I always believed my Dad loved being an entertainer more than anything else.  He loved playing his guitar and telling his stories and watching his audience join in for over 80 years.

"The search for a hit record is the search for ‘a sound,’ that unique combination of an artist’s individuality, imaginative musical arrangement, and skillful engineering ....  no one has been as successful in creating hits as Les Paul.  No one has been as successful in achieving that unique combination."

Amplifying a guitar was a novel idea back in the 1920s.  There were many technical challenges to overcome with few modern resources available.  But as usual, dad's need to accomplish his goal of his guitar being heard led him to use the resources at his disposal or make them.

“The 8-track [concept] came along in 1953,” Paul recalls. LP: “While filming our Listerine  show, I was taking a rest and looking up at the sky. My manager asked what I was dreaming about. I said that recording using sound-on-sound was crazy. The answer to the problem turned out to be the answer that NASA was looking for also.

Gene & Tom Doyle talk about repairing and maintaining Les' unique one of a kind guitar collection and more.

Radio interview with Jim Lowe & Les

They talk about W.C. Fields, Judy Garland, and how the recording of “In The Good Old Summertime” came about and, as usual, much, much more.

THE CHESTER

&

LESTER STORY

Two Guys With Nothing To Do

Les recalls how Chet coaxed him out of retirement for this recording.

* Les discusses his friendship with speaker innovator James Lansing.

* Les and Peter Freedman discuss microphones.

* Les's chat with Benny Goodman on Musicians vs Audio Engineers.

* Les and Bing Crosby & the first Tape Recorder in America.

* An incredible walk-through of the Gibson USA facility.

* Les tells the story of his 'Monster' & the famous Fairchild compressor.