Wisconsin Originals: Les Paul of Waukesha helped make Rock & Roll what it is today

From The Journal Times.com:

BARRY ADAMS

As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, we're recognizing Wisconsinites who have made unique contributions to the nation. 

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Les Paul’s home-spun inventions elevated him to a peer group that includes Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison.

It was Paul, nicknamed “The Wizard of Waukesha,” who helped make the sound of American Rock 'n Roll possible with his solid-body electric guitars and the recording practices he invented like overdubbing and multi-track recording.

His Gibson Les Paul Custom guitars have been favored over the years by the likes of Jimmy Page of Led Zepplin, Duane Allmen of the Allmen Brothers Band and Randy Rhoads of Black Sabbath.

Paul, also a celebrated jazz musician, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and, in 2007, two years before his death, was awarded the National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists by the U.S. government.

Les Paul, known for his innovations on the solid body electric guitar and in multitrack recording, was born in Waukesha.

RICHARD DREW

Born Lester Polsfuss in 1915, Paul created his first electric guitar when he was a teenager by cobbling together parts from his parents’ record player. Paul dropped out of high school to join the Wolverton’s Radio Band on KMOX in St. Louis, Missouri, and by 1934 was in Chicago playing both country-western and jazz. He would later form a trio that played backup for Nat King Cole and the Andrew Sisters.

In 1941, Paul designed and built one of the first solid-body electric guitars. That led to a deal in the 1950s with the Gibson Guitar Company, which would go on to produce a guitar according to Paul’s specifications.

Paul won a Grammy in 1977 for the album “Chester and Lester,” a collection of pop-jazz guitar duets recorded with his old friend Chet Atkins.

Discovery World Museum in Milwaukee has a permanent exhibit dedicated to Paul as does the Waukesha County Historical Society & Museum. There are a series of murals throughout Waukesha honoring Paul’s life while his grave at Prairie Home Cemetery in Waukesha features a large monument with a guitar.

From: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/history/article_ed088d44-c492-563d-9842-a980f34dd081.html#tracking-source=home-top-story