Les Paul Documentary

[38thBeatle]

I was on the BBC Iplayer site and found this tonight:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00dzzv0/Les_Paul_Chasing_Sound/

BBC4- there is also a doc about guitar players at the BBC which is also on BBC4. I am not sure if anyone can get these outside of the UK.

[Twinfan]

I saw both of those last week.  The Guitar Players at the BBC is a load of clips - U2, Jeff Beck, Dire Strais, Hendrix etc.  Quite a good watch.

The Les Paul documentary is WELL worth the watch.  I knew he played some jazz, and he had something to do with multi-tracking, but that was it.  Turns out he was a superb player in his younger days, has a pretty big vintage guitar collection, invented multi-tracking and over-dubbing and has a wicked sense of humour  ;)

Great program, well worth a watch  :)

[Spitfire]

I saw both of those last week.  The Guitar Players at the BBC is a load of clips - U2, Jeff Beck, Dire Strais, Hendrix etc.  Quite a good watch.

The Les Paul documentary is WELL worth the watch.  I knew he played some jazz, and he had something to do with multi-tracking, but that was it.  Turns out he was a superb player in his younger days, has a pretty big vintage guitar collection, invented multi-tracking and over-dubbing and has a wicked sense of humour  ;)

Great program, well worth a watch  :)

I found the les paul documentary a real drag.. effort to watch.

I think his contribution has been blown up just because his name is on the guitar. 

[Twinfan]

His contribution to the electric guitar is part of the story, but "father of the electric guitar" as he's been called is too grand a title IMO too.  To me, that's Leo Fender  :)

The documentary was interesting to me as it was all about his music and his life, which I knew nothing about.

[dave_mc]

^ yeah. i thought it was pretty good, i saw it last week i think. I meant to only watch the first few minutes, and ended up watching to the end, so i guess that means it was pretty good...  :lol:

[Ian Price]

I enjoyed it - wasn't expecting to watch all of it but did. He's a very funny guy with a great sense of humour. I also learnt that he correct pronunciation of his name is 'Less', not 'Les' as in Les Dawon.

[Will]

Are you sure it is Less? It may just be the American's pronunciation / how they focus the word.
I am sure Hetfield says Lay Paul (a la francais mes oiu merde)

Dave, I am sure that the documentary says he is one of the founding fathers, and by that, we know they mean founding father of the solid body electric.
I am still to watch it all though, slow streaming :(

[Elliot]

It shows that Les Paul is a great Jazz guitarist but not a visionary guitar designer - after all the Les Paul is just a clunky solid body version of a cr@ppy £20 1940s Jazzers arch top with only 1 sound.  Give me a telecaster or, the difference between the Neanderthal (Gibson Les Paul) and Homo Sapien Sapien (Fender Stratocaster) any day.   

[Ian Price]

Are you sure it is Less? It may just be the American's pronunciation / how they focus the word.
I am sure Hetfield says Lay Paul (a la francais mes oiu merde)

I'm really not sure now you have said that although Hetfield must sound very camp if he says Lay!

[38thBeatle]

I think they pronounce it "less" because his name was Lester originally. As you will have seen in the doc, he anglicised his original name ( Lester Polfus).

[Philly Q]

I think they pronounce it "less" because his name was Lester originally. As you will have seen in the doc, he anglicised his original name ( Lester Polfus).

+1

After learning that many years ago I developed the habit of saying "Less Paul" rather than "Lez Paul" and now I always get funny looks from assistants in guitar shops. 

At least I think that's why they give me funny looks.  :|

[dave_mc]

^ yeah, i learnt it was "less" a while back, but unfortunately i've been saying "les" too much so am struggling to change... :haha

speaking of guitar on tv, did anyone see that jeff beck concert on bbc4 last night? was pretty good, clapton came on for a song too. he (beck) does mess around a little too much with silly noises for my liking, but he can sure play, and the range of tones he can get from a strat is astonishing...

[WezV]

ah right, so you guys are saying this is actually more authentic



talking to a wesley who everyone has always called wez here!!

[Philly Q]

ah right, so you guys are saying this is actually more authentic

talking to a wesley who everyone has always called wez here!!

Yeah, but Wesley is pronounced Wezley (although in the US they would pronounce it Wessley).

No-one would pronounce Lester as Lezter.


(Where did you get the Less Pull decal, incidentally?)

[WezV]

although in the US they would pronounce it Wessley

honestly, people never seem to be sure.. its just wez to most people  but for some reason my mum has taken to calling me wes recently!  who am i to say she is saying my name wrong. 

the guys at uni did take to calling me Les (leslie so pronounced lez) because apparently wez was to cool!

anyway, i think at a certain point common usage takes over actual meaning.  Thats why we as guitarists still call those wobbly things 'trems', usually on 'bolt-on' neck guitars and a less paul will always be a lez paul to me...

the decal was sent to me by Phil king, i think its from the same guy who does the fecker ones... you say dec-al, i say dee-cal... lets call the whole thing off;)