Elvis Tribute Artist Eddie O'Rourke presents A Tribute to The King

The man who elevated the electric guitar to iconic proportions and revolutionized the recording industry with multi-track and echo delay has left us. Although not himself a rock artist, his playing style and vision of what the electric guitar could be paved the way for “Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

Since the passing of Les Paul, there have been countless news postings about his many accomplishments. So I won’t bore you by repeating the litany. I was privileged to have known Les and got to spend some personal time with him at his home in Mahwah, NJ. When I received the news of his death, it was those private times I recalled most.

I got to know Les through his son Les, Jr. We met in the Army and eventually wound up working gigs in the South East as well as the New York and New Jersey areas. In addition to performing, I also wrote a weekly music column for a local newspaper and thought a piece about one of the greatest guitarists of all time might be a good subject. Jr. asked his Dad if he was interested…Les said yes and one June night many years ago, I was on my way to my first meeting with “The Wizard of Mahwah.

The house was situated on a hill overlooking The Ramapo Mountains. A sprawling, two-story modified ranch-style. I entered through the studio wing and was greeted by Les’ sidekick and ex brother-in-law Wally. As he escorted me to the adjacent room, I could already hear Les playing his guitar. As I entered the master control room…there, behind a huge mixing console and looking much like Captain Kirk on the deck of The Enterprise, sat “the man” himself. A battery of tapedecks lined the right-side of the room. At the end and immediately to Les’ right was a seven foot relay rack which housed a stack of electronics. The rack sat on top of a two foot platform raising it within inches of the ceiling. I was looking at the infamous “Octopus”…the heart of the custom Ampex recording system that enabled Les to create the multi-track hits he became known for. Les put a reel of tape on one of the decks, turned on the recorder and began recounting stories of his life and times. I still have the two reels containing that original interview. One thing led to another and I found myself at the house on numerous occasions.

Another time that stands out in my mind took place in the den, just off the kitchen at Les’ home. The house was decorated in a comfortable western motif. The formal rooms boasted a mid-century style while the casual areas would have been a perfect setting for a cowboy star like Roy Rogers. The den or great room had walls of wood paneling and brick. At the far end there was a raised hearth and a bank of windows near the two-story ceiling. The opposite end had an open counter to the kitchen which was decorated in pickled-pine and hammered copper. Hanging overhead in the den was a huge customized wagon wheel ten or twelve feet in diameter with illuminated spokes and wired for sound. The furniture was western-style; wood with wine and cream colored leather. The backrests were embossed with cowboy designs. The floor was Tennessee flagstone. Got the picture? On more than one instance, we would sit at that kitchen counter, just the two of us, chatting and eating scrambled eggs with popcorn. We’d open the back door…a good thirty feet from where we sat. A family of raccoons would make their way into the room and would catch cubes of cheese we had cut up to toss to them.

I was fortunate to get to know the everyday side of Les. He had a great sense of humor and told a great story. He approached life with the enthusiasm of a child. He never lost his wonder for what new adventure might be just around the next corner. Genius  is an understatement when attempting to describe Les Paul!