RFI (etc.): Les Paul

there's a great record called Lover's Luau - not sure if it ever got issued on cd - which is "hawaiian-themed" in that technicolor 50's exotica way obv but also sort of understated and very pretty. the Capitol Masters hits cd is a bit patchy (some of their stuff can get a bit shrill and grating to me, once they start going to town w/ the varispeed overdubs) but it has "i really don't want to know" on it, which sounds like a lost p.cline number floating in from an MGM backlot and just floors me every time i hear it

the huge mutli-tracked chorus-of-marys on 'how high the moon' always kills me... everyone's used to a vocalist laying down their own harmony & backup vocals these days, no one blinks (even though I think it's quite a bizarre thing to have accustomed oneself to). but there's something so brilliantly weird about the way mary goes multiple on that song, there's something audibly 'first' about it... and les' guitar solo is so condensed and micro-composed.

I love the 'Best of the Capitol Masters' CD (great liner notes from Paul), but I hear the box set it's compiled from is solid too, and filled with lots of crazy experiments. 'Lovers Luau' is fun.

and as far as I know he still plays every monday night in new york... can someone confirm this?

been listening to 'capitol masters' today. might have to spring for that box set. 'lover', 'nola', 'whispering', 'tiger rag', 'bye bye blues' sound good very loud. the intensity of the sound actually does burn out your ears a bit with consecutive listening, these were all meant as radio singles (very few of these songs go much over 2 minutes in length). but everything here is great.

teh best. took me a while to work through the box in 15 minute shifts, it's like huffing pure oxygen, your lungs burn, everything's so accellerated, jacked up, adrenalized cartoony... how could these have been chart hits without everyone going insane? david lynch never used his music because it's already much, much, much too weird

it was a wonderful show at iridium last year. five piece band, playing the classics, more like his 40's jazz stuff than his home studio overall, though he has a sideman playing through pedal delay _replicating_ the sound of the high staccato plucks into tape-delay -- that, and Les had a micro-mixer mounted on a mic stand at waist level which he'd use to tweak the band's levels during the show -- still Les Paul's New Sound.

Les broke his right arm ten years ago, and needed a cast. the doctor told him he'd lose flexibility in his elbow, and wouldn't be able to reach the guitar to pluck in the same way he used to. Les' response was to have the doctor cast his arm at a 45 degree angle, stuck in playing position for the rest of his life. His solos sounded fantastic.

the guitar solo in that song is an encyclopedia, he compiles every trick anyone had ever done and gives each one half a bar

best of the capitol masters has just been reissued with a few extra tracks, including one of his very silly radio comedy/variety shows where mary steals the magic 'Paulverizer' and uses it to multiply her voice into a chorus. the jokes are groaners but the effects and the solos are weird and good. this is the best place to start for a good balance of the bizarre early experiments and the razor sharp pop hits.

a quality compilation of the first two "New Sound" eps if you want to focus on the home studio aspect: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004X0TR/102-3048447-4706548?v=glance&s=music&vi=samples#disc_1

1. the songs
2. the amazing studio fuckery
3. the guitar playing

so what else can i find that has these things, especially #1? what other artists should i check out from this time period?

http://www.spaceagepop.com/gugliemi.htm
http://www.bellybongo.com/guglielmi.html

as far as other artists doing consistent versions of these songs, I'm listening for other suggestions as well!

Just One More Chance, Vaya Con Dios, and I'm a Fool to Care are just perfect songs. Les Paul is obv a genius and a great guitarist, but Mary Ford is great, too. Her voice is so swoony.

^yes, co-sign. are there any other singers similar to Mary??

Rock out:

http://www.google.com/

http://www.google.co.uk/webhp?hl=en

http://www.google.co.uk/logos/2011/lespaul11-sr.png

Happy Birthday, Les!

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/09/14/tenants-run-apartment-network/