Les Paul

It seemed like Les Paul would live forever. He died today at the age of 94. In the mid-80's I was working at Modern Travel. We were travel coordinators for The Firm's US tour. Jimmy Page was in town with the band and Laura Giantonio and I were invited to see him sit in with Les Paul at Fat Tuesday's. Les had a Monday night residency at the club. I remember big smiles on both Les and Jimmy. It was like two kids jamming in their living room. When I got my first electric guitar I was pretty sure I wanted a Les Paul. They sounded so good. My guitar teacher convinced me to get the Gibson SG. I don't regret my choice as I think the Les Paul would have been too much of a guitar for me. The SG came out of retirement last year after being kept in pristine condition in it's case for too many years. I hadn't played since college. I remembered one chord. I took piano lessons from ages 5-7. I guess it's true when they say take up an instrument when you're really young, you'll never forget it. Les Paul was always young.

What Was That Dress Thing?

I'm still having a hard time with London's contribution to the closing Olympic ceremonies. With all the music talent that has come out of England, they chose Leona Lewis, the winner of the TV show The X Factor (Simon Cowell's version of Pop Idol) to perform with Jimmy Page to represent London. On top of a double decker bus, the two went at Whole Lotta Love. In the middle of the song, Leona rose to new heights as she was hydraulically raised another 8 feet or so into the air, the long train of her dress following her. This seems to be a trend with female singers. Carrie Underwood utilized it when opening for Keith Urban. Neither singer was able to move while performing, probably for fear of breaking their collar bone from a tumble. Performers have been elevating on platforms for years, but not with their dress getting longer and longer as the fear of falling is written all over their faces. It's cheesy and it takes away from the song and singer. Leona is a capable singer, but should not be tackling a classic like Whole Lotta Love. Jimmy Page is a rock god and still looks like he's having fun. All of these elements along with David Beckham who looked like he would rather be anywhere else and it was embarrassing, especially when held up to the spectacular opening and closing orchestrated by Zhang Yimou along with Chinese choreographers Zhang Jigang and Chen Weiya.