Modern Guitars interviews Les Paul:
How did you and your jazz friends react to rock ‘n’ roll when it arrived on the scene?
LP: We were kind of upset about it – Sinatra, Nat King Cole – all of us. I thought I was out of a job when rock came in. We were told to change and to be less traditional. They used three chords, and not the right chords, and buried the singer! It was another world that you entered into with a riff and rode it, and you needed to turn it up 500 watts to get the sound right. It was rebellion, having something to say with a new beat. They wanted “How High the Moon” with a new strength!