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
Jingle Bells
Les Paul Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
On a one-horse open sleigh,
Over the fields we go,
Laughing all the way;
Bells on bob-tail ring,
Making spirits bright,
What fun it is to ride and sing
A sleighing song tonight
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way!
O what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh
A day or two ago,
I thought I'd take a ride,
And soon miss fanny bright
Was seated by my side;
The horse was lean and lank;
Misfortune seemed his lot;
He got into a drifted bank,
And we, we got upsot.
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way!
What fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.
A day or two ago,
The story I must tell
I went out on the snow
And on my back I fell;
A gent was riding by
In a one-horse open sleigh,
He laughed as there
I sprawling lie,
But quickly drove away.
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way!
What fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.
Now the ground is white
Go it while you're young,
Take the girls tonight
And sing this sleighing song;
Just get a bob-tailed bay
Two-forty as his speed
Hitch him to an open sleigh
And crack! you'll take the lead.
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way!
What fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.
"Jingle Bells" is a classic Christmas song and probably one of the most recognizable of all Christmas tunes. It was originally published under the title "One Horse Open Sleigh" in 1857, and it was written by James Lord Pierpont. The lyrics describe a joyous ride through the snow on a one-horse open sleigh, with the bells on the horse's bob-tail ringing out to make "spirits bright." The song celebrates the fun of winter sports and holiday festivities.
The second verse tells the story of the singer's own experience on a sleigh ride that went awry when the horse hit a snow bank and caused the sleigh to tip over. However, the humor of the situation is not lost as the bells still jingle while they are upside down in the snow. The final verse is an invitation to all to join in on the fun, with the suggestion of finding a fast horse, hitching it to an open sleigh, and taking the lead as they race through the snowy fields all night long, jingling all the way.
Overall, "Jingle Bells" is a timeless classic that perfectly captures the joy, excitement, and sense of adventure that comes with the holiday season. It's a fun and lively tune that has been enjoyed by generations of people all around the world.
Line by Line Meaning
Dashing through the snow
Rushing energetically through the snow
On a one-horse open sleigh,
Riding a sleigh that's open and led by only one horse
Over the fields we go,
Traveling across fields
Laughing all the way;
Having a joyful time and laughing throughout the journey
Bells on bob-tail ring,
The bells on the horse's tail make noise when it moves
Making spirits bright,
The bells add to the lively and uplifting atmosphere
What fun it is to ride and sing
It's great enjoyment to ride and sing along to the song
A sleighing song tonight
The song is about sleighing and is meant to be sung tonight
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
The sound of the bells ringing
Jingle all the way!
The bells keep jingling continuously
O what fun it is to ride
Riding is so enjoyable
In a one-horse open sleigh
Being on the sleigh with only one horse feels exciting
A day or two ago,
This happened only recently
I thought I'd take a ride,
I had the idea to go out for a ride
And soon miss fanny bright
A woman named Fanny bright was with me shortly after
Was seated by my side;
Fanny was sitting next to me
The horse was lean and lank;
The horse was skinny and long
Misfortune seemed his lot;
Bad luck appeared to be the horse's fate
He got into a drifted bank,
The horse went into a pile of snow
And we, we got upsot.
As a result, we fell over
The story I must tell
I have an amusing story to share
I went out on the snow
I went outside into the snow
And on my back I fell;
But I slipped and fell on my back
A gent was riding by
A man was going by on a sleigh
In a one-horse open sleigh,
He was on a sleigh that was open and led by only one horse
He laughed as there I sprawling lie,
He chuckled at me as I lay sprawling on the ground
But quickly drove away.
He didn't stick around to help me up and drove off quickly
Now the ground is white
With snow on the ground
Go it while you're young,
Make the most of life while you are still young
Take the girls tonight
Bring the ladies for this night's ride
And sing this sleighing song;
Sing this song while sleighing
Just get a bob-tailed bay
Use a horse with a bobbed tail
Two-forty as his speed
It should be a horse that can run fast at 240 meters per minute
Hitch him to an open sleigh
Attach the horse to an open sleigh
And crack! you'll take the lead.
Start off and you'll take the lead with a loud crack of the whip
Lyrics Β© Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: JAMES S. PIERPONT, SKIPPY MARTIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ricardo Rivera
Me trae muchos recuerdos de mi infanci
BN 2004
A CLASSICππππ
Aditya Shukla
A gem
David Naquin
Les Paul playing Jingle Bells. Wonder how easy that was for him!!
James Hamilton
Got a tape with this version... #LoveIt
Look Out for the Train!β’
THIS is the version of Jingle Bells that should've played in SpongeBob!
Cooper Moore
only a bit goated