Who is the True Father of Rock and Roll?

While it might be impossible to answer that question with certainty, the typical answers are Bill Haley, Little Richard, Elvis Presley and, of course, Chuck Berry. While I concede that these men and others like Johnnie Johnson, definitely contributed to the care and feeding of Rock and Roll, I disagree that any of them were present during its conception.

I say, if you are looking for the Father of Rock and Roll, stop looking at the 1950's and take a gander at the 1940's. If you take my suggestion to heart, you just might stumble upon Lester William Polsfuss. You and I know him as Les Paul.

While Paul may be better recognized as a jazz guitarist, without his development of the solid-body electric guitar and multitrack recording, not to mention various reverb and echo effects, There wouldn't be rock and roll today. Les Paul's inventions are just the tip of the iceberg when discussing his part in the birth of rock music. Paul Recorded "Brazil" in 1948 , playing all six guitar parts himself, and "How High The Moon" in 1951. Both songs clearly show links to the blues rock sound of the 1960's and the southern rock sounds of the 1970's.

Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones said, "It has to be said, we must all own up that without Les Paul, generations of flash little punks like us would be in jail or cleaning toilets. This man, by his genius, made the road that we still travel today. I don't know how he did it, but I'm so grateful he did". Somehow that makes the fact that Les Paul couldn't read music seem less important.

Les Paul was inducted into the rock and Roll hall of fame in 1988 and in August of 2005 at the age of 90, released a new rock CD, "American Made/World Played", that included guest musicians such as Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Joe Perry.