From his namesake Gibson Les Paul, which began as ‘The Log’ and was developed over several years in the late ‘30s and early ’40s to pioneering multi-track recording, Paul was a true innovator.
In 1988, Les Paul presented Paul McCartney with a left-handed Les Paul solid body electric guitar. McCartney relayed that the first song he and John Lennon performed in public was “How High the Moon.”
Les had a left-handed guitar he was particularly proud of and offered it to Paul. Top-notch left-handed guitars are scarcer than left-handed teacups, so Paul was delighted to accept. Happily, Paul was going to New York and was able to accept the gift in person in May. Our picture shows Les and Paul in their best casual wear, their pleasure plain to see.
"Early in our career, John and I were considering what an opening number might be. The song we decided to play instrumentally was ‘How High the Moon’ based on our love of Les and Mary’s record"
Paul Mccartney Signs a Gibson Les Paul Guitar Sculpture, London, Britain - 12 Sep 2007, Paul Mccartney With Artist Rosie Brooks. The Guitar Will Eventually Be Sold As Part Of An Auction Raising Money For The Prince'S Trust, Nordoff-Robbins Muisc Therapy And Teenage Cancer Trust
London, England September 12, 2007- Sir Paul McCartney paid a personal visit to the Gibson Guitartown London exhibition to sign his 10-foot hand painted Gibson Les Paul on site at the Gibson Guitartown London charity exhibition. The free standing fiberglass replica guitar named “And The Crowd Goes Wild” was specially designed and hand painted with acrylic paint by the visual artist and cartoonist Rosie Brooks.
Article source and photo credits at Aws2Gibson.com
In 1988, Paul was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Jeff Beck, who said, “I’ve copied more licks from Les Paul than I’d like to admit.”
Reporter and rock 'n' roll fan Rick Glover recalls when he met McCartney at the Iridium jazz club in New York, hoping to meet legendary guitarist and inventor Les Paul, who was performing.
He was stunned when former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney also arrived at the venue. I had brought my Rock and Roll Hall of Fame program for Les Paul to sign; the bonus of having Sir Paul there too was incredible.
At one point, Sir Paul got up on stage with Les Paul and started clowning around with him, saying how much the Beatles loved him and stole his songs but had never been able to give him any credit.
So he got a one-dollar bill and handed it to Les, who was just beaming.
I approached him after the performance to have my book signed and take a photo.
There were only about sixty people in the club, it's a very small room, so Sir Paul gave everyone at the Les Paul performance a very special experience. (CNN)
