If Les Paul told you that he'd invented the E Major chord, you'd be inclined to believe him. Such are his accomplishments as a creative force over the last eight decades in popular music. He designed the first solid body electric guitar. He invented multi-track recording. He introduced mobile recording, and he built the first home recording studio (with artists from Jo Stafford to Andy Williams coming through, Les's garage was the Abbey Road of its day). Along the way, he racked up over forty Top 40 hits--with his late wife Mary Ford--and traded licks with everyone from Art Tatum to Chet Atkins to Keith Richards.

The former Lester Polfuss of Waukesha, Wisconsin (b. 9 June, 1915) started playing guitar at age 8, and shortly after, did his first electronic experiment, attempting to combine the motor of his mother's Hoover vacuum with the innards of an upright piano. It pointed the direction for a life that would combine flashy fretwork and ingenious inventions in equal measures.

These days, you can find the 90-year old legend holding court every Monday night at the New York City club Iridium. The rest of the time, he's at his suburban New Jersey home, performing major surgery on everything from guitar pick-ups to hearing aids.   continue to interview