Wings For Wheels

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about inventions and inventors. We grow up being taught about Leonardo da Vinci and Ben Franklin and Thomas Edison and all the remarkable contributions to society that are still in use today, and I was wondering who and what the modern equivalents are. It seems that most of what we see today are refinements of things that have been around for years. Blu-Ray is an improvement on the DVD, which was an improvement over videotape. TiVo an improvement over the VCR.

And yes, I’m fully aware that I’m sounding like Grampa Simpson. “The fax machine ain’t nothin’ but a waffle iron with a phone attached!”

I guess that’s the result of industrialization – the inventors are the property of the corporations. Take the iPod, for example. It was undoubtedly created by a nameless, faceless team of engineers, designers and programmers, but Steve Jobs gets the credit.

So does that make Les Paul the last great inventor? It’s hard to say, but it’s impossible to imagine the latter half of the 20th century without the solidbody electric guitar and multitrack recording. And his name will be remembered as long as the sustain on a ‘59 goldtop.

Since Ken can describe his life much better than I ever could, here are some great moments in the history of the guitar that bears Les Paul’s name:

That riff is probably the definitive LP-through-Marshall-stack sound. It could not have been nearly as sexy with any other guitar/amp combo.

You had to know that one would be included.

I actually knew a rabbi who had the 1962 three-pickup Black Beauty. He could play the shit out of it, too.