If not for my disappearing act, this should have come earlier.

A Grammy-winning, chart-topping musician who has a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Grammy Hall of Fame – that should be enough achievement for one lifetime, right? Wrong!

Lester William Polsfuss also can be safely credited with the invention of the one instrument that changed the face of twentieth century music – the electric guitar. The one instrument that pervades almost all genres of Western music and is the ultimate symbol of cool came into being in the 1950-s largely as a brainchild of this man, who is better known as Les Paul. In fact his name is so synonymous with his invention that for a long time I thought that the name of the guitar was Les Paul and had no idea of the genius behind it! But that is not the sole innovation that he engineered – he is also known for his pioneering contributions to multi-track recording, overdubbing, delay effects etc.

Les Paul passed away on August 13 at the ripe old age of 94, leaving behind a legacy that will be hard to match and even harder to surpass. This is in tribute to the great man, for where would I be without electric guitar music. Almost all music that I love has that in common. Across genres and styles, electric guitar is the common thread that binds my music.

Tom Morello, the guitarist of  Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, sums up my feelings best,

“RIP Les Paul. Thank you for the instruments that changed the course of music. If you have ever rocked or been rocked, you can thank Les Paul.”

(I owe Prasun a thank you for reminding me to post about this! )