"Wizard Of Waukesha" Les Paul Remembered
By Michael George; Mick Trevey
Today's TMJ4 - Tue, Aug 25, 2009
MILWAUKEE - Hundreds of fans came to Discovery World in Milwaukee on Friday to pay their respects to the father of the electric guitar, Les Paul.
"Life as we know it today wouldn't be the same without Les Paul," said fan Todd Beebe.
Whether you knew the name or not, chances are Les Paul helped create the soundtrack of your childhood. Rock and roll got its sound from his inventions: the solid-body electric guitar and multi-track recording.
But many fans who came to remember Paul on Friday knew him for his music.
"Oh, it was great. He had so many stories between songs, too, of all the people he played with. Of course, Mary Ford, but Bing Crosby and Louie Armstrong," Beebe said.
Les moved to the east coast, but he never lost his Wisconsin sensibilities. He would shake hands with every fan he could after a show. Alicia Wallace remembers when she showed him one of the classic guitars he helped design.
"I got a picture of me with my guitar with Les, and it was awesome. The whole time he was saying, "That's really a 1954 left-handed?"
Even at the age of 94 and battling arthritis, Les Paul played concerts on a weekly basis. Joel Brennan, president and CEO of Discovery World, recalls stopping by his house a few years ago.
"Les shuffled out to have breakfast with us at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Because Les, throughout his whole life, lived the life of a rock star. He worked until dawn, and he slept until noon," Brennan said.
That was Les Paul. Still a rock star, even at age 94.
After the visitation at Discovery World, Paul's remains traveled by motorcade to his hometown of Waukesha.
Along the way, the motorcade passed guitar store Cream City Music. Inside, people recalled Paul's contributions to music. "I know he's called the Wizard of Waukesha," said salesman John Majdalani. "But it goes way deeper than that. He basically revolutionized modern recording."
On Prairie Avenue, teenager Ashley Temeyer watched the motorcade pass. She owns and plays a Les Paul Gibson Guitar. She recalled receiving it saying, "I got really excited and was almost afraid to touch it because it was just like sacred almost. It was so cool."
Paul was buried after a private funeral service in the Prairie Home Cemetery.
