If it weren't for the mastermind innovations of the late Les Paul, the world of Rock and Pop music, as well as the recording industry, may have been put on a delayed path.  But luckily, the music world was graced with his creations early on.  For example multi-track recording, tape delay, and of course, the solid-body electric guitar, which he played regularly into his 90's.  And today, at age 94, the legend has passed away.

His own style of strumming the strings at quick speeds and double-time rhythms , were uniquely played due to his arm being permanently set into guitar playing position.  That setting was by his own request to a doctor patching him back up after a severe auto wreck he was involved in back in 1948.  And as the years went on, Paul acquired severe arthritis, but even that wouldn't stop him from playing, thus innovating yet again.  This time, a two finger method.
Les Paul's gifts to the world gave him infinite notoriety as his achievements have placed him in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Inventors Hall of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. 

And countless musicians continue to strum. Some noted for playing Les Paul guitars include, the Beatles' Harrison, Lennon, & McCartney,  Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day), Eric Clapton, Dave Davies (the Kinks), the Edge (U2), Robin Finck (NIN/Guns'n'Roses), Ace Freehly (Kiss), David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), Kirk Hammett & James Hetfield (Metallica), Jimi Hendrix, Mick Jones (The Clash), Steve Jones (Sex Pistols), Robby Krieger (the Doors), Bob Marley, Roy Orbison, Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Joe Perry (Aerosmith), Keith Richards & Mick Taylor & Ronnie Wood(Rolling Stones), Carlos Santana, Slash (G'n'R), Johnny Thunders, Eddie Van Halen, and Frank Zappa, just to name a few...
 
 
Check this out... You're a kid, living in a tin shack off the side of a busy highway in India.  Daily, you the hit the streets as a rag picker trying to make some coinage to help out your family.  All the while, you got this beat in your head, a musical prodigy if you will, and you don't even know what to do with it.  Then comes along Project Ahimsa, the organization that raises funds to further music education and ambition to children in worldwide slums. 

The above story is true, and it belongs to that of Ahmedabad, India resident Ganesh Barriya, who thanks to Project Ahimsa, is featured on the upcoming compilation Global Lingo with tracks like "Liberation 3000" and "He Manov Visvaas" (both are beyond awesome!)  Still sharing that tin shack with his parents & five brothers, not to mention no electricity or running water, his involvement with this album may be a huge step forward to his future as a professional musician.
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“When we started Project Ahimsa, we wanted to focus on cross-cultural understanding through music,” explains Project Ahimsa co-founder and album executive producer Vijay Chattha. “Out of all the things kids need, why music? It instills discipline, builds confidence and increases communication between kids, family, and the greater world, all tools for success no matter where you’re from,”

In fact, all seventeen tracks off of Global Lingo were created by a variety of artists who have similar upbringings as Barriya, and shown through a variety of genres from afrobeat to my personal fave, Punjabi reggae.  A total must listen: "Dolare" by Funkadesi. 
“Our main goal in the end,” Chattha reflects, “was just to demonstrate what these kids—the real ‘slumdog musicaires’ I guess you could call them—can do if they have an opportunity. That people from around the world can make something connected on a universal theme: music itself.” Sukhadia adds, “Music can heal and connect communities. We all just need to understand one another. Global Lingo proves it can happen through music.”

Project Ahimsa's Global Lingo will be out August 11, 2009.
For more info, check out their website.