Les Paul: 1915-2009

Guitarist and inventor with huge influence on pop and jazzSome pop sounds of the 1950s irresistibly remind us how utterly different a musical world it was. Whatever an Elvis Presley or Bill Haley might do to drive the nails of rock'n'roll into the coffin of the show song and the ballad, there would always be a Guy Mitchell or Rosemary Clooney, ineffably unaware that pop history was racing past them.In that setting, the records of Les Paul, who has died aged 94, and his partner Mary Ford were sim...

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