Interview with Les Paul, February 9, 1999

Partial Transcript: Alright. Okay, it's now February ninth, right?

Segment Synopsis: Paul briefly discusses his start at the Chicago Daily News Building in 1931. The Daily News would pay him and other musicians to write one hundred and eleven transcriptions that there are no longer any records for. He explains that they were paid to do the transcriptions for radio broadcasts, but they weren't told who the transcripts went to.

Keywords: Chicago Radio Broadcast; Music transcription; Radio transcriptions; The Daily News; The Daily News Radio Broadcast

Subjects: Music--History and criticism.; Radio--history.

Partial Transcript: The stuff that you--when did you start recording, disc recording yourself? When did you--how did you get into--

Segment Synopsis: Paul briefly describes the method, tools, and process by which he built his first recording machine using a Green Flyer Motor in 1928 or '29.

Keywords: Green flyer motor; Recording industry; Recording machine; Recording methods

Subjects: Music--History and criticism.; Sound recording industry.

Partial Transcript: I, I want to maybe fast forward a little bit--

Segment Synopsis: Paul describes his first recording studio in Chicago in 1931. He goes over different artists he recorded at this time, the different equipment he used, and the records he created out of these recordings.

Keywords: American Microphone Company; American microphones; American mics; Astatic microphones; Astatic mics; Broadcast recording; Brush microphones; Brush mics; Buckley, Lord Richard; Elridge, Roy; Green Flyer Motor; Les Paul Recording; Les Paul Recording Studio; Live recording; Lyons, Jim; Piezoelectric microphones; Piezoelectric mics; Recording studios; Steel needle; Tatum, Art

Subjects: Music--history; Recording Industry; Recording Method

Partial Transcript: So you were ma--is this when you were making like $1,000 a week or something, with the radio thing?

Segment Synopsis: Paul and the interviewer discuss different brands and types of discs and records, and the manufacturers from which the discs and records came.

Keywords: Acetate discs; Acetate film; Allied Record Manufacturing Co.; Allied Record Manufacturing Company; Presto Recording Corp.; Presto Recording Corporation; Recording industry; Recording methods

Subjects: Music--History and criticism.; Safety film

Partial Transcript: Alright, so you've got '31 now.

Segment Synopsis: Paul briefly describes the timeline of his recording studio in Chicago from 1931 to 1937. In 1937, he moved from Chicago to New York and established a broadcasting studio in a basement in Jackson Heights, New York.

Keywords: Bismarck Hotel; Cleveland Recording; Les Paul Jackson Heights Studio; NBC Bismarck Hotel; National Broadcasting Company (NBC); Recording industry

Subjects: Chicago (Ill.); Music--History and criticism.; Sound recording industry.

Partial Transcript: Well were you recording your own songs? When did you start doing multiple, like using multiple discs and overlapping?

Segment Synopsis: Paul discusses the method he used in 1931 when he was starting out, to overlap or overdub the recording sessions.

Keywords: Binaural tone arms; Overdub; Overdubbing; Recording industry; Recording methods

Subjects: Music--History and criticism.; Sound recording industry.

Partial Transcript: And so this is in '31.

Segment Synopsis: Paul briefly describes going out to Hollywood, California in 1942 and finally experimenting with multi-tracking recording methods.

Keywords: Double tracking; Multi-track recording; Multi-tracking; Recording industry; Recording methods

Subjects: Music--History and criticism.; Sound recording industry.

Partial Transcript: Now comes the, the, the real heavy story.

Segment Synopsis: Paul discusses Bing Crosby's encouragement, and how the "Les Paul House of Sound" came to be in existence.

Keywords: Carson, Vern; Crosby, Bing; Decca Records; Les Paul House of Sound; Recording industry; Recording methods; Rich, Lloyd

Subjects: Music--History and criticism.; Sound recording industry.