Dweezil Zappa World

I was looking again over the past few days at some old footage of Les Paul in the days when he had his regular TV programme together with his wife Mary Ford. Not for the first time I was struck by the broad similarites and parallels between him and Frank, these two great icons of 20th century music, both in terms of their careers and personalities. Although the two came from different generations there are a number of areas of crossover which leads me to a question - 'If Les Paul had been born 25 years later, could he have been a Mother?'

Not convinced? 

1 The Guitarist

Perhaps the most obvious similarity is in their weapon of choice. Both Frank and Les were exceptionally gifted musicians and developed a unique style of playing that was instantly recognisable as them and them alone.

2 The Businessman

Both Frank and Les were, first and foremost, musicians and composers but both understood the complexities of the business side of the industry. This was, after all, their livelihood, not their hobby. 

3 The Studio Innovator

Frank, of course, was a master in the studio and would re-invent pieces of equipment to get it to do what he wanted if it wasn't designed to do it that way in the first place! In a very similar way Les was one of the pioneers of recording techniques. His early work on multi-track recording brought new ways of doing things for the studio musician which laid many of the foundations for modern recording methods. However, I get the feeling that if Les (and others) hadn't done it first, Frank would have come up with the ideas himself a decade or so later!

4 The Guitar Technician

Les Paul, of course, gave his name to the original 'Signature Model' guitar (in fact not strictly true - other artists had given their names to various instruments over the years - even Gibson in the 1920's had named one flat-top acoustic after a big name of the day, but who remembers the 'Gibson Nick Lucas'???)

Even so, presented with his custom guitar straight from the factory, Les wasn't satisfied and often took his screwdriver and soldering iron to the instrument to tinker with various elements, changing pickups, wiring and all manner of bits and bobs.

Doesn't this sound a lot like Frank? 

Frank of course had a penchant for tinkering with his 'stock' instruments, adding and subtracting until he was happy that the guitar lived up to the requirements for the job.

5 The Relentless Artist

 To me, the most striking similarity between the two was their seemingly never-ending craving to be creative. Both were exceptional interviewees and raconteurs but I can't help feeling that they regarded this side of the job as a 'necessary evil' rather than a relished part their careers. Both would rather be working -be it engineering, writing or performing - than just talking about it.

An image that always comes to mind when I think of Frank is that of him on a plane with paper in front of him, eagerly scribbling away at some manuscript or other written work. The creative switch was never turned to 'off'.

Les was the same, continuously working even into his later years. He didn't need to work - he needed to work.

Neither stuck just to music as their only creative outlet - Les had his TV program with Mary Ford and of course Frank with film making and acting to name just two of his other artistic pursuits.

I'm not sure if Les and Frank exchanged views or even ever met. However, my feeling is, had history's timelines been different and allowed their lives to cross, they would have got along just fine. 

Les Paul was an inventor, but could he have been a Mother?