Tim Plains Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 One for the historians... I'm sure we all know the general time line. Les Pauls were produced from 1952 - 1960 and Gibson stopped making them because of poor sales. Years later, they gained popularity because guys like Clapton, Page, Gibbons started using them and Gibson brought the body style back in 1968. If you could attribute the resurrection of the Gibson Les Paul to one person, who would it be? I just posted this youtube video in another thread and I ended it up watching it again. "In 1964, the Rolling Stones toured America for the first time. Guitarist Keith Richards bought a burst and played it all across America." Could it be Keith Richards? Is it possible that many other now famous guitarists saw or heard the Stones tour in '64 and that's what ignited the spark? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky4 Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Clapton. Richards might have owned one, but nobody made it more popular than Clapton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXE® Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Cory !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FennRx Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 clapton for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoda Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 For me I always think of Jimmy Page via Jeff Beck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sok66 Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Mike Bloomfield #1, Clapton #2, then Page & Kossoff. Clapton got off the Les Paul bus pretty quickly & really never returned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crossroadsnyc Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Clapton. It's really not even up for debate. Anyone else chosen is chosen just because people personally like them and want their favorite(s) added to the list. There are a ton of influential LP players, but Clapton is the man responsible for the resurrection. Even a number of people listed here, like Kossoff as a good example, cite Clapton as their reason for playing LP's. As for Page, I might point out that his first two albums - as well as much of his other work - were done on a Telecaster as well as a number of other guitars. He's definitely an iconic LP player (we can all seem him on stage w/his LP's), but he doesn't belong on the list for resurrecting it (I say this as a fan). Though, I think a lot of the people mentioned...such as Page/Kossoff/etc., deserve credit for keeping the LP alive and as popular as it's been over the years. I think we can even add Slash to the names (certainly the most influential in modern times) as people responsible for continued popularity as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvhbngh Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Peter green Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundergod Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Strange... I always thought it was Keith... and that hasn't changed, I still thik most of them started playing burst lesters because of keith. You can say what you want about clapton but you gotta admit Keith was playing in more places at the time and all around the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cvansickle Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Keef was the first one to bring one back to the UK from the US. Clapton wanted a Les Paul because he saw Freddie King playing one on an album cover. Kossoff wanted one because he was influenced by Clapton, as I suspect Green was. Page was playing a Custom while doing session work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FennRx Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 beano is generally recognized as the album that started it all, therefore clapton is the best choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobv Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Did Mike Bloomfield or Peter Green or Keith Richards appear on album covers (or backs) with Les Paul before 1968? Or was it a glimpse of a Lester on the Beano album that did it? Regardless of the timing, even once the reissues were out, Duane annd Dickey kept the mystique alive. And please don't mention that creep who always poses with a cigarette in this thread, we can expect more from our kids' role models these days and he's a few decades away from the OP topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundergod Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 And please don't mention that creep who always poses with a cigarette in this thread' date=' we can expect more from our kids' role models these days and he's a few decades away from the OP topic.[/quote'] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boston004681 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Nobody can make a '59 sing better than Clapton... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dp71 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 The resurrection of the Gibson Les Paul: Eric Clapton. He was of course not the first person to own a Les Paul, but he was the first to plug it into a Marshall, crank it up, and play pentatonic leads with a stunning mastery of phrasing, string bending and vibrato. This is what caused 'the resurrection'. It was a new style of guitarplaying, or rather: guitar-tone. Listen to guitar solos before 1966 (ie before Beano), and they are dry, staccato-ish, twangy, whereas after 1966 they are sustained, singing, fat. And before Beano, the guitars where ES-335, Gretsch, Rickenbacker, Fender, but after 1966 everyone seemed to play a Les Paul. So regardless of who's who's favourite, it just happened to be Clapton who put a Marshall and a Les Paul together, and the modern electric guitarsound was born! And the followers were Hendrix, Green, Taylor, Bloomfield, Beck, Page and almost everyone else... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Plains Posted March 15, 2009 Author Share Posted March 15, 2009 According to that video I posted above, Beano came out in 1965. Richards was playing one in 1964. Maybe seeing & hearing Richards' Les Paul is what made Clapton pick one up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bram Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Adam Jones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dp71 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Historically speaking, it had no influence on him that Richards played one. He wasn't into the Stones, he was into the blues. He's been quoted so many times, also in this thread, saying that he saw an album cover with Freddy King playing a Les Paul. At the same time he was looking for a fatter, more sustained tone, like the one he heard on the same album: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4c/Let%27s_Hide_Away_and_Dance_Away_with_Freddy_King.jpg and Clapton covered the instrumental 'Let's hide away and dance away' on Beano, simply called 'Hideaway'. Reportedly, it was another cover though, with a Goldtop, namely this picture: http://www.freddiekingsite.com/FKSweetHomeChicago.html So, Freddy King had one, made Clapton buy one plus a Marshall, recorded Beano, then everyone wanted a Marshall (Hendrix) and a Les Paul (Bloomfield, Page, Beck...and not to forget, Al di Meola!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dp71 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 ..and why can't I post pictures? Anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howlin4Hubert Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 ..and why can't I post pictures? Anyone? Have you tried putting the URL's to the pic's in the tag? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howlin4Hubert Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 ..and why can't I post pictures? Anyone? Have you tried putting the URL's to the pic's in the tag? If not try that and it should work. If you have tried that it could be the site you are trying to pull the image from. I tried your URL to the Freddie King album in the img tag and it didn't work for me so wikimedia may block pic's on their site from being displayed on other sites. You may have to somehow get a copy of the pic you want to show and put in on Photobucket or a site like that then put it in your post using the img tag. Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryvincent Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 some say its clapton, some say its bloomfield. but for me its clapton. everybody wants a les paul after clapton recorded the beano album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crossroadsnyc Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 I love Bloomfield. I played Stop this weekend - was the first time in a while. Great guitarist (um, Bloomfield...not me). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sok66 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Did Mike Bloomfield or Peter Green or Keith Richards appear on album covers (or backs) with Les Paul before 1968? Or was it a glimpse of a Lester on the Beano album that did it? Regardless of the timing' date=' even once the reissues were out, Duane annd Dickey kept the mystique alive. And please don't mention that creep who always poses with a cigarette in this thread, we can expect more from our kids' role models these days and he's a few decades away from the OP topic.[/quote'] The glimpse of Clapton on the Beano album shows the guitar from the rear. It could have been a goldtop or a Guild for all anyone knew. First Burst to clearly appear on an album cover was Mike on "Super Sessions". Even Gruhn credits Mike with the Burst revival. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Clapton. Bloomfield and Richards might have played one even earlier but it was Clapton's playing which made everybody want to sound like him. The fact that you can't tell whether or not it's a 'burst is irrelevant; we aren't really (?) being asked about the revival of the sunburst Les Paul - just the Les Paul. In fact when it was eventually reintroduced many years after it had been dropped the LP Standard wasn't even offered in Cherry Sunburst. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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