Jeff Beck pays tribute to Les Paul's innovation

The innovation of late guitar legend Les Paul helped shape the metal and rock scenes that we know and love today.
That is according to Jeff Beck, who has claimed rock ‘n’ roll would not be the same if it wasn’t for the creator of the solid-body electric guitar.
Les Paul died in 2009 and while the tributes from fans and musicians poured in, Beck is still paying tribute to the innovator and is using a string of tour dates with his own band and the Imelda May Band to promote the new DVD Rock ‘n’ Roll Party Honouring Les Paul, industry publication Noisecreep reported.
In an interview with the news provider Beck explained how Les Paul’s vision shaped the future of rock and how his own band’s 1968 album Truth proved to be a major influence to many bands that followed.
Commenting on the influence of the popular album, Beck said: “They just took what I did with Rod [Stewart] and they magnified it to gigantic proportions. The drum sound that we had originally was real. They weren’t tricks. There weren’t any Pro Tools or plug-ins or any of that sort of technical stuff.
“It was still on tape, but the actual building blocks of  metal are definitely there. The attack on the chords and the heavy riffs and all that, that was there. I think Aerosmith will tell you how they were influenced, and Metallica and all those people. Let them have it.”
Beck, who stood shoulder to shoulder with Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page in The Yardbirds, arguably the greatest guitar line up of all time, said Les Paul does not really get the recognition he deserves from the younger generation, but hopes to change that with the release of this new DVD.
“Not long ago, they buttonholed these fans outside a gig [and] said, ‘Do you know who Les Paul is?’ And they said, ‘Oh, I know what a Les Paul is. It’s a guitar.’ They never knew there was a guy called Les Paul. Hopefully, this DVD will help straighten that out a little bit.”
Beck is due to put on a special performance at this year’s Isle of Wight Festival, warming up for Liam Gallagher’s Beady Eye and headliners Kasabian.