Biography
Paul, born Lester William Polsfuss (the last name simplified later by his mother to Polfus) in Waukesha, Wisconsin, first became interested in music at the age of eight, when he began playing the harmonica. After an attempt at learning to play the banjo, Paul began to play the guitar. By 13, Paul was performing semi-professionally as a country-music guitarist. At the age of 17, Paul played with Rube Tronson's Cowboys. Soon after, he dropped out of high school to join Wolverton's Radio Band in St. Louis, Missouri on KMOX.
In the 1930s, Paul worked in Chicago, Illinois in radio, where he performed jazz music. Paul's first two records were released in 1936. One album was credited to Rhubarb Red, Paul's hillbilly alter ego, and the other was in the backing band for blues artist Georgia White.
Les Paul's 'The Log', one of the first solidbody electric guitars.Paul was unsatisfied by the electric guitars that were sold in the mid 1930s and began experimenting with a few designs of his own. Famously, he created The Log which was nothing more than a length of common "4 by 4" fence post with bridge, guitar neck, and pickup attached. For appearances he attached the body of an Epiphone jazz 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.
In 1938, Paul moved to New York and landed a featured spot with Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians radio show. Paul moved to Hollywood in 1943, where he formed a new trio. 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 on July 2, 1944. 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 and artists like the Andrews Sisters, Paul's trio also recorded a few albums of their own in the late 1940s.
In 1941, Paul designed and built one of the first solid-body electric guitars (though Leo Fender also independently invented his own solid-body electric guitar around the same time, and Adolph Rickenbacker had marketed a solid-body guitar in the 30s). Gibson Guitar Corporation designed a guitar incorporating Paul's suggestions in the early fifties, and presented it to him to try. He was impressed enough to sign a contract for what became the "Les Paul" model (originally only in a "gold top" version), and agreed never to be seen playing in public, or photographed with, anything other than a Gibson guitar. That persisted until 1961, when Gibson changed the design without Paul's knowledge. He said he first saw the "new" Gibson Les Paul in a music store window, and disliked it. Though 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. Gibson renamed the guitar the " SG", and it also became one of the company's best sellers. Later, Paul resumed his relationship with Gibson, and endorses the instrument even today (though his personal Gibson Les Pauls are much modified by him - Paul always uses his own self-wound pickups on his guitars). To this day, the Gibson Les Paul guitar is used all over the world, both by novice and professional guitarists.
In 1947, 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. This was the first time that multi-tracking had been used in a recording. Amazingly, these recordings were made, not with magnetic tape, but with wax disks. Paul would record a track onto a disk, then record himself playing another part with the first. He built the multi-track recording with overlaid tracks, rather than parallel ones as he did later. There is no record of how few 'takes' were needed before he was satisfied with one layer and moved onto the next.
Paul even built his own wax-cutter assembly, based on auto parts. He favored the flywheel from a Cadillac for its weight and flatness. Even in these early days, he used the wax 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 15-minute radio show in his hotel room.
Paul was injured in a near-fatal automobile accident in January 1948 in Oklahoma, which shattered his right arm and elbow. Paul spent a year and a half recovering. Paul instructed the surgeons to set his arm at an angle that would allow him to cradle and pick the guitar.
In the early 1950s, Paul made a number of revolutionary recordings with wife, Mary Ford. These records were unique for their heavy use of overdubbing, which was technically impossible before Paul's invention of multitrack recording. Paul's multitracking system was made possible by the introduction of reel-to-reel audio tape recording, developed by Jack Mullin and the Ampex company in the late 1940s, with the backing of radio, film and recording star Bing Crosby.
Crosby gave Les Paul what was only the second of the now-famous Ampex Model 200 recorder, which was the world's first commercially-produced reel-to-reel tape recorder. Using this machine, Paul developed his tape multitrack system by adding an additional recording head and extra circuitry, allowing multiple tracks to be recorded separately and asynchronously on the same tape. Paul's invention was quickly developed by Ampex into commercially-produced two-track and three-track recorders, and these machines were the backbone of the professional recording studio, radio and TV industry in the 1950s and early 1960s.
In 1954 Paul, continued to develop this technology, by commissioning Ampex to build the first eight track tape recorder, at his expense. His idea, later known as "Sel-Sync," in which a specially-modified recording head could simultaneously record a new track and play back previously recorded ones, was the core technology for multi-track recording for the next thirty years.
During his early radio shows, Paul introduced the mythical "Les Paulverizer" device, which was supposed to multiply anything fed into it, like a guitar sound or a voice. This even became the subject of comedy, with Mary Ford multiplying herself and her vacuum cleaner with it so she could finish the housework faster (a typical joke in the pre-feminist era). Later Paul made the myth real for his stage show, using hidden equipment which over the years has become smaller and more visible. Currently he uses a small box attached to his guitar - it is not known how much of the device remains off-stage. He typically lays down one track after another on stage, in-sync, and then plays over the repeating forms he has recorded. With newer digital sound technology, such an effect is available commercially.
In the late 1960s, Paul went into semi-retirement, although he did return to the studio occasionally. He recorded an album Lester and Chester with Chet Atkins. He and Mary Ford (born Iris Colleen Summers) divorced amicably in December 1964, as she could no longer tolerate the itinerant lifestyle their act required of them.
In 1978, Les Paul and Mary Ford were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. He received a Grammy Trustees Award for his lifetime achievements in 1983. 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." Les Paul was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in May 2005 for his development of the solid-body electric guitar.
As of 2006, At the age of 90, Les Paul won two Grammys at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards for his album Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played. He also performs weekly at the Iridium Jazz Club on Broadway in New York City, despite the arthritis that has stilled all but two of the fingers on his left hand.
Source: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Paul
How High The Moon
Les Paul Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
How faint the tune
Somewhere there's heaven
How high the moon
There is no moon above
When love is far away too
'Til it comes true
Somewhere there's music
How near, how far
Somewhere there's heaven
It's where you are
The darkest night would shine
If you would come to me soon
Until you will, how still my heart
How high the moon
Somewhere there's music
How faint the tune
Somewhere there's heaven
How high the moon
The darkest night would shine
If you would come to me soon
Until you will, how still my heart
How high the moon
The lyrics of "How High The Moon" by Les Paul and Mary Ford speak about love, longing, and the power of music. The song begins with a sense of elusive music that can only be faintly heard, yet somewhere there is heaven, which is as high as the moon. The refrain echoes this sentiment, reaffirming that somewhere, there is music and heaven waiting.
The second stanza introduces the idea that the moon no longer exists in the presence of love. The lyrics express that when love is absent, it feels as though there is no moon to light the night sky. But, hope remains that one day the love will be returned, and until then the heart remains still and quiet.
The final stanza repeats the idea of hope, and that heaven can be found where the one you love is. The lyricist's use of imagery is notable in the song, such as the darkness of night shining bright when the person they're waiting for comes to them. Overall, the song is a beautiful expression of love and the role music plays in love and life.
Line by Line Meaning
Somewhere there's music
Music exists out there in the world, even if it is currently inaudible or hard to perceive.
How faint the tune
Despite the fact that music exists, it may not be easily heard or distinguishable from other sounds.
Somewhere there's heaven
There is a place or state of being that is incredibly beautiful, serene, and idyllic.
How high the moon
This beautiful place or state of being is impossibly elevated, as if soaring up to the moon and beyond.
There is no moon above
Without love, and the hope that it will be reciprocated, any sense of light, beauty or inspiration is missing.
When love is far away too
When love is absent, it creates a void or emptiness that can be difficult to bear.
'Til it comes true
However, the hope of love being returned someday can bring comfort and optimism that makes everything seem worthwhile.
That you love me as I love you
True love can only be achieved when it is mutual - when one person loves another as much as they are loved.
How near, how far
Love can be tantalizingly close, yet still feel frustratingly distant and out of reach.
It's where you are
Ultimately, the heaven that the singer seeks is wherever their loved one happens to be, as long as they are together.
The darkest night would shine
The power of love can make even the darkest, bleakest moments feel illuminated and hopeful.
If you would come to me soon
However, this brightness can only truly be achieved if the person the singer loves returns to them quickly.
Until you will, how still my heart
As long as the person the singer loves is absent, their heart will remain heavy and still, aching for the day they can be reunited.
How high the moon
The seemingly impossible height of the moon serves as an apt metaphor for the heights of ecstasy and beauty that can only be achieved through love.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Royalty Network, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Morgan Lewis, Nancy Hamilton
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@steveh7682
If I liked the song and I wanted to do a cover it may take me a week or so to do it .I listened to it and didn't think much of it . I listened to all the songs I could find on the Smiths and Johnny Marr because I like How Soon Is Now so much . I find it's the only song I like of Marrs and the Smiths.
If Marr wrote the music to that song , he most likely wrote what came natural to him with the style and from what patterns he uses to practice with . Marr may be able to play that song with ease because it's in him . He may have trouble learning what music I have written . It's just repetitious practice
.I'm learning How Soon Is Now because someone I know wants to do a cover of the song when she gigs out . She writes her own material ,both music and lyrics , but feels she want's to do a few covers in between her own stuff. Since she moved here from another town and doesn't have her band anymore I may get to play out as part of her band .I'm old and rusty but there's nothing more I like than playing in a band and gigging out .
Here's the person's own materialwho want's to do a Marr's cover . If ya think it isn't to your liking be easy with criticism.
People get their feelings hurt when people make negative comments of their art .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSokxhIbJGg
@beeweejr
@@license45
Oh Wow!
1. I Want To Know What Love Is
The rest of Top 30 in no order:
Head Over Heels
What About Love?
How Soon is Now?
Like A Virgin
Material Girl
Turn Up The Radio
Relax
We Don't Need Another Hero
A View To A Kill
Don't You Forget About Me
Run To You
Somebody
_________
Born in the USA
Fortress Around My Heart
Jungle Love-The Time
Saving All My Love For You
We Are The World
I Feel For You
High On You
Carless Whispers
Everything She Wants
Along Comes A Woman
In My House
Rhythm of the Night
Some Like It Hot
You Give Good Love
Valotte
Lay Your Hands
Can't Fight This Feeling
Be Near Me
I Can't Hold Back
@marammahmoud4381
Lyrics:
I am the son
And the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and heir
Of nothing in particular
You shut your mouth
How can you say
I go about things the wrong way?
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does
I am the son
And the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and heir
Of nothing in particular
You shut your mouth
How can you say
I go about things the wrong way?
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does
There's a club if you'd like to go
You could meet somebody who really loves you
So you go and you stand on your own
And you leave on your own
And you go home and you cry
And you want to die
When you say it's gonna happen now
When exactly do you mean?
See I've already waited too long
And all my hope is gone
You shut your mouth
How can you say
I go about things the wrong way?
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does
@raoufbasit
Almost 40 yrs later and that riff still haunts me. This song is timeless.
@jessicah4462
They pull your soul and stretch it to its lengths. They’re divinity.
@greypilgrim2028
raoufbasit: A certain Buffy haunts me every time I hear this song.
@jamiethibodeau1
Sighhhhhh
@Tripleseis88
I AM THE SUN
@jordanremington4938
was it not charmed??
@derbydrifter
It's that damn guitar . . it's haunted me all my life.
@elevenpoisons2484
it's a beautiful sound, and when i listened to it for the first time in years the nostalgia was stroong
@apsarasangreal84
Me too ,BooBoo, me too
@botbot-wo2yx
100% dude