As with most things, I don’t do it half-way. After checking out the Les Paul’s at the Gibson Custom Shop, I became increasingly interested in the history of the man, the guitar, and the players who helped make it famous. My wife aided in my insanity by giving me the PBS documentary of Les Paul, “Chasing Sound.” The documentary focuses on Les Paul the man, and his years as a inventor, sideman to the stars, and star in his own right with then wife Mary Ford. I also picked up the book “The Les Paul Legacy,” which gave a good run down of the man, and an in-depth look at the guitar, and the players that use it.
As the illness grew, I bought the book “The Beauty of The Burst” a very in depth look at the sunburst Les Paul’s made from 1958-60. Finally I began looking at some of the players that had helped make the guitar popular, Duane Allman, Eric Clapton, and Mike Bloomfield. To learn about Duane, I read “Sky Dog,” by Randy Poe. It is hard to believe that Duane made such an impact in the very short time that he was a session guitarist in Muscle Shoals, AL, and as a member/founder of the Allman Brothers Band. He died in 1971.
The biography of Bloomers was quite sad as he was such a wonderful player, and died in such a tragic way. The book is a non-traditional biography as it is a collection of interviews with Mike and all the principal players in his story. Eric’s time as a Les Paul player was during the brief time he played in John Mayal’s Bluesbreakers, and his time in Cream.