The Museum of Popular Music (Mupop) in Montluçon (Allier), pays tribute to a mythical guitar for musicians but not necessarily known to the general public.
The temporary exhibition, Les Paul, the sound of rock is 70 years old thus celebrates, until December 31, the birthday of this very special Gibson, with which some of the most beautiful pages of rock were written.
A story that is also that of rock
For Julien Bitoun, journalist, musician and professor of rock history at Sciences Po Paris, but also curator of the exhibition, the history of the Les Paul guitar is comparable to the history of rock music itself. “I find the history of the Les Paul moving and fascinating. It’s a guitar that turned out to be perfect for a style that didn’t exist when it was created,” confides this enthusiast.
I think it’s great to tell yourself that when you throw an object into the world, you never know what it will become and how people will appropriate it. It is even largely a definition of rock.
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Created by a jazz musician, celebrated by rock guitarists
The know-how of the Gibson luthiers is expressed in the various Les Paul models. Metals
It all started in 1952 with a jazz musician Lester William Polsfuss, Les Paul of his artist name. He invents a guitar to which the luthiers of Gibson will give shape. It will not be jazz or the United States that will give it its first letters of nobility, but rock and Great Britain, with John Lennon, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton…
Throughout its history, the models have evolved with the Goldtop, the Junior and even the Custom. About thirty models, lent by collectors and musicians, illustrate this evolution. They are highlighted in a playful scenography with texts that are both accessible and precise.
Music as a common thread
Journalist, musician, professor at Sciences Po Paris, lecturer, Julien Bitoun is at the origin of this tribute to Les Paul.
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To recount these seven decades, Julien Bitoun was inspired above all by music. “I consider that a musical instrument only exists through the music it is used to make. So, I started from the models themselves, but I integrated as much as possible the artists who used them, since the Les Paul, if we still talk about it, it’s because Jimmy Page, because ‘Eric Clapton, because Slash, because the Melvilles, because Alice in chains… The list is almost endless in fact. »
That’s what’s great is that whatever style you listen to, whether it’s rock, blues, even jazz or metal, there’s bound to be a Les Paul in it at a given time.
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French musicians part of this legend
Yarol Poupaud (here during a concert in Montluçon in 2018) plays on Les Paul and is the sponsor of the exhibition.
Mélanie Jouhanin, the director of Mupop, goes further on the presence of the Les Paul sound in our ears and our unconscious.
There are forty-five listening points in the exhibition. You will realize that you know all this music, that you already had the sound of the Les Paul, without knowing that it was him.
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In this great story, Julien Bitoun also wanted to make room for the French musicians who knew how to make this legendary guitar sound. Among them, Yarol Poupaud, guitarist of FFF and former musical director of Johnny Hallyday, is even the sponsor of the exhibition for his greatest pleasure.
The visual slaps of Exhibition #3 at the Soute with 12 artists in Vichy (Allier)
The exhibition Les Paul, The sound of rock is 70 years old can be seen until December 31, at Mupop, 3 rue Notre-Dame, in high season (until August 31), Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; in low season (from September 1), Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Information on 04.70.02.19.62. Price for the temporary exhibition only: 3 euros (free for children under 12).
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Florence Farina : texte
Delphine Simonneau: photos (unless mentioned)
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