Les Paul

June 9th 1915, Born on this day, guitarist Les Paul, inventor of the Gibson Les Paul guitar who also had a 1953 UK No.7 single with ‘Vaya Con Dios’ and the US No.7 single ‘Hummingbird’ with Mary Ford featuring his multi-layered recording techniques. He also pioneered ‘close miking’ and echo delay recording. He broke his right arm in a car accident and had it set at an angle so he could still play guitar. Paul died in hospital in White Plains, New York at the age of 94 suffering from severe pneumonia on 13th Aug 2009.