Les, Mary and the guitar that eclipsed both of them
And the rest of us who cherished, played, coveted or otherwise adored the guitar named after Mr. Lester William Polsfuss, better known as Les Paul.
He was a star in his day, initially due to his studio wizardry and longtime pop music collaboration with his wife, Mary Ford.
Those in my generation know him better as the creator of the signature guitar model from Gibson guitars that is the go-to choice for Jimmy Page, Billy Gibbons, Slash and a zillion other great guitarists.
I myself played a Les Paul on my favorite recording the Presidents ever made, our cover of Ian Hunter’s “Cleveland Rocks” for the Drew Carey Show theme.
A 21-riff salute to you, Les.
Picture above was taken shortly after I awoke from a very brief impromptu nap on a slide at our local playground and ballfield yesterday afternoon. Not a soul in sight other than our two girls, very faintly visible in the lower left-hand corner of the photo.