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
You Took Advantage Of Me
Les Paul Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It must go to someone of course
It can't be sister or brother
And so I love my horse
But horses are frequently silly
Mine ran from the beach of Okhala
And left me alone for a filly
So I have picked you up
I'm a sentimental sap, that's all
What's the use of trying not to fall?
I have no will, you've made your kill
Cause you took advantage of me
I'm just like an apple on a bough
And you're gonna shake me down somehow
So, what's the use, you've cooked my goose
Cause you took advantage of me
I'm so hot and bothered that
I don't know my elbow from my ear
I suffer something awful each time
You go and much worse when you're near
Here I am with all my bridges burned
Just a babe in arms where you're concerned
So lock the doors and call me yours
Cause you took advantage of me.
I'm a sentimental sap, that's all
What's the use of trying not to fall?
I have no will, you've made your kill
Cause you took advantage of me
I'm just like an apple on a bough
And you're gonna shake me down somehow
So, what's the use, you've cooked my goose
Cause you took advantage of me
I'm so hot and bothered that
I don't know my elbow from my ear
I suffer something awful each time
You go and much worse when you're near
Here I am with all my bridges burned
Just a babe in arms where you're concerned
So lock the doors and call me yours
Cause you took advantage of me
You took advantage of me
The first verse of the song talks about a girl who has a motherly heart and how it needs to go to someone. The singer says that he loves his horse, but horses are silly and hence he was left alone for another horse. The next verse talks about the singer being a sentimental person and how he couldn't resist falling for someone. He says that the person took advantage of him, just like an apple that's hanging from a tree and someone shakes it down. He admits that he has no willpower and that he is just like a vulnerable babe in arms when it comes to this person. Hence, the person has "cooked his goose", meaning he is completely under their spell.
The chorus is a repetition of the second part of the verse, where the singer says that he is just like an apple on a bough and the person has shaken him down. He says that there is no use in resisting anymore since the person has already taken advantage of him. He is so infatuated that he is unable to differentiate between his elbow and his ear. He suffers terribly each time the person is near him. The bridges between them have been burned, but the singer is still hopelessly in love with the person, and hence he asks them to lock the doors and call him theirs.
Line by Line Meaning
When a girl has the heart of a mother
If a girl is nurturing and caring, it's natural for her to share that with someone.
It must go to someone of course
This compassion must be directed towards someone.
It can't be sister or brother
It cannot be towards siblings.
And so I love my horse
And as a result, I have developed a fondness towards my horse.
But horses are frequently silly
However, horses can be unpredictable and wild.
Mine ran from the beach of Okhala
My horse galloped away from me when we were at the shore of Okhala.
And left me alone for a filly
And abandoned me to pursue a female horse.
So I have picked you up
Therefore, I have chosen to be with you.
I'm a sentimental sap, that's all
I am a hopeless romantic, nothing more.
What's the use of trying not to fall?
What's the point of trying to resist my feelings for you?
I have no will, you've made your kill
I have no control over my emotions, you have completely captured my heart.
Cause you took advantage of me
You used my vulnerability to your advantage.
I'm just like an apple on a bough
I'm easily accessible, like an apple hanging from a tree branch.
And you're gonna shake me down somehow
You're going to take what you want from me, no matter what.
So, what's the use, you've cooked my goose
So, why resist? You have already won me over.
I'm so hot and bothered that
I'm incredibly aroused and overwhelmed with emotion that
I don't know my elbow from my ear
I'm so confused that I can't tell one body part from another.
I suffer something awful each time
I feel tremendous pain each time
You go and much worse when you're near
You're the source of my suffering.
Here I am with all my bridges burned
I've burned all the bridges and ruined all my other relationships because of you.
Just a babe in arms where you're concerned
I'm helpless and naive when it comes to dealing with you.
So lock the doors and call me yours
So just take control of me and make me yours.
Cause you took advantage of me.
Because you exploited my feelings and emotions for your own benefit.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Kunsh Sood
Can you make this a series? I would love to see Strat and tele.
Robert Baker
Yep I'm thinking it might be :)
Mr. Algebro
He can't do it with Tele because there are no valid reasons to not buy one...
Pedro Slick
@Mr. Algebro hum... it's impossible to change from bridge to neck on a telecaster if your in the middle of a song in a quick change 😂 just kidding you can! But it's not that easy !
Simple Man Guitars
@Mr. Algebro That's what I was gonna say. You'd have an easier time making a video called "Why you don't need ANOTHER Tele" but even that would be a hard case to make. LOL!
Kipperbob Sam
@Pedro Slick you can make it easier, fit a switch from a Les Paul on it. Another thing that makes the Telecaster the most versatile is the ease of modification, with split humbuckers it can get from the twangiest of cleans to the heaviest of overdriven distortion in seconds. Plus the Telecaster is the toughest best stayin in tune guitar I've ever laid hands on,
Gary Novak
I've been thru almost 100 guitars over my 30 years of playing, they were cool but mostly just tools to get the job done. Then I got my 2019 Gibson Les Paul Traditional. I now have an indescribable bond with this beautiful guitar. It's not the most versatile, it's not the most comfortable, and it certainly wasn't the cheapest, but the way it makes me feel while playing makes it worth every penny I paid.
Steve B
That's all that matters brother! It's irrelevant what anyone says if you're happy with your AXE nothing else matters! Play on!
Clarksville TN Landscaping Services
Your comment sure makes me feel good that I nailed it first round. I bought the same guitar, my first LP about a year ago. They are unique but really what I call the holy grail.
Hawker35
Same...playing also 30 years and an American Strat for the most part. Just got a LP Standard. Love the sustain and the growl I can get from it. The most surprising thing was the awesome clean sounds. I was not expecting that. I use a POD GO and an FR speaker now so that really helps with the sound versatility.