Free Republic

Today is the 100th birthday of one of the greatest innovators in music history, Les Paul. Not only was Paul a popular performer, but his inclination to tinker and invent led to the development of the solid body electric guitar, multitrack recording, tape delay, phasing and a number of other innovations. Born Lester William Polsfuss in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on June 9, 1915, Paul started playing harmonica at the age of eight before learning the piano and then switching to guitar. An innovator from the beginning, Paul invented the neck-worn harmonica holder that enabled him to accompany himself on guitar at...

Hard Rock Removes Ad After Accusations That a Guitar-Playing Orangutan Is Offensive Inset: Hard Rock's offending ad by KATHERINE TIMPF April 21, 2015 Ad was intended to promote new location in Malaysia. Hard Rock Cafe has ended a promotional campaign featuring a Photoshopped picture of an orangutan playing a guitar after facing accusations that the picture was outrageously offensive because the orangutan was playing a guitar. The ad was intended to promote the chain’s new location in Kota Kinabalu, the capital of the state of Sabah in Malaysia and home to a famous wildlife refuge for the endangered animal. Seeing...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - One deep-pocketed bidder will get a chance to own a piece of rock and roll history when the iconic Les Paul guitar known as "Black Beauty" goes up for auction in New York next month. The electric instrument, which is the original prototype for the Les Paul Custom guitars made the Gibson Guitar Company, will be sold by Guernsey's Auctions at the Arader Galleries on Feb. 19th. No pre-auction estimate, or reserve price, has been put on the instrument. But some music experts believe it could exceed the record auction price of $965,000 paid in 2013...

McLean told us the music died in 1959. If it did, it sure recovered quickly. I think it may have died again in 1977, and we still haven't seen its return.

I was listening to Carlos Santana's "Europa (Earth's Cry, Heaven's Smile)" and it made me wonder how in the world did he do those two looooong sustains or bends in this piece? Was this an amp trick or something that can be done only in the studio?I mean, 4 second sustains are amazing. How did he do it? Jesus Christ: You can’t impeach Him and He ain’t gonna resign.

From the album, "20th Century Blues", by Robin Trower. This is one of the most haunting and beautiful electric guitar tracks that you will ever hear. Not at all what some might expect from this old master of heavy metal rock. Click on the play button in the video screen to listen.

I caught guitar prodigy, Quinn Sullivan, this weekend at the Eastern States Exhibition. I saw him perform the extended version of his new single. I was able to speak to him briefly after the show and get a CD signed. Here is a link to his performance of his new single at "Legends." It's starts slow, but the second half is a wonderful, extended blues jam. The below links give you some idea of his rapid musical development: Age 5 Age 6 Don't miss the heartwarming, surprise ending after the 3 minute mark. Age 9 Performs "Texas Flood" at "Legends."

Anyone have any information on any venue of any kind in Austin Saturday, August 9 where one could listen to some pretty music? Interested in classical, guitar, piano, etc. and would be most grateful. That failing, anyone know of a venue where one could watch a good quality foreign film with an actual plot?

With 9 presets that were finely tuned to emulate the most legendary organs from the '60s and beyond, the B9 Organ Machine will transform your guitar or keyboard. Tracking is fast and flawless. Control of its signature percussive click and sweet modulation is precise. Blend your dry instrument to create lush layers.

Yesterday, Secretary of State John Kerry showcased his guitar-playing skills when he hosted a lunchtime jam session during talks with officials in Beijing, China. In the Wall Street Journal news item about the performance, which was posted last night, reporter Sarah Larimer reached out to two guitar "experts," asking them to comment on Kerry's skills.

Growing up with him as my father I was completely immersed in a musical culture long before my earliest recollections .I knew he was an incredibly gifted musician and singer because I saw him on stage while huge crowds were cheering, giving him standing ovations, basically just going nuts but all the while I never really understood what all the hype was about, he played that boring, yucky, country music. Being a drummer John Bonham was my idol and I was the craziest, most fanatical Zep- head (been a long time since I rocked and rolled) you had ever seen....

If you search my posting history, you'll find that I never really got acclimated to the rock music of the 50s, 60s and beyond. My tastes still remain rooted in Southern Gospel (The Kingsmen, Happy Goodmans, Florida Boys and such) and traditional country (Roy Acuff, Webb Pierce, Kitty Wells and the like).Today while heading back from errands, my car radio happened to scan onto a station playing a song I had never heard before, "Things We Said Today" by the Beatles.

Flamenco street buskers in Spain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy4mArn9RkkMatt Otten. This is a true virtuoso jazz guitarist IMO. Very smooth, effortless, style similar to Jim Hall. Maybe some will find him too cerebral but I could watch him move around the neck of that guitar for hours. One oddity about him is he seems to have never gigged or jammed with anyone else except rarely, a vocalist. All his videos are accompanied by backing tracks. Sunnyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX8bmZitKaw&list=PLB883E04FDBAB4C06 Beautiful Love.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx4sxLxBn8gCan't believe I never heard of this Australian guy before! His name is Tommy EmmanuelClassical Acoustichttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S33tWZqXhnkTommy playing the blues. He is probably most famous for this...

Great Gibson electric guitars have long been a means of fighting the establishment, so when the powers that be confiscated stocks of tonewoods from the Gibson factory in Nashville—only to return them once there was a resolution and the investigation ended—it was an event worth celebrating. Introducing the Government Series II Les Paul, a striking new guitar from Gibson USA for 2014 that suitably marks this infamous time in Gibson’s history.

In 2011, the Department of Justice conducted raids on the Tennessee facilities of the famed Gibson Guitar company and confiscated large quantities of tonewood that had been imported from India and Madagascar. The action included armed SWAT teams, with automatic weapons, who apparently feared being garroted with a guitar string by an enraged Gibson employee. These raids were conducted due to the Lacey Act, which bans the importing of certain woods. The issue at hand was not that the wood was endangered or illegally harvested, but that it was not of the proper thickness that would have meant that some...

One of the great paradoxes of modern popular music is the endurance of the guitar. After all, electronic music has now been generally available for a half-century – and logic would suggest that with its wide range of effects (including synthesizing the sounds of traditional instruments), its programmability and editing, and its plummeting price, that the guitar, that ultimate refinement of analog music creation, would by now have gone the way of the harpsichord.

If you can get over just how good 11-year-old Aidan Fisher is on the guitar, you will never believe how it happened that he took the stage with Steel Panther.

Federal investigators raided the offices of Lumber Liquidators on Thursday, the company and authorities said. Stocks of the hardwood flooring retailer fell sharply on Friday as the news emerged, dropping just over 10% at midday. No arrests were made and the search warrants remain sealed, said Brandon Montgomery, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security. He said the search involved special agents from the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of Justice. Lumber Liquidators (LL) suggested the investigation involved its importation of wood products, which come from "approximately 110 domestic and international mills...

Although details were initially sketchy, Lumber Liquidators' (LL) stock price plunged as much as 10% early Friday after a reported raid by federal investigators on its headquarters related to a probe of illegal imports. In a statement, the top flooring retailer with more than 300 stores nationwide, said it would provide to investigators information and documents related to the import of certain products. The Department of Homeland Security, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Department of Justice conducted the raid, acting under a sealed court-issued warrant.

CHICAGO -- A showy red cape and an autographed Michael Jackson poster drew the most interest from potential buyers as a government auction of around a dozen personal items forfeited by prison-bound ex-congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. got underway Tuesday. **SNIP** The red cashmere cape drew the most attention in the hours just after bidding began early Tuesday. By evening, it registered 39 bids — pushing the initial asking price from around $300 to $965. Court documents say Jackson purchased it — with campaign funds — for $1,500 from an Edwards Lowell Furs store. After a sluggish start, bidding surged during...