There are certain names that transcend their particular field of endeavor.

As an example, people who don't really care that much about baseball still know the name Babe Ruth. If you're not at all into space travel, you still know the name John Glenn. You may not know a jab from an uppercut, but you're familiar with the name Muhammed Ali.

And so it is with Les Paul. I can't play the guitar but I still know the name Les Paul. And if you do play the guitar, you don't just know the name, you revere it. Les paul didn't invent the guitar. He reinvented it.

It seems like every professional guitar player in the world has played or still plays a Les Paul guitar. And now according to the Associated Press, the 100th anniversary of his birth will be celebrated around the country.

(AP) - The 100th anniversary of the birth of Les Paul is getting nationwide recognition. June 9 will be "Les Paul Day" in the cities of New York, Nashville and Waukesha (WAH'-keh-shah), Wisconsin, where Paul was born. The state of Wisconsin will declare "Les Paul Day" as well.

The free mobile touring exhibit known as Les Paul's Big Sound Experience will make its first stop in New York that day. Steve Miller, Joe Satriani, Neal Schon of Journey, Warren Haynes of Gov't Mule, Steve Vai (VY) and the Les Paul Trio are among those who will perform at a Paul tribute concert in New York that night.

A greatest-hits CD and reissues of four of Paul's albums will hit stores on June 9 as well. Paul die in August of 2009.

Les Paul passed away in 2009 at the age of 94.

So the next time you talk to someone who plays a mean guitar, ask them if they know the name 'Les Paul'. Then just sit down for a spell, because they'll be talking for a while!

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