Les Paul's Contribution to Rock 'n' Roll
In 1952, Les Paul collaborated with Gibson guitars to produce and release one of the most iconic guitars in Rock 'n' Roll, the "Les Paul" model. The Les Paul was a solid-body electric guitar, and very few solid-body electric guitars were around in the early 50s.
In 1951, there was the ever changing named Fender Broadcaster/Nocaster/Telecaster (Bruce Springsteen's guitar that's on the cover of "Born to Run" and countless country players), followed by the Fender Stratocaster, think Jimmy Hendrix's guitar or modern-day Eric Clapton's guitar. The "Strat," as it's called, is the most famous guitar in rock 'n' roll and was released in 1954.
It's impressive that the Gibson Les Paul design still exists. A testament to the model's greatness. Thousands of musicians worldwide still play the Gibson Les Paul. The model has been copied by countless guitar companies like ESP and Tokai, to name just a couple.
So many rock icons have played or are still playing Les Pauls too. Jimmy Page still plays one. Jeff Beck played one on his earlier records, such as "Blow by Blow." Mick Taylor of the Stones, Pete Townsend, Duane Allman, Neil Young, Frank Zappa—I could go on and on.
Then, there is Les Paul's contribution to recording. This is the most significant invention by Les Paul. The ability to record instruments on their own "track" or multi-track recording. This way, musicians didn't have to play at the same time. They could "overdub" their parts. Layer their recorded part on top of what another musician had recorded. As each musician had their own recorded part or track, it became much easier to edit the recordings. It allowed engineers to be more creative and control what a listener would hear on a final recording. It revolutionized the recording industry.
Les Paul was indeed an innovator and a pioneer. I can't imagine where music would be without his contribution to the sweet tones of the Les Paul guitar and his invention of multi-track recording.
