My encounters with Les Paul are on my mind because of an interview I did earlier today about him so I'll relate one of them to U. I was doing a guitar synth demo for Gibson guitars back in the mid 80's . Les Paul and Tal Farlow were also there. Well I do my guitar synth demo as flashy as I could (Playing with taste was not always my first choice in the 80s!) In any event I finish playing and put the guitar down to hang out and schmooze. My contact at Gibson said "Do U want to meet Les?" I flipped and said yes immediately. He introduces me to Les and Les & I sit down over some beers to talk. I can't think of what to say so I blurt out: "So ...Do you think they'll ever get the guitar synth tracking problem together?" He looks at me and says: " So what if they do?" I'm now at a complete loss and can't think of anything to say. Seeing my confusion Les says "If I want to play a piano, I'll walk over to the piano and play the piano. If I want to hear a flute I'll hire a flute player!" I was a bit astonished that this techonological trailblazer would be so anti guitar synth but we continued to chat. There is a pause and he says: "Lay people! It's all about the lay people!" I said "Excuse me?" "He looks me over and says "I was once recording a song with my wife at the time Mary Ford. Ever hear of her?" At this point I'm flabbergasted! "Of COURSE I've heard of her! " I said. He continued:

"Well I can't get the guitar amp to turn on. She says: Are you sure  it's plugged in Les? I got furious!! Of course I checked out if it's plugged in! I'm Les Paul! I'm an electronic  genius!  So I continue on checking fuses and anything else I can think of. Then I look in the back of the amp and sure enough. The amp was not plugged in! So

remember. It's the lay people!" Cracked me up. He was a real character. Very similar to my Dad in temperment. I then asked if he would later autograph a poster of himself for my Dad. He said "Sure." The event continues for a few hours then the big moment comes Les and Tal Farlow are going to play. They sit down with two guitars and from the stage Les says "Vinnie, come on up. Play some bass for us." I was puzzled why he would ask me to play bass since he had heard me playing synth guitar and knew I could play some. Then I remembered what I had been told about him. He never ran the risk of being shown up on a stage! At his weekly gig, if a guest guitarist was getting off a particularly hot solo, it was routine to see him reach over and pull the plug out of the guy's guitar! So I went up to play some bass on a guitar. Of course he called a song from the year one that I had no chance of knowing. In any event I was still tickled to play with him and Tal even though it was not the way I had wanted to play with him. So the event is over and I'm packing up. I feel somebody tapping on my shoulder and it's Les. He says: "You forgot the poster for your Dad!" I was amazed that he remembered cos' I had forgotten. He was a great guy and very nice to me that day. I'd like to end up the story with a warm fuzzy resolution by saying my dad loved getting the poster but the reality is quite different.   When I told him what I had for him and handed him the poster he said "Why would I want this?"

:-)