In researching my post for this thread, I looked up Les Paul’s age, and discovered that today, June 9th, is his 94th birthday.
Happy birthday to a guitar legend! (Man, I wanna make it to NYC to see him play!)
Three cheers for the wizard of Waukesha!!!
Happy birthday!
Rhubarb Red, Lester William Polfuss - the man, the myth, the legend.
I am sure I have told this on the Dope before, but I saw him over a year ago at Iridium, the jazz club where he owns Monday nights. He was playing - basically with one or two fingers because that’s all he can use - and still sounded great. At one point towards the end, someone called out to ask to take a picture. Les said “sure!” and got the whole band to crowd around him. Once everybody got settled he looked to the picture-taker and asked “ready?” The guy said yes so Les started counting down 3-2-1 and when he got to 1, he flipped the guy a huge bird - with his finger knuckles going in 3 directions with all the arthritis and such. It was hilarious and the crowd lost it - and Les had a big smile on his face and the guy loved the picture…
…and if you are remotely interested in guitar, music from the 40’s and 50’s (commerical pop of the day, not rockabilly) or just Les Paul (and Mary Ford) in general, I can’t recommend Les Paul: Chasing Soundenough from PBS’s American Masters series…
Happy Birthday!!
WordMan, that’s a great story!
And, thanks for the recommendation on the DVD. I’m just starting to learn how to play the electric guitar, but I’ve been a Les fan for many years, and I had to get a Les Paul for my first guitar! 
You won’t hear an argument from me - I have 2 (actually 3, but one is a Japanese-made replica)…the basic LP design is one of the “Fundamental Food Groups of Electric Guitar”…
Jay Leonhart, August of 2006
Look over there playing the guitar,
Who is that we see?
The greatest guitar player of them all, or
So it seems to me. A
Guy with more hit records than
anybody you ever saw, he
Changed the music for us all he’s the
Wizard of Waukesha.
You can tell your mama,
You can tell your paw,
Tonight you heard the greatest of’ em all. The
Wizard of Wakesha
Complete poem here, about a fifth of the way down the page.
That’s pretty darn cool, Le Ministre.
I remember a TV commercial a few years back (naturally, I can’t remember who it was for) where Les Paul walks up to some dude playing guitar in a bar and asks if he can give it a try. Les takes the guy’s guitar and plays a few hot licks and hands it back to the guy. The guy says “Wow, you’re pretty good. What’s your name?” And Les smiles and says “It’s on your guitar.”
Gibson used to bring Mr. Paul to CES in Las Vegas every year,to sit in their tent and play and sign autographs. He’s a remarkably friendly man, as well as a genius and a legend.
My first guitar was a 1972 Les Paul Custom, just like Frank Zappa’s. I still have it.
Having played electric guitar for over 40 years (and boy are my arms tired :D), I just had to post in this thread.
Les Paul is the guitar man and not just in terms of playing excellence but also in his guitar designing skills. (Plus I’ve heard he came up with a few tricks for the recording studio).
It’s sad to hear about arthritis affecting his playing, but it’s good to know that he’s around to celebrate another birthday.
Happy Birthday Les.
Yeah, that’s the one. 
My regular reminder that I need to get to the Iridium one of these Mondays. It’s not cheap but I’ll end up kicking myself if I don’t.
True, but two fingers was all Django Reinhardt needed, so he can probably make due. 