LES PAUL In '68

Original Released in LP London SP 44101 
(US, 1968)

This album, originally released in 1968 on London / Decca UK's Phase 4 label devoted to high quality stereo recordings for the HiFi market at the time, is a classic in that it features Les being briefly coaxed out of retirement to record this album of stereo instrumental remakes of several of his classic hits including "How High The Moon," "Lover," "Sleep," "Tennessee Waltz," etc. recorded on his then new stereo 8-track multitrack tape recorder manufactured by Ampex under his standards and still playing great at the time on his Les Paul guitars made by Gibson Guitars. He also features 3 songs on this album that were not originally recorded for Capitol by Les, "The System," "Los Angeles," and "Golden Earrings." Because he has become an icon and has been a major force in the development of high fidelity sound, Phase 4 decided that he should be the first artist being recorded for the label, and this album is the result. (in Amazon)

LES PAUL & MARY FORD - 1962/1963

Original released on LP Columbia CS 8488

(US, 1962)

Les Paul and Mary Ford try to take their driftin'-and-dreamin' ballad style of the Silent '50s into the Swinging '60s, where all of the gleaming stereo sound cannot hide the stark fact that the formula had already been stretched very thin. The menu is mostly time-worn standards and other artifacts from then-dying Tin Pan Alley. The tempos are languorous, and Ford's vocals have little of the soul of her best, more fragile Capitol recordings; Paul is always worth hearing for his imaginative curling around the vocals, urbane harmonic sense, and quirky bent notes, and there is a nice nostalgic moment when they do a spangled remake of "It's a Long, Long Time" (his No. 1 hit with Bing Crosby) for the Space Age. Collectors' note: the whole album was also issued on 33 1/3 RPM 7-inch singles as part of an attempt to launch that instantly doomed format. Taken all by itself, this is a lovely record but there is a lot of better Les Paul and Mary Ford vinyl to be heard, even from their waning days at Columbia. (Richard Ginell in AllMusic)

Original released on LP Columbia CS 8728

(US, 1963)

Les Paul and Mary Ford's second trip to Nashville is far more invigorating than their first, a grittier immersion into the country music universe with a slight touch of rock & roll besides. Paul's involvement is far more evident here; his spectacular guitar and fuzz-tone effects are a match for the buzzing harmonicas and swaggering basslines, and there is more evidence of his trademark sound-on-sound layerings. Ford too sounds more deeply involved with the material and the tougher backings; she even offers a bit of a down-home growl. The high point of this album - and Paul's Columbia period in general - is his own jangly, madly swinging Saturday night whoop-de-do, "Les' Country Blues" (later adapted into a song "So Long Baby, Goodbye" that didn't emerge until 1991 on Capitol's The Legend and the Legacy box). Indeed, five of the 12 tunes here are by Paul, all of them interesting, a burst of creativity unprecedented for him on an album and not even approached since. Alas, this highly spirited outing would be Paul and Ford's last album together, as they began divorce proceedings later in 1963... (Richard Ginell in AllMusic)

LES and MARY: It's Time To Dream...

Original released on LP Capitol T 802

(US, 1957)

Believe me, this is Pure Gold: Twelve enchanted songs, beautifully played by Les Paul and Mary Ford - a terrific weapon for you to seduce your sweetheart. "Time To Dream" is notable for its' lack of special effects and supersonic guitars. Perhaps Les and Mary wanted to show their public that even without their bag of tricks they could still make compelling music. The melancholy tone of the songs included in this album would have muted the appeal of flash and modernity exhibited in their previous recordings. And so out of respect for or, rather with a great appreciation and simpatico with the honest beauty of songs like "You Call It Madness (But I Call It Love)" and "How Deep Is The Ocean" they chose to tone down their normally ebullient mode for a spoorific mood to great effect. Like contemporaries Frank Sinatra and The Three Suns who made long-players designed for late-night listening, "Time To Dream" succeeds conceptually, as well as a highlight in their amazing careers.

LES AND MARY

Original Released on LP Capitol W 577 
(US, 1955)

They met each other in 1945, when Lester (William Polfuss) was 30 and Colleen (Summers) was 21 years old. They began working together in 1948 (at which time Colleen adopted the stage name Mary Ford) and they got married next year. They had a son, adopted a daughter and their marriage lasted 15 years, until December 1964. Between 1950 and 1963 Les Paul & Mary Ford recorded 10 great albums of originals, which remains until today a really trademark of the Fifties. This one, “Les And Mary”, is one of the very best. The duo treat the songs of Cole Porter, Hank Snow and Kurt Weill and others with an eclecticism and an unabashed love for the whole musical panorama. Instrumentals of brilliant virtuosity along with songs sung with facile sophistication by Mary Ford are fine examples of their best work, albeit less well known than some of their hits. In fact, it is the effortlessness of some of their songs that some modern listeners may find off-putting, believing in error that great art needs to be histrionic and born of turbulent emotions. The America reflected in the songs of Les Paul and Mary Ford is one of love and optimism and the can-do pluck that is characteristic of the resolve that Les Paul put into every endevor he attempted.

With the coming of the Sixties and their popularity waning due to the rock revolution, the duo of Les Paul and Mary Ford broke up personally and professionally in 1964. Mary opted for full time retirement, while Les chose to continue his consulting with the Gibson Co. on his trademark series of electric guitars, along with designing the first eight-track tape recorder for the Amplex Company. In 30 September 1977 Colleen died of complications due to diabetes-pneumonia, at the age of 53. Les didn’t married again and lived until August 13, 2009, when he died also with pneumonia at the age of 94. He was awarded the 2007 National Medal of the Arts for his services to music in Washington D.C. and inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2005 for the solid-body electric guitar. He was also elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (under the category Early Influences) in 1988 and inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1990. With Mary Ford he was also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The duo was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 1541 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.

LES And MARY Are The Hit Makers!

Original released on LP Capitol H 416 (US 1953)

and on LP cAPITOL T 416 (US, 1955)

Having turned his creative energies back to the singles market until 1955, Les Paul's only album entry for 1953 was a roundup of his most successful hit singles of the early 1950s. Here is where an LP fan could find Paul and Ford's astonishing rendering of "How High the Moon," and now considered a classic take on jazz's national anthem, along with "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise," "Mockin' Bird Hill," a wacky "Tiger Rag," and four other concise, imaginative examples of Paul's ability to construct perfectly proportioned hit singles out of nothing but his guitar and Ford's sultry voice. The sleeper of the bunch is the nearly forgotten "Meet Mr. Callaghan" in a sublime arrangement. For their biggest smash "Vaya con Dios" and three other later hits, record buyers had to wait until 1956 for the 12-inch version to come out. (Richard S. Ginell in AllMusic)