A Special Evening with Les Paul
by Peter Mayer

It was a quiet Monday night on the road with Jimmy Buffett. We were in New York City, and there is always something going on in that town, musically.

Mac McAnally called me up at around 4 p.m. and mentioned he was heading down to the Iridium jazz club for a show by one of the history making innovators and premier players and pioneers of the guitar - Les Paul. I had seen Les once before, but it had been several years, and I quickly agreed.

The plan was to meet for dinner and then head down for the show. Mac called and said that Jimmy B. had called a business meeting, so dinner plans were off and we decided to meet at the club around 9 p.m.

We got in line at the Iridium to see quite an amazing man who, by the way, is said to have: invented the solid body electric guitar, worked with Gibson in the design of his namesake electric Les Paul guitar; invented the 2-track and 8-track tape recorder, and the multi-tracking techniques that everyone from George Martin with the Beatles to Brian Wilson with the Beach Boys and Brian Eno have built their trademark sounds around.

The list of his innovations goes on and on, but this should not overshadow the fact that he is a tremendous jazz guitar player. He was involved in an automobile accident in 1948 that shattered his right arm and elbow. He had the doctor set it in the perfect position to pick the guitar. Les now has arthritis in all but two of his fingers but still sounds fantastic.

We were standing in line at the club and up walks Mac, with Jimmy B. in tow. Jimmy is a Les fan and had not wanted to miss the show. We signed in, got tickets, and Les' brother whisked Jimmy off to meet Les backstage. Mac and I got a table in the back of a packed room. Jimmy came back beaming from his meeting with Les, and out on stage came the band.

Les is a funny guy. Along with his stellar playing, fans from all over the world are treated to his infectious humor at every show. The next thing we knew, Les was talking about a "special guest in the house."

He said "this gentleman (I don't think Les knew the ins and outs of Jimmy's popularity, and may have forgotten his last name to boot), they tell me, sells out everywhere he goes. Ladies and gentlemen would you please welcome Jimmy from Florida."

Jimmy went up on stage to wild applause. The guitar tech handed Jimmy a Les Paul guitar to play. Jimmy asked for a strap and Les joked, "no, don't give him strap, we'll never get him off stage."

Les asked Jimmy what he wanted to play, and they decided to launch into Margaritaville. To the band, Les, and Jimmy's credit, I will honestly say it was one of the best versions of Margaritaville I have ever heard. They did it as a bossa nova, and Mac and I sat back as Jimmy called out chords to Les, the man who seems to know them all.

Les said after the song was through that he was surprised he had not heard more of Jimmy Buffett. "I was probably too busy at home counting all of my money," he quipped.

They decided to play one more song, and Jimmy picked the beautiful Fred Neil song Everybody's Talking. I was floored when Jimmy said, "if you don't mind, Les would like to get my guitar player, Peter Mayer, up here to help us out with this one."

It was a real honor to be on the very stage with this remarkable person, who was the creative spark behind many of the instruments and sounds that I use just about every working day.

After the Les set was over, we had an opportunity to go chat with him a bit back stage. Mac talked to Les about their mutual friend, Chet Atkins, who passed away in 2001. Les talked about the last time he had spoken with Chet, just before he died. It was a moving experience watching Les, a man in his 90s, still doing what he loves to do every Monday night at the Iridium, still living every day to the fullest.

If any of you happen to visit the Big Apple in the near future, make it a point on a good Monday night to go see Les. He's a world-class musical treasure.

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