S: Is for sorrow as guitar legend Les Paul dies

The music world morned yesterday as jazz great Les Paul died. Musicians owe a great deal of debt to this man who pioneered the multi track recording which allowed overdubbing, delayed effects and music to permeate the soul. Les out of a disability developed the electric guitar which "made the sound of rock and roll possible and proved anyone can over come adversity. In 1984 he was in a car accident that almost took his life and broke his elbow. Being told he would never regain movement, Les had the doctors set the elbow at a 90 degree angle and invented "The Log." His playing style, was a virtuoso of licks, trills, chording sequences, fretting techniques and timing, which set him apart and inspired artists from all over the world. The guitars which he invented, were bought by Gibson and became the most used versions, especially after Eric Clapton, began using them. With over 40 albums his career spans a lifetime of achievement. Together with his wife singer Mary Ford and under the development of Bing Crosby they created the way forward for music to sound.

Achievement followed Les, especially in the 70's and 80's In 1978, Les Paul and Mary Ford were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In the late 1980s, Paul returned to performing live, receiving a Grammy Trustees Award for his lifetime achievements. In 1988, Paul was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Jeff Beck. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in May 2005 for his development of the solid-body electric guitar and inducted into the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame. In 2006, at the age of 90, he won two Grammys for his album Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played. New Yorkers could see him every Monday night, accompanied by a trio which included guitarist Lou Pallo, bassist Nicki Parrott and pianist John Colianni, at the Iridium Jazz Club on Broadway. Paul was the godfather of rock guitarist Steve Miller of the Steve Miller Band, to whom Paul gave his first guitar lesson.

On August 13, 2009, at 94 Les Paul died of complications from pneumonia in White Plains, New York. He will be sorely missed, but his music and his contribution, to an art form he loved, will always be remembered and that is a F.A.C.T.