Earlier this year the music world lost one of its last true renaissance men when Les Paul passed away at the age of 94. Les Paul was nothing short of a visionary; he invented the electric guitar and multi-track recording and still found time to maintain a career as a chart-topping singer and guitarist along with wife Mary Ford.
Last year Hal Leonard Books published the first volume of Robb Lawrence’s exhaustive chronicle of his life, The Early Years of the Les Paul Legacy. The Modern Era of The Les Paul Legacy: 1968–2009 is the highly anticipated second book in this comprehensive two-volume set.
As a close confidant to Les Paul for close to 40 years, Lawrence has had unfettered access. This project is the culmination of time Lawrence spent with Paul getting everything down on paper and in pictures.
In The Modern Era of The Les Paul Legacy: 1968–2009, Lawrence picks up where he left off in the first volume, offering lavish full-color never–before-seen photos plus exclusive interviews with players such as Slash and Warren Haynes as well as the Gibson designers and luthiers who have made the Les Paul guitar one of the world’s most versatile and enduring musical icons.
This is the first complete document of Les Paul’s entire life including his final days, his last performances at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the memorials in New York, and burial in his hometown in Wisconsin.
About the Author: Prominent guitar expert, player and photojournalist Robb Lawrence wrote the original Guitar Player magazine “Rarebird” column on vintage guitars. He began his association with Les Paul in 1972, a relationship that included work on The Wizard of Waukesha, a 1978 film about Les Paul, and the 2001 Grammys tribute film. Lawrence lives in Southern California.
