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By Rich Heldenfels
Beacon Journal popular culture writer
Published on Wednesday, Sep 03, 2008
Paul To Be Honored. Guitar legend Les Paul, 93 and still performing, will be the focus of a special celebration in Cleveland in November as part of the annual American Music Masters series.
The Wizard of Waukesha: The Life and Legacy of Les Paul will be a weeklong event involving the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (where Paul is both an inductee and the focus of a permanent exhibit), Case Western University and a tribute concert on Nov. 15 in Playhouse Square's State Theater.
Tickets for the tribute concert — with a lineup to be announced — are $30, $40 and $50. They go on sale to the general public on Sept. 24 through http://www.tickets.com and at the Playhouse Square box office at 216-241-6000. Rock Hall members can purchase tickets beginning at 10 a.m. Monday by calling 216-515-1939.
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More Paul. ''Les Paul's contribution to the history of rock 'n' roll is beyond compare,'' Rock Hall President Terry Stewart said. ''His history as a musician is unparalleled. He has played with everyone from the Andrews Sisters to Eric Clapton and Eddie Van Halen. Those who have witnessed him performing live can testify to his melodic genius and soulful phrasing. His innovations — the solid-body electric guitar, sound-on-sound recording and close miking — helped usher in a new era in recording. The museum's exhibit, showcasing his innovative instrument design and masterful performance technique, is a cornerstone of our permanent collection.''
His legacy covers generations. When the Jonas Brothers visited the rock hall during a touring stop in Northeast Ohio last month, the Beacon Journal's Malcolm X Abram noted that they ''marveled at the mechanical mind of . . . Les Paul.''
''Not only was he a great guitar player, but he was a genius,'' Joe Jonas said.
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Speaking of the Jonas Brothers . . . They are also in the news thanks to Miley Cyrus — and her video director, Brett Ratner.
Cyrus has reportedly said her song 7 Things is about ex-boyfriends. But Ratner, who directed the 7 Things video, said it was about one ex-boyfriend. He told MTV that the teen star ''had me come out to her house. She started showing me all of her personal items from under her bed that her ex-boyfriend gave her. So she pulled out his dirty socks and a bunch of photographs.''
And, while Ratner did not name the former swain, he said one of the items Cyrus had from her ex was a ''diabetes or medical necklace.'' She even wore it in the video.
That has had fingers pointing at Nick Jonas, who is diabetic and who, MTV noted, dated Cyrus for two years. But according to People.com, Nick has insisted the song cannot be about him.
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Voice of Movies Silenced. Don LaFontaine, famous for his voice work in movie trailers and TV ads, has died.
According to one report, he had been heard in spots for almost 5,000 films, plus TV work. One of the rare times he was seen was in a GEICO commercial.
''One recent afternoon, LaFontaine cranked out three takes for The Simpsons Movie, four promo reads for the Fox comedy The Winner, followed by promos for Trading Spouses ('Will the conclusion of the same-sex swap turn violent?'), Nanny 911 ('The amazing triplet tamer'), 24 ('The race to stop a nuclear nightmare blows wide open!') and more,'' a 2007 profile by the Associated Press said. ''In the heydays of the 1980s and '90s, when LaFontaine might do 200 reads a day, he got his own limousine and hired a driver to shuttle him between studios.''
He was 68 and reportedly died of complications from a collapsed lung.
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Lost Lucy-Desi Heir? The New York Post reports that an Illinois woman is claiming that her mother was a secret child of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Sr., and that they gave her up for adoption in 1947 so she would not get in the way of Ball's career.
Cassandria Luciana Carlson has tried unsuccessfully to get a DNA sample from the known Arnaz children — Lucie and younger brother Desi Jr. — to prove that Carlson's mom, the late Madeline Jane Dee, is the secret Ball-Arnaz offspring.
But Carlson does not have any hard evidence. And, according to the Post, Lucie Arnaz denied the connection in a letter to Carlson's husband, Dennis.
''I must inform you we're almost certainly not related,'' Lucie wrote. ''In 1947, my parents [had been married seven years] and wanted nothing more than to have a baby together. They struggled for 10 years with infertility and miscarriage until I came along in 1951. My mother would never have given up a child of hers nor would my father have let her.''
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Baby Talk. Well, now we know how Tiger Woods has spent some of his time off the links.
''Sam is going to be a big sister,'' Woods said on his Web site, referring to daughter Sam, born a little over a year ago; Woods is married to Elin Nordegren.
''Elin and I are proud to announce that we are expecting our second child in late winter. . . . I'm already starting to wonder if Sam's sibling will be a boy or a girl. ''
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in the HeldenFiles Online blog at http://www.ohio.com. He can be reached at 330-996-3582 and rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
Paul To Be Honored. Guitar legend Les Paul, 93 and still performing, will be the focus of a special celebration in Cleveland in November as part of the annual American Music Masters series.
Get the full article here.
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