•
Rating: The origins of every science, every art, every profession properly so called, are traditionally filled with mythical figures, halfway between man and divinity who, like a new Prometheus, give the whole of humanity renewed progress. This is true both in arts and sciences (and it must be said that, in the dim and distant past, the two fields are inextricably fused together).
Just as the beginnings of chemistry are rooted in the esotericism of the alchemists, the earliest known philosophers reveal themselves as model "scientists," the great Renaissance painters are masters in the study of statics and architectural perspectives... the beginning of modern music also saw the emergence of characters capable of mixing and having technical proficiency and artistic skill converse.
Lester William Polsfuss (known to history as "Les Paul") is undoubtedly one of these. It is practically impossible to judge the influence he had, both in the modes of composition and in those of recording. Not only is he famous for designing and offering the market the famous "Gibson Les Paul," but he is remembered for a series of brilliant insights that forever revolutionized the way the recording studio was conceived.
Born in 1915, he is considered a composer, a guitarist, a luthier, an inventor... a man capable of handling his guitar from every point of view. Considered by many to be a true "architect of sound," he took his experiments so far as to risk a premature death in 1940 due to an electric shock in his New York apartment. Despite various vicissitudes, including a car accident, Lester manages to complete his model, transforming and reshaping it for an entire decade. A model that then, in the sixties, will be redesigned and revolutionized in the equally famous SG. But that's not all.
In those years, precisely in 1948, dissatisfied with the sound of the recordings obtained in previous sessions, Lester created his personal studio, effectively producing the first multitrack recorded single ("Lover"). It is a pivotal shift in music history: Lester designs and creates the first eight-track recording console thanks to the financial support of Bing Crosby and the Ampex Corporation. It is evident how much this innovation shaped the whole world of audio engineering to come, introducing the technique of overdubbing. The technical and engineering skills were monstrous: Lester managed to recycle car parts to create machinery and recording equipment.
There was truly an air of a new Prometheus descending once again among men, inviting them to contemplate a renewed fire.
Above all, he managed to enchant like a skilled alchemist. Famous is the case of his Blackbox, renamed "Les Paulverizer," which allowed him to recreate the effect of several overdubbed guitars during live performances (also aided by his delay effect "Sound on Sound").
But, as if that wasn't enough, Lester was one of the greatest guitarists of all time.
Part of his fortune as an artist stems from the encounter that occurred in 1945 with the folk singer Colleen Summers (famous as Mary Ford). The two began to collaborate starting in 1948, cementing their artistic partnership in their personal lives as well: they would marry the following year.
During the 1950s, the two would create some of the most famous hits of modern music, often adapting classics from the past. The amount of sales and revenue accumulated by the couple is difficult to calculate: suffice it to say that the golden thread will be interrupted only in the early sixties coinciding with their tumultuous divorce.
The series of singles produced in the fifties consecrated Lester and Colleen as legendary figures in the history of "pop" music. Moreover, thanks to the innovations brought to the methods of composition. Consider that the presence of three overdubbed voices was revolutionary in that specific musical landscape. To give a practical example, just mention "Bye Bye Blues" alone, which, exactly 60 years later, has not lost a chip of its charm. With its carefree pace, emulating the lines and styles of the Charleston, it is capable of love at first listen.
The list of hits would be too long to be truly exhaustive: the compilation chosen for this review, even with its impeccable track selection, leaves out, for example, gems like "Song in Blue". It is impossible not to be fascinated by the harmonics of "Goofus", the poetry of "That old Feeling", the carefree nature of "Whispering", the legendary "Mr. Sandman", the vocal harmonies of "Jealous"... and so on to infinity. All accompanied by Lester's technical expertise: vibrato, tremolo, phase effects and the myriad delay effects, manage to deliver a "simple" pop track to music history.
Jewels perhaps too often undervalued and which, instead, we find ourselves knowing through reminiscence: evidence of how much they influenced the popular culture of the past century. Tracks that we might find ourselves unconsciously humming, just as a child unconsciously utters his first words. And right at the dawn of what music is now, I like to see Les Paul, among the various mythical figures of the 20th century. Capable of embodying the alpha and omega of the artist. Capable of being a creator and thus making himself the demiurge of the sound he produced. Positioned there, where art and technique can no longer be separated.
Loading comments slowly
