Editing Les Paul (section)

===Early career===
Paul and Wolverton moved to Chicago in 1934, where they continued to perform country music on radio station [[WBBM (AM)|WBBM]] and at the 1934 Chicago World's Fair. While in Chicago, Paul learned jazz from the great performers on Chicago's Southside. During the day, he played country music as Rhubarb Red on the radio. At night, he was Les Paul, playing jazz. He met pianist [[Art Tatum]], whose playing influenced him to continue with the guitar rather than play jazz on the piano.<ref name="Les Paul: The Living Legend of the Electric Guitar">{{cite web|url=http://www.classicjazzguitar.com/articles/article.jsp?article=25 |title=ClassicJazzGuitar.com |publisher=ClassicJazzGuitar.com |access-date=2012-09-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313012503/http://classicjazzguitar.com/articles/article.jsp?article=25 |archive-date=March 13, 2012 }}</ref> His first two records were released in 1936, credited to "Rhubarb Red", Paul's hillbilly alter ego. He also served as an accompanist for other bands signed to [[Decca Records|Decca]]. During this time, he began adding different sounds and adopted his stage name of Les Paul.<ref>{{cite web |first=Gil |last=Kaufman |publisher=MTV News |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1618673/20090813/paul_les.jhtml |title=Paul Les |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090816191607/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1618673/20090813/paul_les.jhtml |archive-date=August 16, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:(Portrait of Les Paul, New York, N.Y.(?), ca. Jan. 1947) (LOC) (5105151726).jpg|thumb|Les Paul playing live, {{circa|1947}}]]
Paul's guitar style was strongly influenced by the music of [[Django Reinhardt]], whom he greatly admired.<ref>Cook, Kenneth. "Book Review: "The Music of Django Reinhardt," by Benjamin Givan." ''ARSC Journal'' 42.1 (2011): 86–87.</ref> Following [[World War II]], Paul sought out and made friends with Reinhardt. When Reinhardt died in 1953, Paul paid for part of the funeral's cost.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Balmer |first1=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IFUIAQAAMAAJ |title=Stéphane Grappelli: With and Without Django |publisher=Sanctuary |year=2003 |isbn=978-1860744532 |access-date=2015-06-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904124943/https://books.google.com/books?id=IFUIAQAAMAAJ&q |archive-date=September 4, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> One of Paul's prized possessions was a [[Selmer guitar|Selmer]] acoustic guitar given to him by Reinhardt's widow.<ref name="thirteen"/>

Paul formed a trio in 1937 with rhythm guitarist Jim Atkins<ref>liner notes from Chet Atkins/Jim Atkins 1963 RCA Camden LP #CAL-753, "The Guitar Genius"</ref><ref name="SoundOnSound">{{cite web |last1=Buskin |first1=Richard |title=Classic Tracks: Les Paul & Mary Ford 'How High the Moon' |url=https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/classic-tracks-les-paul-mary-ford-how-high-moon |website=SoundOnSound |publisher=Sound On Sound |access-date=1 August 2023}}</ref> (older half-brother of guitarist [[Chet Atkins]]) and bassist<ref name="SoundOnSound"/>/percussionist Ernie "Darius" Newton. They left Chicago for New York in 1938,<ref name="Les Paul In His Own Words">{{cite book|last=Paul|first=Les|title=Les Paul: In His Own Words|year=2005|publisher=Gemstone Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-1-60360-050-7}}</ref> landing a featured spot with [[The Fred Waring Show (radio program)|Fred Waring's radio show]]. Chet Atkins later wrote that his brother, home on a family visit, presented him with an expensive [[Gibson Guitar|Gibson]] archtop guitar that Les Paul had given to Jim. Chet recalled that it was the first professional-quality instrument he ever owned.<ref>Atkins, Chet; Neely, Bill (1974). ''Country Gentleman''. Chicago: [[Regnery|H. Regnery]].  {{ISBN|978-0-8092-9051-2}}</ref>

While jamming in his apartment basement in 1941,<ref name="Les Paul In His Own Words"/> Paul was electrocuted and nearly died. During two years of recuperation, he moved to Chicago where he was the music director for radio stations WJJD and WIND. In 1943, he moved to Hollywood where he performed on radio and formed a new trio.

He was drafted into the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] in 1943,<ref name="Les Paul In His Own Words"/> where he served in the [[Armed Forces Radio Network]], backing such artists as [[Bing Crosby]] and [[the Andrews Sisters]], and performing in his own right.<ref>{{cite news |last=Tianen |first=Dave |title=The Wizard of Waukesha |newspaper=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |date=August 26, 2009 |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/les-paul/chasing-sound/100/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225154555/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/les-paul/chasing-sound/100/ |archive-date=February 25, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>

As a last-minute replacement for [[Oscar Moore]], Paul played with [[Nat King Cole]] and other artists in the inaugural [[Jazz at the Philharmonic]] concert in [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], on July 2, 1944. His solo on "[[Body and Soul (1930 song)|Body and Soul]]" is a demonstration of his admiration for and emulation of Django Reinhardt, as well as his development of original lines.

Also that year, Paul's trio appeared on Bing Crosby's radio show. Crosby sponsored Paul's recordings. They recorded together several times, including "[[It's Been a Long, Long Time]]", which was a No. 1 hit<ref name="SoundOnSound"/> in 1945. Paul recorded several albums for [[Decca Records|Decca]] in the 1940s. [[The Andrews Sisters]] hired his trio to open for them during a tour in 1946. Their manager, Lou Levy, said watching Paul's fingers while he played guitar was like watching a train go by.<ref name="autogenerated2000">Sforza, John: "Swing It! The Andrews Sisters Story;" University Press of Kentucky, 2000; 289 pages.</ref> Their conductor, [[Vic Schoen]], said his playing was always original.<ref name="autogenerated2000"/>  Maxine Andrews said, "He'd tune into the passages we were singing and lightly play the melody, sometimes in harmony. We'd sing these fancy licks and he'd keep up with us note for note in exactly the same rhythm... almost contributing a fourth voice. But he never once took the attention away from what we were doing. He did everything he could to make us sound better."<ref name="autogenerated2000"/> In the 1950s, when he recorded Mary Ford's vocals on multiple tracks, he created music that sounded like [[the Andrews Sisters]].<ref name="autogenerated2000"/>

In January 1948, Paul shattered his right arm and elbow among multiple injuries in a near-fatal automobile accident on an icy [[Route 66]] west of [[Davenport, Oklahoma|Davenport]], [[Oklahoma]]. Mary Ford was driving the [[Buick]] convertible, which plunged off the side of a railroad overpass and dropped twenty feet into a ravine. They were returning from Wisconsin to Los Angeles after visiting family.<ref name="Les Paul In His Own Words"/> Doctors at Oklahoma City's Wesley Hospital told Paul that they could not rebuild his elbow. Their other option was [[amputation]]. Paul was flown to Los Angeles, where his arm was set at an angle—just over 90 degrees—that allowed him to cradle and pick the guitar. It took him nearly a year and a half to recover.<ref name=freshair>{{cite web |author=Fresh Air from WHYY |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111888401 |title=Guitar Hero: Les Paul, 1915–2009 |website = NPR.org|access-date=March 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628211807/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111888401 |archive-date=June 28, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>