The Modern Era of the Les Paul Legacy: 1968-2009 [Hardcover]

Robb Lawrence (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2009

Following the release of The Early Years..., which Vintage Guitar magazine called "carefully crafted ... lavishly illustrated," this full-color book continues the amazing journey of an American icon's recording career and the coveted instruments that bear his name. Beginning with the collectible late '60s models, The Modern Les Paul Legacy moves on to the '70s and '80s special-themed instruments-showing all popular artist models, like Jimmy Page, Joe Perry, and Slash, in living color. And the "holy grail" '59 Sunburst and the jaw-dropping Custom Shop creations of the '90s receive their due as achievements that have never, to this day, been surpassed. The book also covers Les Paul's resurgence-the comeback Grammy Award-winning album with Chet Atkins, the start of a weekly gig in a New York City jazz club (still on!), and the reconnection with the Gibson family. His lifetime achievement awards keep piling up, and an all-star party seems to emerge every time he hits another birthday milestone. Bringing this great innovator's story up to date, and featuring previously unpublished material from photojournalist Robb Lawrence, The Modern Les Paul Legacy is a must-have for music fans.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robb Lawrence is a prominent guitar expert, player and photojournalist. He wrote the original byline for Guitar Player magazine's popular "Rarebird" column on vintage guitars. He began his association with Les Paul in 1972 and has been his West Coast concert tech for many memorable shows. Their association has included work on The Wizard of Waukesha, a 1978 film about Les Paul and the 2001 Grammy tribute film.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Hal Leonard (November 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423455312
• ISBN-13: 978-1423455318
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #208,593 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome book!, November 15, 2009

By 

Michael A. Slubowski "Mike" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Modern Era of the Les Paul Legacy: 1968-2009 (Hardcover)

Robb has done it again! A comprehensive story of the Les Paul guitar from 1968-2009. This is a sequel to his first volume on Les Pauls from their origins in the 50's. This book is a labor of love - full of details, interviews, photos of the entire chronology of arguably the most famous electric guitar of all times! If you are a guitar player/collector/lover, you've got to own this book!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific, November 16, 2009

By 

Carl E "CE" (N.J.) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Modern Era of the Les Paul Legacy: 1968-2009 (Hardcover)

Book is really really really interesting. Lester was some kind of guy. This book is superb read, super interesting, great compliment to Vol I, which I also have. More books on these guys, not sports nitwits.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEST Les Paul book-EVER!, February 6, 2010

By 

Bill Turner (Old Bridge, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Modern Era of the Les Paul Legacy: 1968-2009 (Hardcover)

The volume 2 of this book is even better than volume 1, if you can believe that--and volume 1 is absolutely SUPERB! These are the ONLY books on the Les Paul guitars you'll ever need to buy. Rob Lawrence goes into meticulous detail with all the loving care, that all the other books lack. ALL of the photos and graphics are absolutely top quality. The problem with ALL the other books, regardless of the authors--is that they just can't get past the 1958-60 sunburst Les Pauls, Led Zeppelin and Jimmy Page....so they just blow off every single other LP guitar as hardly worth their "scholarship" and research to do any in depth writing about...resulting in a boring, redundant rehash of each others' books practically down to the SAME photos of the same spandex 'n hair metal artists, and the same catalog page reprints.

This book is the ultimate 'breath of fresh air' and EVERY variation of the Les Paul model, is treated with highest regard and respect. These guitars go FAR beyond heavy metal and blues...and this is the ONLY book to expound on that!

This book belongs in EVERY guitar player's collection...right alongside volume 1.