Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award

Les Paul

Still active after seven decades in music, Les Paul is a unique blend of musician and inventor. His many recording innovations--including sound-on-sound, overdubbing, reverb effects, and multi-tracking--greatly accelerated the advancement of studio recording. The Les Paul Trio, which included his talented wife Mary Ford, produced such hits as "Tennessee Waltz," "Mockin' Bird Hill," "How High The Moon," and "Vaya Con Dios." He also won a 1977 Grammy with Chet Atkins for the album Chester and Lester. As an inventor, Mr. Paul's breakthrough creation of the solid-body electric guitar paved the way for electric music and made the sound of rock and roll possible. The Gibson Les Paul guitar went into production in 1952 and was the first solid body electric that Gibson made. In 1953 while performing with Bing Crosby, he perfected the first multi-track recording machine, allowing separate lines of instrumental music and vocals to be blended together. In 1978, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.