Les Paul, the person responsible for the electric guitar and multitrack recording, died of complications from pneumonia today. He was 94.

Paul began experimenting with guitar amplification in the 1920s. In 1941, he invented “The Log,” a four-by-four piece of wood with steel strings and a pickup. Gibson Guitars premiered the Les Paul guitar in 1952. Paul finished his first multitrack recording machine in 1953, making it possible to overdub and record in layers. This also brought about the birth of reverb.

A performer, Paul had more than 45 hit songs between 1949 and 1962 with his wife, Mary Ford. These include “Nola,” “How High the Moon” and “Hummingbird.” He went into semi-retirement in the 60’s, but performed, revisited material, and sometimes made it into the studio in the 1960s-1980s. This included a studio jazz and country improvisation with Chet Atkins called Chester and Lester. In 1996, he received two Grammys for Les Paul & Friends: American Made, World Played. [Journal Sentinel, Associated Press]