Les Paul, born July 9, 1915, turns 93 today.
Without him, music may have taken a different path. Leo Fender would have still gone on to develop the solid-body guitar, and, eventually, someone else would have developed and perfected multi-track recording.
But who knows how long it would have taken. And who knows how much music the world would have missed. Anybody who’s enjoyed a popular recording made in the past 50 years likely owes a debt to Paul’s genius.
Happy birthday Les.
Here’s a bit of his genius from back in the day with then-wife Mary Ford:
Raising Two Americans 