Les Paul passed away last thursday and until the recent information surge I was never truly aware of his musical contributions beyond pioneering the solid body electric guitar. He is also credited with several other recording innovations such as tape delay, phasing, overdubs, multi-track recording, and was one of the first to pitch tape up and down for various effects and octave changes.
The above video is from Les Paul and wife Mary Ford’s 1953 “Omnibus” TV appearance where they dispel the rumor that their recordings are all “electrical gadgetry”. They show viewers their recording process with overdubs and perform their hit song “How High the Moon” which features 12 guitars stacked on 12 vocals plus a delay technique that took him two years to create. Pretty radical for 1953.
she’s lip synching in the last part! jk, nice find.