[Dixielandjazz] Les Paul - addendum

[Don Ingle]

I will add a litttle more to the Les Paul obit. Others will, I am sure.
Les was active in radio inthe 1930's o=in Chicago and often hung pout 
with the Ted Weems band members, including my father Red Ingle. That 
association was repeated a decade later in California.

With Weems was the very fine guitarist Cliff Covert, and later a young 
Allen Ruess (sp) and George Barnes (guitar pickers had a fraternity in 
those days regardless of band). Dad got to know Less well in that time 
and place,and beign two redheads they shared a colorful head cover as well.

In 1946,  after Dad had left Spike Jones, he and several partners began 
to work on an idea for a humorous parody of Country Music that led to 
the Red Ingle and the Natural Seven sides released by Capitol - one of 
which became over night the number one selling record Tim-tay-shun, and 
later Cigareets, Whusky and Wild, Wild Wimmen. To sell the idea to 
Capitol, test recordings were made in a studio built into the garage of 
Les Paul's homewith Led engineering the date. I have an accetate of that 
session (very funny stuff but was never released).
Over the many sessions for Capitol, Les played guitar on several sides, 
as did Perry Botkin, Red Roundtree ( a Spike Jones alumnus), and other 
studio players. One record, Chew Tobacco Rag, a Les Paul composition, 
was made with just Red and Les, with Les multi-tracking as a one man band.

This writer also recalls listening to radio broadcasts in Chicago in the 
mid to later 30's with Les playing, I think it was the National Barn 
Dance or some title like that, and Rhubarb Red was featured with some 
guitar picking to knock the socks off you. The show was country music 
oriented, but dad,when he was ever home to listen, always said when Les 
played that was more hot jazz than pure country. Les Paul did it all, no 
matter what the date called for, and was a musician's musician.

I got to meet him a number of times then in the '40's in CA ,and he was 
a very nice man, always having time to answer damn fool questions from 
an early-aged teen.

I hope that all who knew him or of him knows what a musical giant has 
left us. But what a  treasure trove of  recorded ememories we  will have 
to remember.