American Music Masters at the Rock Hall

The American Music Masters series, produced by Rock and Roll of Fame + Museum and The Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities at Case Western Reserve University, is in its 13th year and I've attended every one. It's become one of my favorite weeks of the year. This year's AMM program has already started, actually, but you can still catch seven events on the remaining four of its six days [Listen to the Cool Cleveland podcast here].

This year's subject is Les Paul. If you’re a rock, country, jazz or R&B musician, you know his name. If you’re not, you still may be familiar with it. If you’re a musician, you know, at least, that his name is on one of the most popular guitars made, the Gibson Les Paul. His name has been synonymous with that model since 1952.

If you only know his name from the guitar, though, you’re missing some fairly significant information. It can be argued that rock and pop music may not have developed as it did had it not been for Les Paul. For one thing, he didn’t just design the model of guitar that’s named for him; he practically invented the sold-body electric guitar, which changed not only the sound of the guitar, but also opened the door for the myriad sounds a guitar could then make – starting with the ability to sustain a note or chord – and the variety of styles in which it could be played. And the solid-body electric also made it possible to play a guitar loud, which enabled it to become the dominant instrument in a band.

Paul’s other most notable achievement, among several inventions, was the creation of multi-track recording, which completely revolutionized the way recordings were made and how they sounded, and enabled recording artists to go way beyond what had come before that innovation.

Younger musicians also might not know that Paul had a long string of hit records himself – nearly 50 of them – in the late 1940s and ‘50s, mostly with his then-wife, singer Mary Ford. He also won a Grammy for an album he recorded in 1977, Chester and Lester, with another guitar legend, Chet Atkins, and two more Grammys in 2006 for Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played, featuring duets with guest artists including Jeff Beck, Billy Gibbons and Keith Richards, on classic rock and R&B songs.

Paul has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the National Inventors Hall of Fame, and the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame; was named an honorary member of the Audio Engineering Society; received a Grammy Trustees Award for his lifetime achievements; and had an annual award established in his name by the Mix Foundation, the Les Paul Award, which honors "individuals or institutions that have set the highest standards of excellence in the creative application of audio technology.”

Now, at the age of 93, Paul still plays guitar in a New York nightclub.

There are plenty of stories behind all of these factoids and his other achievements and milestones, and you can hear them all – some from Paul himself – this week at the Rock Hall and at CWRU.

The American Music Masters series each year honors and studies an artist, or, as in the case of Les Paul, someone who was instrumental (so to speak) in the creation and evolution of rock music. Through a series of lectures, interviews, panel discussions, films and performances, AMM brings together people who knew and worked with the artist – fellow musicians, producers, record company executives, family members and friends, plus authors and music journalists and historians – who can tell the stories you could never hear anywhere else. In many cases, they tell stories they’ve never told – except, maybe, to each other – mainly because they’ve never been asked before.

The AMM events – especially the all-day Saturday conference – can be a valuable experience even for those with just a slight interest in roots music or pop music history or pop culture – or no interest in those things, actually – and even if you’ve never heard of that year’s subject. And it’s not just music history that you get from these; it’s American history and world history. Pop culture, and especially pop music, has always influenced history to a degree. And usually that degree can’t be determined until much later. You realize, after attending the week’s events, or even just a few of them, that taken altogether, the participants have not only imparted information about that year’s artist, but they’ve painted a picture of an era.

Here’s an overview of what’s coming up this week:

Wednesday, Nov. 12, 4:30PM : Teachers Rock: Guitars in the Classroom, at the Rock Hall. Rock Hall educators and a Gibson guitar maker talk about the history of the Gibson Les Paul guitar. This informative session is designed for guitar teachers, music teachers and interested educators around Northeast Ohio.

Wednesday, Nov. 12, 7PM: Gibson Guitar Presents The Les Paul Guitar: An Evening with the Luthiers, at the Rock Hall. Three of the people who make Gibson guitars, luthiers Michael McGuire, Frank Johns and Ren Ferguson, will take us behind the scenes into the craftsmanship and dedication that goes into building a Gibson guitar. They will discuss the general concept of guitar design and some specific models from the earliest Les Paul solid bodies to current production models.

Thursday, Nov. 12, 6:30PM: Film: Les Paul—Chasing Sound! (2007), in CWRU's Wolstein Auditorium (2103 Cornell Road, in the Wolstein Research Building). Les Paul tells his own story in this feature-length documentary, including interviews with B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Tony Bennett, Jeff Beck, Steve Miller and many more. Director John Paulson and producers Glenn Aveni and James Arntz will introduce the film with a discussion about how they made the film and they will take questions from the audience following the screening.

The above events will be open to the public, and are free with a reservation; email education@rockhall.org or call 515-8426 to RSVP.

Friday, Nov. 14, 12:30PM: Guitar Clinic, the Case Western Reserve Community Hour, Harkness Chapel. Sponsored by the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities, this hour-long program will feature a live guitar workshop by Jennifer Batten, who will discuss her guitar techniques in an interactive multimedia presentation.

Friday, Nov. 14, 8PM: rock show, at Wilbert’s in downtown Cleveland. Music by Webb Wilder and the Beatnecks. Tickets, $15, available at the door or in advance at Wilbert’s. Rock Hall members can purchase 2-for-1 tickets by showing member ID at time of purchase.

Saturday, Nov. 15: Rock and Roll Retrospective at CWRU’s Wolstein Auditorium (2103 Cornell Road, in the Wolstein Research Building), 9AM - 4:30PM. A reflection on the career of Les Paul and his impact on rock and roll music. Participants include the Ventures; chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar Henry Juszkiewicz; Steve Waksman, Smith College professor and author of Instruments of Desire; Ideastream’s David C. Barnett; and Robb Lawrence, author of The Early Years of the Les Paul Legacy, and others – including Les Paul. Tickets, $30, available through Ticketmaster and the Rock Hall box office.

Saturday, Nov. 15: Tribute Concert, at Playhouse Square’s State Theatre. All-star tribute to Les Paul, including: Slash, Richie Sambora, Billy Gibbons, The Ventures, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, James Burton, Duane Eddy, Jennifer Batten, Eric Carmen, Dennis Coffey, Lenny Kaye, Steve Lukather, Barbara Lynn, Lonnie Mack, Katy Moffatt and Alannah Myles.

Concert tickets, $30, $40 and $50, available at http://www.playhousesquare.org and at the Playhouse Square box office or by calling 241-6000. Details at http://www.rockhall.com.

From Cool Cleveland contributor David Budin popcyclesATsbcglobal.net
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