The 8-track was given the name "Octopus" by W. C. Fields, it says here. Amazing 
since Fields died 9 years earlier.
http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_ampex_selsync/

Fields did record in Les Paul's garage, btw..he made the Temperance Lecture and 
"Glass of water" sketches there.

dl

Richard L. Hess wrote:
> Hello, Doug,
> 
> I would like to suggest that the intimacy/immediacy/tension of having to 
> "get it right" on each and every pass had something to do with the final 
> product. Perhaps this is one reason why good live performances are 
> sometimes (often?) more interesting than over-worked multi-tracked 
> studio creations. While both pathways can create excellent work, there 
> is a difference.
> 
> My understanding was that Les never had a mega hit after he obtained the 
> 8-track machine, which is too bad.
> 
> I also understand that Les is still around and living in New Jersey. You 
> might be able to go and ask him. Please bring a recorder and do an oral 
> history <smile>.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Richard
> 
> At 04:43 PM 2008-09-19, Doug Pomeroy wrote:
>> After making ten successful sound on sound passes, a mistake during the
>> eleventh pass would effectively erase all ten previous passes, and it
>> must have occurred to Les that a way to avoid this disaster would be 
>> to make a
>> safety dub of the tenth pass.
>>
>> But how could he make a dub if he had only one tape recorder?  He
>> could have made a disc dub, since he had a lathe.  Or, he could have 
>> taken his
>> tapes to Capitol to have dubs made.  But presumably he did neither.  I 
>> sure would
>> like to ask him about this.
>>
>> It is interesting to me that after he got the eight-track (octopus)
>> from Ampex, he never again (in my opinion) made the kind of brilliant 
>> recordings
>> which he'd made with his modified mono deck.  (Like the centipede 
>> which, asked
>> how it could coordinate the motion of all those legs, could never walk
>> thereafter?)
>>
>> As for tape delay, check out his brilliant "I'm Forever Blowing
>> Bubbles", where the repetition rate of the delay fits perfectly the 
>> tempo of that song.
>>
>> Doug Pomeroy
>> POMEROY AUDIO
>> Audio Restoration & Mastering Services
>> 193 Baltic St
>> Brooklyn, NY 11201-6173
>> (718) 855-2650
>> [log in to unmask]
>> =============================================================
> 
> Richard L. Hess                   email: [log in to unmask]
> Aurora, Ontario, Canada       (905) 713 6733     1-877-TAPE-FIX
> Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
> Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.
>