Bacon provides a brief but full history of Paul’s multiple accomplishments as a country, jazz and pop musician, along with his role in developing multi-track recording and—key to this book—the solid body electric guitar. The author also packs his account with a succinct history of the Gibson company that manufactured Paul’s visions, Gibson’s competitors and the field of guitar collecting. The latter was spurred in the ‘70s by rock stars seeking particular, almost magical, sounds from their instruments.
Many testimonials are collected. “I’ve traced a hell of a lot of rock’n’roll, little riffs and things, back to Les Paul. He’s the father of it all,” said Jimmy Page. “If it hadn’t been for him, there wouldn’t have been anything, really.”
Page is among the pantheon of guitar greats pictured in Bacon’s book—along with Eric Clapton, Freddie King, Keith Richards and many others. For gear heads, there are guitar photo spreads, a roster of serial numbers, a model chronology and other minutiae.
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