. But he never once took the attention away from what we were doing. He did everything he could to make us sound better."^[29] Two Decca recordings from 1946 pairing Paul with The Andrews Sisters ("Rumors Are Flying" and "It's a Pity to Say Goodnight") exist today to well affirm such comments. Paul's many hits with wife Mary Ford recording her vocals in triplicate in the 1950s produced a sound eerily similar to the harmonious blend of The Andrews Sisters.^[30] As Les Paul biographer Mary Alice Shaughnessy noted of Paul's association with The Andrews Sisters, "Les welcomed the opportunity to study them in full flight."^[31]

In January 1948, Paul shattered his right arm and elbow in a near-fatal automobile accident on an icy Route 66 just west of Davenport, Oklahoma. Mary Ford was driving the Buick convertible, which rolled several times down a creekbed; they were on their way back from Wisconsin to Los Angeles after performing at the opening of a restaurant owned by Paul's father. Doctors at Oklahoma City's Wesley Presbyterian Hospital told him that they could not rebuild his elbow so that he would regain movement; his arm would remain permanently in whatever position they placed it in. Their other option was amputation. Paul instructed surgeons, brought in from Los Angeles, to set his arm at an angle—just under 90 degrees—that would allow him to cradle and pick the guitar. It took him nearly a year and a half to recover.^[32]

Guitar builder[link]

The Gibson Les Paul, one of the world's most popular electric guitars, was named after the man who invented it.

Paul's innovative guitar, "The Log", built after-hours in the Epiphone guitar factory in 1940, a 4" × 4" chunk of pine with strings and a pickup, was one of the first solid-body electric guitars.^[33][34] Paul Tutmarc of Audiovox Manufacturing Co. built a solid body electric bass in 1935 and Adolph Rickenbacker had marketed a solid-body guitar in the 1930s and Paul A. Bigsby had built one for Merle Travis in 1948 and Leo Fender also independently created his own (the Fender "Broadcaster" later changed to "Esquire" for copyright reasons, a single pickup model) in 1948. Although Paul approached the Gibson Guitar Corporation with his idea of a solid body electric guitar, they showed no interest until Fender began marketing its Esquire which later had a second pick-up added and became known as the Telecaster.

The arrangement persisted until 1961, when declining sales prompted Gibson to change the design without Paul's knowledge, creating a much thinner, lighter and more aggressive-looking instrument with two cutaway "horns" instead of one. Paul said he first saw the "new" Gibson Les Paul in a music-store window, and disliked it. Although his contract required him to pose with the guitar, he said it was not "his" instrument and asked Gibson to remove his name from the headstock. Others claimed that Paul ended his endorsement contract with Gibson during his divorce to avoid having his wife get his endorsement money.^[35] Gibson renamed the guitar "Gibson SG", which stands for "Solid Guitar", and it also became one of the company's best sellers.

The original Gibson Les Paul-guitar design regained popularity when Eric Clapton began playing the instrument a few years later, although he also played an SG and an ES-335. Paul resumed his relationship with Gibson and endorsed the original Gibson Les Paul guitar from that point onwards^{[citation needed]}. His personal Gibson Les Pauls were much modified by him—Paul always used his own self-wound pickups and customized methods of switching between pickups on his guitars^{[citation needed]}. To this day, various models of Gibson Les Paul guitars are used all over the world by both novice and professional guitarists. A less-expensive version of the Gibson Les Paul guitar is also manufactured for Gibson's lower-priced Epiphone brand.^[36]

On January 30, 1962, the US Patent and Trademark Office issued Paul a patent, Patent No. 3,018,680, for an "Electrical Music Instrument."^[37]

Multitrack-recording innovations[link]

Paul had never been happy with the way his records sounded. During a post-recording session talk with Bing Crosby, the crooner suggested Paul try building his own recording studio so he might be able to get the sound he wanted. At first Paul discounted the idea only to give it a few more minutes thought before deciding Crosby was right. Paul started his own studio in the garage of his home on Hollywood's North Curson Street. The studio drew many other famous vocalists and musicians who wanted the benefit of Paul's expertise. The home and studio are still standing, but both had been moved to Pasadena at some point after Paul no longer owned the home.^[38]

In 1948, Les Paul was given one of the first Ampex Model 200A reel-to-reel audio tape recording decks by Crosby and went on to use Ampex's eight track "Sel-Sync" machines for Multitrack recording. Capitol Records released a recording that had begun as an experiment in Paul's garage, entitled "Lover (When You're Near Me)", which featured Paul playing eight different parts on electric guitar, some of them recorded at half-speed, hence "double-fast" when played back at normal speed for the master. ("Brazil", similarly recorded, was the B-side.) This was the first time that Les Paul used multitracking in a recording (Paul had been shopping his multitracking technique, unsuccessfully, since the '30s. Much to his dismay, Sidney Bechet used it in 1941 to play half a dozen instruments on "Sheik of Araby"). These recordings were made not with magnetic tape, but with acetate discs. Paul would record a track onto a disk, then record himself playing another part with the first. He built the multitrack recording with overlaid tracks, rather than parallel ones as he did later. By the time he had a result he was satisfied with, he had discarded some five hundred recording disks.

Paul even built his own disc-cutter assembly, based on automobile parts. He favored the flywheel from a Cadillac for its weight and flatness. Even in these early days, he used the acetate-disk setup to record parts at different speeds and with delay, resulting in his signature sound with echoes and birdsong-like guitar riffs. When he later began using magnetic tape, the major change was that he could take his recording rig on tour with him, even making episodes for his fifteen-minute radio show in his hotel room. He later worked with Ross Snyder in the design of the first eight-track recording deck (built for him by Ampex for his home studio.)^[38][39]

Electronics engineer Jack Mullin had been assigned to a U.S. Army Signal Corps unit stationed in France during World War II. On a mission in Germany near the end of the war, he acquired and later shipped home a German Magnetophon (tape recorder) and fifty reels of I.G. Farben plastic recording tape. Back in the U.S., Mullin rebuilt and developed the machine with the intention of selling it to the film industry, and held a series of demonstrations which quickly became the talk of the American audio industry.

Within a short time, Crosby had hired Mullin to record and produce his radio shows and master his studio recordings on tape, and he invested US$50,000 in a Northern California electronics firm, Ampex. With Crosby's backing, Mullin and Ampex created the Ampex Model 200, the world's first commercially produced reel-to-reel audio tape recorder. Crosby gave Les Paul the second Model 200 to be produced. Using this machine, Paul placed an additional playback head, located before the conventional erase/record/playback heads. This allowed Paul to play along with a previously recorded track, both of which were mixed together on to a new track. This was a mono tape recorder with just one track across the entire width of quarter-inch tape; thus, the recording was "destructive" in the sense that the original recording was permanently replaced with the new, mixed recording.

Paul's re-invention of the Ampex 200 inspired Ampex to develop two-track and three-track recorders, which allowed him to record multiple tracks on one tape without erasing previous takes. These machines were the backbone of professional recording, radio and television studios in the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1954, Paul continued to develop this technology by commissioning Ampex to build the first 8-track (multitrack) tape recorder, at his own expense. His design became known as "Sel-Sync" (Selective Synchronization), in which specially modified electronics could either record or play back from the record head, which was not optimized for playback but which had acceptable sound quality for musicians to listen to for the purposes of recording an "overdub" (OD) in sync with the original recording. This is the core technology behind multitrack recording.^[40]

Les Paul & Mary Ford[link]

Paul met country-western singer Colleen Summers in 1945. They began working together in 1948, at which time she adopted the stage name Mary Ford. They were married in 1949. The couple's hits included "How High the Moon", "Bye Bye Blues", "Song in Blue", "Don'cha Hear Them Bells", "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise", and "Vaya con Dios". These songs featured Ford harmonizing with herself.

Like Crosby, Paul and Ford used the now-ubiquitous recording technique known as close miking,^[38] where the microphone is less than 6 inches (15 cm) from the singer's mouth. This produces a more-intimate, less-reverberant sound than is heard when a singer is 1 foot (30 cm) or more from the microphone. When implemented using a cardioid-patterned microphone, it emphasizes low-frequency sounds in the voice due to a cardioid microphone's proximity effect and can give a more relaxed feel because the performer isn't working so hard. The result is a singing style which diverged strongly from unamplified theater-style singing, as might be heard in musical comedies of the 1930s and 1940s.

Radio and television programs[link]

Paul had hosted a fifteen-minute radio program, The Les Paul Show, on NBC radio in 1950, featuring his trio (himself, Ford and rhythm player Eddie Stapleton) and his electronics, recorded from their home and with gentle humor between Paul and Ford bridging musical selections, some of which had already been successful on records, some of which anticipated the couple's recordings, and many of which presented re-interpretations of such jazz and pop selections as "In the Mood", "Little Rock Getaway", "Brazil" and "Tiger Rag". Over ten of these shows survive among old-time radio collectors today.^[41]

The show also appeared on television a few years later with the same format, but excluding the trio and retitled The Les Paul & Mary Ford Show (also known as Les Paul & Mary Ford at Home) with "Vaya Con Dios" as a theme song. Sponsored by Warner Lambert's Listerine mouthwash, it was widely syndicated during 1954–1955, and was only five minutes (one or two songs) long on film, therefore used as a brief interlude or fill-in in programming schedules. Since Paul created the entire show himself, including audio and video, he maintained the original recordings and was in the process of restoring them to current quality standards until his death.^[42]

During his radio shows, Paul introduced the fictional "Les Paulverizer" device, which multiplies anything fed into it, like a guitar sound or a voice. Paul has stated that the idea was to explain to the audience how his single guitar could be multiplied to become a group of guitars. The device even became the subject of comedy, with Ford multiplying herself and her vacuum cleaner with it so she could finish the housework faster.

Later career[link]

Les Paul, May 2004

In 1965, Paul went into semi-retirement, although he did return to the studio occasionally. He and Ford had divorced in December 1962, as she could no longer cope with the traveling lifestyle their act required of them.^{[citation needed]} Paul's most-recognizable recordings from then through the mid-1970s were an album for London Records/Phase 4 Stereo, Les Paul Now (1968), on which he updated some of his earlier hits; and, backed by some of Nashville's celebrated studio musicians, a meld of jazz and country improvisation with fellow guitar virtuoso Chet Atkins, Chester and Lester (1976), for RCA Victor.

In 1987, Paul underwent heart surgery. He then returned to active live performance, continuing into his 80s even though he often found it painful to play the guitar because of arthritis in his hands. In 2006, at age 90, he won two Grammys at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards for his album Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played. He also performed every Monday night, accompanied by a trio which included guitarist Lou Pallo, bassist Paul Nowinksi (and later, Nicki Parrott) and pianist John Colaianni, originally at Fat Tuesdays, and later at the Iridium Jazz Club on Broadway in the Times Square area of New York City.^[43][44][45]

Composer Richard Stein (1909–1992) sued Paul for plagiarism, charging that Paul's "Johnny (Is the Boy for Me)" was taken from Stein's 1937 song "Sanie cu zurgălăi" (Romanian for "Sleigh with Bells"). A 2000 cover version of "Johnny" by Belgian musical group Vaya Con Dios that credited Paul prompted another action by the Romanian Musical Performing and Mechanical Rights Society.^[46]

For many years Les Paul would sometimes surprise radio hosts Steve King and Johnnie Putman with a call to the "Life After Dark Show" on WGN (AM) in Chicago. These calls would take place in the wee hours of Tuesday Morning following his show at the Iridium Jazz Club. Until they ended their show on WGN, Steve and Johnnie continued to honor Les on Tuesday Mornings at 2:35 AM with their segment "A Little More Les" drawing from around 30 hours of recorded conversations with Les.

Death[link]

On August 13, 2009,^[4][5] Paul died of complications from pneumonia at White Plains Hospital in White Plains, New York.^[47] His family and friends were by his side.^[48] Paul is survived by his four children and his companion Arlene Palmer.^[49] His attorney told the media that he had made several hospital stays over the previous few months.^[50] His last concert took place a few weeks before his death.

Upon learning of his death many artists and popular musicians paid tribute by publicly expressing their sorrow. After learning of Paul's death, former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash called him "vibrant and full of positive energy.", while Richie Sambora, lead guitarist of Bon Jovi, referred to him as "revolutionary in the music business". U2 guitarist The Edge said, "His legacy as a musician and inventor will live on and his influence on rock and roll will never be forgotten." ^[51][52][53]

On August 21, 2009, he was buried near Milwaukee in Waukesha, Wisconsin at Prairie Home Cemetery which indicated that his plot would be in an area where visitors can easily view it.^[54][55] Like his funeral in New York on August 19, the burial was private, but earlier in the day a public memorial viewing of the closed casket was held in Milwaukee at Discovery World with 1,500 attendees who were offered free admission to the Les Paul House of Sound exhibit for the day.^[56]

Awards and honors[link]

Paul was initiated into the Gamma Delta chapter of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity at the University of Miami in 1952.^[57] He has earned the Presidential award from the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.^{[58][dead link]}

In 1979, Paul and Ford's 1951 recording of "How High the Moon" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.^[59] Paul received a Grammy Trustees Award for his lifetime achievements in 1983, and in 2001 the Special Merit/Technical Grammy Award.^[60]

In 1988, Paul was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Jeff Beck, who said, "I've copied more licks from Les Paul than I'd like to admit." In 1991, the Mix Foundation established an annual award in his name; the Les Paul Award which honors "individuals or institutions that have set the highest standards of excellence in the creative application of audio technology".^[61] In 2005, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his development of the solid-body electric guitar.^[62] In 2006, Paul was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. He was named an honorary member of the Audio Engineering Society.^[63] In 2007, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.^[64]

A one-hour biographical documentary film The Wizard of Waukesha was shown at the Los Angeles International Film Exposition (FILMEX) March 4–21, 1980, and later on PBS television. A biographical, feature-length documentary titled Chasing Sound: Les Paul at 90 made its world première on May 9, 2007, at the Downer Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Paul appeared at the event and spoke briefly to the enthusiastic crowd. The film is distributed by Koch Entertainment and was broadcast on PBS on July 11, 2007, as part of its American Masters series^[65][66] and was broadcast on October 17, 2008, on BBC Four as part of its Guitar Night. The première coincided with the final part of a three-part documentary by the BBC broadcast on BBC ONE The Story of the Guitar.

In June 2008, an exhibit showcasing his legacy and featuring items from his personal collection opened at Discovery World in Milwaukee.^[67] The exhibit was facilitated by a group of local musicians under the name Partnership for the Arts and Creative Excellence (PACE).^[68] Paul played a concert in Milwaukee to coincide with the opening of the exhibit.^[69]

Paul's hometown of Waukesha is planning a permanent exhibit to be called "The Les Paul experience."^[70]

In July 2005, a 90th-birthday tribute concert was held at Carnegie Hall in New York City. After performances by Steve Miller, Peter Frampton, Jose Feliciano and a number of other contemporary guitarists and vocalists, Paul was presented with a commemorative guitar from the Gibson Guitar Corporation.^[71]

On November 15, 2008, he received the American Music Masters award through the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at a tribute concert at the State Theater in Cleveland, Ohio. Among the many guest performers were Duane Eddy, Eric Carmen, Lonnie Mack, Jennifer Batten, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, Dennis Coffey, James Burton, Billy Gibbons, Lenny Kaye, Steve Lukather, Barbara Lynn, Katy Moffatt, Alannah Myles, Richie Sambora, The Ventures and Slash.

In February 2009, only months prior to his death, Les Paul sat down with Scott Vollweiler of Broken Records Magazine, in which would be one of Les Paul's final interviews. His candid answers were direct and emotional. Broken Records Magazine had planned to run that cover feature the following month but due to delays was held until the summer. 3 days before the release, Les Paul died. The issue would be his final cover feature of his storied career.^[72]

In August, 2009, Paul was named one of the ten best electric guitar players of all-time by Time magazine.^[73]

On June 9, 2010, which would have been Les Paul's 95th birthday, a tribute concert featuring Jeff Beck, Imelda May, Gary U.S. Bonds and Brian Setzer among others, was held at the Iridium Jazz Club where Les Paul played nearly every week almost to the end of his life. The concert was released on the live album Rock 'n' Roll Party (Honoring Les Paul) in 2011.

On June 9–10, 2011 Google celebrated what would have been Paul's 96th birthday with a Google doodle of an interactive guitar.^[74]

On November 23, 2011, Paul was ranked at #18 on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".^[75]

In 2010, Paul was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.^[76]

Personal life[link]

Les Paul with pianist John Colianni.

Paul married Virginia Webb in 1938. They had two children, Gene (Lester Jr.), born in 1941 and named after actor-songwriter Gene Lockhart, and Russell (Rusty), born 1944, before divorcing in 1949. Later that year, Paul and Mary Ford (born Iris Colleen Summers) were married. They adopted a girl, Colleen, in 1958 and their son Robert (Bobby) was born the following year. They had also lost a child, who was born prematurely and died only four days old. Les Paul and Mary Ford divorced in 1963.^[77]

Paul was the instructor of rock guitarist Steve Miller of the Steve Miller Band, to whom Paul gave his first guitar lesson.^[78] Miller's father was best man at Paul's 1949 wedding to Mary Ford.

Paul resided for many years in Mahwah, New Jersey.

Discography[link]

Hit singles[link]

Albums[link]

Feedback (1944)—compilation Les Paul Trio (1946)—compilation Hawaiian Paradise (1949) The New Sound (1950) Les Paul's New Sound, Volume 2 (1951) Bye Bye Blues! (1952) Gallopin' Guitars (1952)—compilation The Hit Makers! (1953) Les and Mary (1955) Time to Dream (1957) Lover's Luau (1959) The Hits of Les and Mary (1960)—compilation Bouquet of Roses (1962) Warm and Wonderful (1962) Swingin' South (1963) Fabulous Les Paul and Mary Ford (1965) Les Paul Now! (1968) Guitar Tapestry Lover The Guitar Artistry of Les Paul (1971) The World is Still Waiting for the Sunrise (1974)—compilation

The Best of Les Paul with Mary Ford (1974)—compilation Chester and Lester (1976)—with Chet Atkins Guitar Monsters (1977)—with Chet Atkins Les Paul and Mary Ford (1978)—compilation Multi Trackin' (1979) All-Time Greatest Hits (1983)—compilation The Very Best of Les Paul with Mary Ford' Famille Nombreuse (1992)—compilation The World Is Waiting (1992)—compilation The Best of the Capitol Masters: Selections From "The Legend and the Legacy" Box Set (1992)—compilation All-Time Greatest Hits (1992)—compilation Their All-Time Greatest Hits (1995)—compilation Les Paul: The Legend and the Legacy (1996; a four-CD box set chronicling his years with Capitol Records) 16 Most Requested Songs (1996)—compilation The Complete Decca Trios—Plus (1936–1947) (1997)—compilation California Melodies (2003) Les Paul – The Legendary Fred Waring Broadcasts (2004) Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played (2005) Les Paul And Friends: A Tribute To A Legend (2008)

Singles[link]

"It's Been a Long, Long Time"—Bing Crosby & The Les Paul Trio (1945), #1 on Billboard Pop singles chart, 1 week, December 8 "Rumors Are Flying"—Andrews Sisters & Les Paul (1946) "Guitar Boogie" (1947) "Lover (When You're Near Me)" (1948) "Brazil" (1948) "What Is This Thing Called Love?" (1948) "Nola" (1950) "Goofus" (1950) "Little Rock 69 Getaway" (1950/1951) "Tennessee Waltz"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1950/1951), #1, Cashbox "Mockingbird Hill"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1951), #1, Cashbox "How High The Moon"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1951), #1, Billboard Pop singles chart, 9 weeks, April 21 – June 16; #1, Cashbox, 2 weeks; #2, R&B chart "I Wish I Had Never Seen Sunshine"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1951) "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1951), #2, Billboard; #3, Cashbox "Just One More Chance"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1951) "Jazz Me Blues" (1951) "Josephine" (1951) "Whispering" (1951) "Jingle Bells" (1951) "Tiger Rag"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1952), #2, Billboard; #8, Cashbox "I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1952) "Carioca" (1952) "In the Good Old Summertime"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1952) "Smoke Rings"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1952) "Meet Mister Callaghan" (1952), #5, Billboard

"Take Me In Your Arms And Hold Me"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1952) "Lady of Spain" (1952) "My Baby's Coming Home"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1952) "Bye Bye Blues"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1953) "I'm Sitting On Top Of The World"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1953) "Sleep" (Fred Waring's theme song) (1953) "Vaya Con Dios"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1953), #1, Billboard Pop singles chart, 11 weeks, August 8 – October 3, November 7–14; #1, Cashbox, 5 weeks "Johnny (Is The Boy For Me)"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1953), #15, Billboard; #25, Cashbox "Don'cha Hear Them Bells"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1953), #13, Billboard; #32, Cashbox "The Kangaroo" (1953), #25, Billboard; #23, Cashbox "I Really Don't Want To Know"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1954) "I'm A Fool To Care"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1954) "Whither Thou Goest"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1954) "Mandolino"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1954), #19, Billboard "Song in Blue"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1954), #17, Cashbox "Hummingbird"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1955) "Amukiriki (The Lord Willing)"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1955) "Magic Melody"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1955) "Texas Lady"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1956) "Moritat" (Theme from "Three Penny Opera") (1956) "Nuevo Laredo"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1956) "Cinco Robles (Five Oaks)"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1957) "Put A Ring On My Finger"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1958) "Jura (I Swear I Love You)"—Les Paul & Mary Ford (1961) "Love Sneakin' Up On You"-Les Paul, Joss Stone & Sting (2005)

Compositions[link]

Paul was also a prolific composer. Some of the songs he wrote were "Song in Blue", "Cryin'", "Hip-billy Boogie", "Suspicion", "Mandolino", "Magic Melody", "Don'cha Hear Them Bells", "The Kangaroo", "Big-Eyed Gal", "All I Need is You", "Mammy's Boogie", “Pacific Breeze”, “Mountain Railroad”, “Move Along, Baby (Don’t Waste My Time)”, "Five Alarm Fire", and "Walkin' and Whistlin' Blues".

See also[link]

Biography portal

• Ampex
• Discovery World
• Gibson Les Paul
• Gibson SG
• List of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees
• Mary Ford

References[link]

1. ↑ Farber, Jim (August 13, 2009). "Electric Guitar Hero Les Paul Dead at 94: Hit-Maker, Musical Designer, Pioneer". Daily News). Accessed August 24, 2009.
2. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/14/arts/music/14paul.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1 Les Paul Obituary New York Times accessed 9/29/09
3. ↑ "Guitar legend Les Paul dies at 94 - Entertainment - Music - TODAY.com". Today.msnbc.msn.com. 2009-08-13. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/32403755/ns/today-entertainment/t/guitar-legend-les-paul-dies/#.Tx9MCG_OXQg. Retrieved 2012-03-26. 
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} "the site of LES PAUL – The Wizard of Waukesha". Lespaulonline.com. http://www.lespaulonline.com/indexo.html. Retrieved March 27, 2011. ^{[dead link]}
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} "In Pictures: 'Les Paul Memorial Service'". Monsters and Critics. August 21, 2009. http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/features/article_1496730.php/In-Pictures-Les-Paul-Memorial-Service?page=4. Retrieved March 27, 2011. 
6. ↑ Voices from the Smithsonian Associates. Les Paul, Musician and Inventor. Archived at www.archive.org.
7. ↑ Guitarist and recording pioneer Les Paul dies, aged 94. The List. August 12, 2009.
8. ↑ The Wizard Of Waukesha. PBS.
9. ↑ Houston, Frank (July 8, 1999). "Father of invention". Salon.com. http://archive.salon.com/people/feature/1999/07/08/paul/print.html. Retrieved August 14, 2009. 
10. ↑ Staff writer (October 12, 2005). "Les Paul, 90, Releases Tribute Album"^{[dead link]}. CBC. Accessed August 24, 2009.
11. ↑ Swing Licks for C6th Lap Steel. The Steel Guitar Forum.
12. ↑ Benson, John (November 12, 2008). Rock hall to honor Les Paul. Vindy.com.
13. ↑ "Exhibits | The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum". Rockhall.com. http://rockhall.com/exhibits. Retrieved March 27, 2011. 
14. ↑ "The Architects of Rock and Roll featuring Les Paul, Alan Freed and Sam Phillips | The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum". Rockhall.com. http://rockhall.com/exhibits/the-architects/. Retrieved 2011-08-19. 
15. ↑ "Book Excerpt: The Early Years of the Les Paul Legacy 1915–1963". Gibson.com. http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/the-les-paul-legacy/. Retrieved March 27, 2011. 
16. ↑ Masino, Susan; Paul, Les (2003). Famous Wisconsin Musicians. Oregon, Wisconsin: Badger Books. pp. 9–11. ISBN 1-878569-88-0. 
17. ↑ Henry, David (August 12, 2009). "Les Paul, Pioneer of Electric Guitar, Inventor, Dies at 94". Bloomberg. Accessed August 24, 2009.
18. ↑ ^{18.0 18.1} American Masters (2007 Season)—"Les Paul: Chasing Sound"—thirteen WNET New York
19. ↑ "Articles". Classic Jazz Guitar. http://classicjazzguitar.com/articles/article.jsp?article=25. Retrieved March 27, 2011. 
20. ↑ (August 14, 2009). [1] The New York Times (website registration required).
21. ↑ Ladd, Patty (22 October 2009). "Cinemax to honor 'Edison' of music". The Vindicator. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CfNYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=doUMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1140,3217614&dq=grammy+hall+of+fame+jo+stafford&hl=en. Retrieved 4 May 2011. 
22. ↑ ClassicJazzGuitar.com
23. ↑ Gil Kaufman "MTV News" http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1618673/20090813/paul_les.jhtml
24. ↑ liner notes from Chet Atkins/Jim Atkins 1963 RCA Camden LP #CAL-753, "The Guitar Genius"
25. ↑ Atkins, Chet; Neely, Bill (1974). Country Gentleman. Chicago: H. Regnery. ISBN 978-0-8092-9051-2
26. ↑ Tianen, Dave "The Wizard of Waukesha" Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 08/26/09 http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/les-paul/chasing-sound/100/
27. ↑ Sforza, John: "Swing It! The Andrews Sisters Story;" University Press of Kentucky, 2000; 289 pages.
28. ↑ Sforza, John: "Swing It! The Andrews Sisters Story;" University Press of Kentucky, 2000; 289 pages.
29. ↑ Sforza, John: "Swing It! The Andrews Sisters Story;" Univeristy Press of Kentucky, 2000; 289 pages.
30. ↑ Sforza, John: "Swing It! The Andrews Sisters Story;" Univeristy Press of Kentucky, 2000; 289 pages.
31. ↑ Sforza, John: "Swing It! The Andrews Sisters Story;" Univeristy Press of Kentucky, 2000; 289 pages.
32. ↑ Fresh Air from WHYY. "Guitar Hero: Les Paul, 1915–2009". Npr.org. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111888401. Retrieved March 27, 2011. 
33. ↑ "The Log". DK Images. http://www.dkimages.com/discover/Home/Performing-Arts/Music/Instruments/String/Guitars/Electric-Guitar/Les-Paul/Les-Paul-01.html. Retrieved March 27, 2011. 
34. ↑ "Epiphone: A History". Epiphone.com. http://www.epiphone.com/History.aspx. Retrieved 23 February 2012. 
35. ↑ "Interview | July 19, 1999, at the Iridium jazz club, New York City". Jinx Magazine. July 19, 1999. http://www.jinxmagazine.com/les_paul.html. Retrieved March 27, 2011. 
36. ↑ "Epiphone Les Paul Standard". Epiphone.com. http://www.epiphone.com/Products/Les-Paul/Les-Paul-Standard.aspx. Retrieved 23 February 2012. 
37. ↑ "Patents". Google. http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=Ce9TAAAAEBAJ&dq=3,018,680. Retrieved March 27, 2011. 
38. ↑ ^{38.0 38.1 38.2} Lawrence, Robb, ed. (2008). The Early Years of the Les Paul Legacy: 1915–1963. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 20–21. ISBN 978-0-634-04861-6. http://books.google.com/?id=NqIgLrXaA6QC&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=les+paul+recorded+andrews+sisters#v=onepage&q=les%20paul%20recorded%20andrews%20sisters&f=false. Retrieved 10 May 2011. 
39. ↑ "Sel-sync and the "Ocotpus": How Came to be the First Recorder to Minimize Successive Copying in Overdubs" (PDF). ARSC Journal. http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/sel-sync/snyder_sel-sync.pdf. Retrieved March 27, 2011. 
40. ↑ "Sel-sync and the "Octopus": How Came to be the First Recorder to Minimize Successive Copying in Overdubs" (PDF). ARSC Journal. http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/sel-sync/snyder_sel-sync.pdf. Retrieved March 27, 2011. 
41. ↑ "The Les Paul Show". Archive.org. http://www.archive.org/details/TheLesPaulShow. Retrieved March 27, 2011. 
42. ↑ Cellini, Joe (undated). "Les Paul: Invented Here". Apple Inc.. http://www.apple.com/pro/profiles/lespaul/index.html. Retrieved August 24, 2009. 
43. ↑ "Iridium Jazz Club". Iridium Jazz Club. http://www.iridiumjazzclub.com/. Retrieved March 27, 2011. 
44. ↑ Milicia, Joe, "Guitar hero Les Paul ready for Rock Hall tribute," The Associated Press via Times Union, p. C8, November 10, 2008, see^{[dead link]}AP Google website^{[dead link]}. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
45. ↑ Foster, D.R. (June 1, 2009). "Les is more: 93 years old and cooler than you—A Night with the Longstanding Guitar Great"^{[dead link]}. The A.V. Club. Accessed August 15, 2009
46. ↑ Nicoleanu, Anca (February 2, 2007). "Zici că n-ai plagiat şi, gata, ai scăpat". http://www.cotidianul.ro/zici_ca_n_ai_plagiat_si_gata_ai_scapat-22511.html. Retrieved June 19, 2009.  (non-English language)
47. ↑ Newels, Eric (August 17, 2009). "Music Great Les Paul Dies at 94". idiomag. http://www.idiomag.com/peek/97288/les_paul. Retrieved August 21, 2009. 
48. ↑ Caine, Paul (August 13, 2009). "R.I.P. Les Paul: pioneering guitarist, inventor, New York character". The A.V. Club. http://newyork.decider.com/articles/rip-les-paul-pioneering-guitarist-inventor-new-yor,31640/. Retrieved August 14, 2009. ^{[dead link]}
49. ↑ Russell, Tony (August 13, 2009). "Les Paul Guitarist and inventor with huge influence on pop and jazz". The Guardian. Accessed August 24, 2009.
50. ↑ Tourtellotte, Bob (August 13, 2009). "Legendary guitarist, inventor Les Paul dies, age 94". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE57C3TI20090813. Retrieved August 13, 2009. 
51. ↑ Staff writer (August 13, 2009). "Les Paul Remembered: Guitar Greats on Their True Hero". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/08/13/les-paul-remembered-guitar-greats-on-their-true-hero/. Retrieved August 13, 2009. 
52. ↑ Jack Malvern (August 13, 2009). "Musicians pay tribute to the 'original guitar hero' Les Paul". London: The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article6795384.ece. Retrieved August 13, 2009. 
53. ↑ Sheridan, Luke (August 14, 2009). "Les Paul, 94: Guitar legend". The Associated Press via Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/news/obituary/article/681159. Retrieved August 15, 2009. 
54. ↑ Itzkoff, Dave (August 18, 2009). "Funeral Plans Announced for Les Paul". The New York Times. http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/funeral-plans-announced-for-les-paul/. Retrieved May 7, 2010. 
55. ↑ "Les Paul comes home to his mother". JSOnline. http://www.jsonline.com/news/waukesha/54027427.html. Retrieved March 27, 2011. 
56. ↑ "Saying goodbye to Les Paul". JSOnline. August 21, 2009. http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/53940442.html. Retrieved March 27, 2011. 
57. ↑ "University of Miami TKE". Tke-miami.com. http://www.tke-miami.com/lespaul.php. Retrieved March 27, 2011. 
58. ↑ "TKE News 105". Tke.org. http://www.tke.org/news/105. Retrieved 2011-08-19. 
59. ↑ "Grammy Hall of Fame Award Past Recipients". grammy.com. http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame#h. Retrieved August 19, 2009. 
60. ↑ "Technical GRAMMY Award". grammy.com. http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/producers-and-engineers/awards. Retrieved January 29, 2012. 
61. ↑ Mix Foundation. Les Paul Award Winners.
62. ↑ "Inventor Profile, National Inventors Hall of Fame". Invent.org. http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/225.html. Retrieved March 27, 2011. 
63. ↑ List of Awardees of the AES.
64. ↑ "Lifetime Honors – National Medal of Arts". Nea.gov. http://www.nea.gov/honors/medals/medalists_year.html#07. Retrieved March 27, 2011. 
65. ↑ Les Paul: Chasing Sound.
66. ↑ American Masters—Les Paul.
67. ↑ Williams, Scott (April 30, 2008). "Discovery World Lands Les Paul Exhibit—Guitar Wiz Sees No Effect on Waukesha Museum" Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Accessed August 24, 2009.
68. ↑ Williams, Scott (May 5, 2008). "Their Role is Instrumental—Musicians' Connections Help bring Les Paul Exhibit to Milwaukee". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. http://www.jsonline.com/news/waukesha/29512884.html. Retrieved August 24, 2009. 
69. ↑ Tianen, Dave (June 23, 2008). "Paul Brings Bit of Manhattan to the Pabst". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Accessed August 24, 2009.
70. ↑ Farabaugh, Kane (December 27, 2007). "At 92, Music Pioneer Les Paul Still Performing". Voice of America. http://voanews.com/english/archive/2007-12/2007-12-26-voa47.cfm. Retrieved August 24, 2009. 
71. ↑ Landers, Rick (July 3, 2005). "Les Paul Tribute Concert at Carnegie Hall". Modern Guitars Magazine. http://www.modernguitars.com/archives/000877.html. Retrieved August 14, 2009. ^{[dead link]}
72. ↑ "Broken Records Magazine, Les Paul Issue". Brokenrecordsonline.com. http://brokenrecordsonline.com/lespaul_issue_digital.pdf/. Retrieved March 27, 2011. ^{[dead link]}
73. ↑ by Dave on August 24, 2009 (August 24, 2009). "Fretbase, Time Magazine Picks the 10 Best Electric Guitar Players". Fretbase.com. http://www.fretbase.com/blog/2009/08/time-magazine-picks-the-10-best-electric-guitar-players-including-yngwie/. Retrieved March 27, 2011. 
74. ↑ Jemima Kiss (June 9, 2011). "Les Paul: Google's best doodle yet?". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/pda/2011/jun/09/google-doodle-les-paul. Retrieved June 9, 2011. 
75. ↑ "100 Greatest Guitarists: Les Paul". Rolling Stone. November 23, 2011. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-guitarists-20111123/les-paul-19691231. 
76. ↑ The Newark Star Ledger. 
77. ↑ "Les Paul and Mary Ford Marriage Profile". Marriage.about.com. http://marriage.about.com/od/entertainmen1/p/lespaulmaryford.htm. Retrieved March 27, 2011. 
78. ↑ Steve Miller at Allmusic
79. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 420. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lester William Polfuss

• Official website
• History of Les Paul
• Les Paul at the Internet Movie Database
• Les Paul: Chasing Sound (may require subscription) PBS Documentary on the life of Les Paul, including extended interviews with Paul.
• Remembering Les Paul Photos and extended interviews with Les on WGN Chicago's Steve & Johnnie early morning show
• Staff writer (August 13, 2009). "Les Paul", obituary at The Daily Telegraph (Accessed August 24, 2009)
• "Les Paul, 'The Wizard of Waukesha'", a biography (undated) at the Wisconsin Historical Society's official website
• Les Paul – Discovery World 2005 video (requires Adobe Flash) at Discovery World's (museum) official website
• The Les Paul Show, archive of Paul's NBC radio show at the Internet Archive's official website (includes MP3 files (free) of eleven of their radio shows including their audition show)
• "Les Paul: Legacy of a Guitar Hero" at LIFE
• The Wizard of Waukesha (1980) at Allmovie's official website
• Les Paul – 'Miles of Music', two video interviews of and performances by Paul (5–6 minutes each; requires Adobe Flash) with Bob Miles on Miles of Music (milesofmusic.tv), a Public-access television cable TV program
• CLASSIC TRACKS: Les Paul & Mary Ford 'How High The Moon'
• Photo Library from performances at Iridium
• Les Paul's final interview
• Les Paul at Find a Grave

Persondata
Name	Polfuss, Lester William
Alternative names	Paul, Les
Short description	American jazz guitarist, country guitarist, songwriter and inventor
Date of birth	June 9, 1915
Place of birth	Waukesha, Wisconsin
Date of death	August 12, 2009
Place of death	White Plains, New York