Customer Reviews

The Best of the Capitol Masters: Selections From "The Legend and the Legacy"

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Besides being a fantastic guitarist, Les Paul is also an accomplished engineer and inventor. This album does not showcase Les Paul the guitarist so much as it does Les Paul the producer. Many recording and mixing tricks are featured here, including his interesting trick of playing several licks, playing them back at different speeds, and mixing them together in such a way that they're all in the same key. These recordings sound wild and futuristic today; it's hard for me to imagine how they must have sounded fifty years ago.

Some songs here (notably "Lover" and "How High the Moon") are great, but at least as many are disappointing. Also, Les Paul's highly sped up guitar tracks can wear on the ears after a while - they're on nearly every track. In short, this album is essential listening for anyone interested in great guitar plaing and fancy production, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it holds up well to repeated listening.

Released in 1992 as a single disc distillation of the hard to find "The Legend and The Legacy" boxed set, this CD, although it has some instrumental work, it focuses more on his hits with his wife at the time these were recorded, Mary Ford including the huge hits "Mockin' Bird Hill," "Tennessee Waltz," "How High The Moon," "Bye Bye Blues," "In The Good Old Summertime," "Tiger Rag," and, among others, one of my personal favorites, the spiritual "Vaya Con Dios" which is translated to "May God Be With You." Les's production techniques are ever present on this disc, but what makes this disc worthwhile is Les's guitar and Mary's singing with the music being a great mixture of many kinds of music that is hard to describe other than Les Paul music and as another reviewer mentioned, it is very comparable to Chet Atkins, another one of my favorite guitarists. BTW, this disc has been reissued recently with 3 bonus tracks added but as long as this pressing of it is still available, pick it up while you can, as it is cheaper than the new reissue, released to celebrate his 90th birthday. For those who prefer his instrumental work over his duets with Mary Ford, the disc to start with is the ASV Living Era compilation "How High The Moon," but this is still a great companion to the ASV disc. For those who are wanting more and can't find the boxed set, Collectables reissued the original albums in twofers.

I'm a huge fan of Les Paul and Mary Ford and I own a copy of the "Legend and the Legacy" box set, so I may be a bit biased in my review of this disc, which frankly I think is a little top heavy with the vocal works.

There are only a few instrumental tracks here, and while those are very good indeed, some of Les's best stuff was left out. Had I been compiling this disc I would have included "Brazil", "Caravan", and my all time favorite Les Paul instrumental piece "Little Rock Getaway", in which Les cuts loose with just about everything in his arsenal. Like "Lover", it's a very interesting and complex arrangement that's a joy to hear.

I'm also a little puzzled as to why some of Mary Ford's best vocal work was left off this disc. I would have gladly traded her cover version of "Tennessee Waltz" for "Cryin'", a song that I consider to be one of the most beautiful things she's ever sung. "Dry My Tears", a song with which Mary Ford and Les Paul and closely identified, was also left out. That aside, I am thankful that the powers that be saw fit to include an edition of Les and Mary's radio program that features "Avalon", "Where or When", and "I'll See You in my Dreams", three songs that I would love to have heard in full on the box set.

All in all, I think this is a fairly good collection, albeit a bit heavy on the vocal hits and not nearly representative enough of Les Paul's extraordinary guitar talent. Until you're fortunate enough to find the box set, this collection will have to do.

This is a CD I would definitely recommend to any fan of Les Paul and/or classic, innovative guitar. Yes, the tunes are old, but it's mind-boggling how fresh the recordings and arrangements STILL sound. This CD consists of selections from the full box set "Legends and Legacy", which unfortunately I have not heard. If this CD is any indication, the full set, if still available, would quite likely be more of a good thing!

I expected masterful guitar work and innovative, ground-breaking technology coming from the man who invented a lot of it, but this disc is so much more. I've always had a soft spot for 30s, 40,s and 50s music and this recording is a master example of that time. Cuts like Bing Crosby singing, "It's Been A Long, Long Time" are priceless and remind us how much feeling and tone these folks had. Les's guitar work is so good, Bing allowed him a full chorus and stanza break on that song instead of the usual line or two for a lead guitar. Some Les Paul recordings are extremely rare and expensive, if you can find them. This is an overlooked gem.

From 1950 to 1961 the husband-and-wife team of guitarist Les Paul and vocalist Mary Ford [Colleen Summer] had 29 Billboard pop hit singles hits, 25 of them Top 40. Les also had eleven purely instrumental hits in that same period, many of them flipsides of a vocal selection involving Mary.

In this collection you get 16 of those hits with Mary singing, three charted instruments by Les [Nola, Meet Mr. Callaghan, Lady Of Spain], plus his first solo record ever, Lover, done in 1947. The liner notes - a selection-by-selection commentary by Les - includes a fascinating tale behind the making of Lover which is not to be missed.

For the most part throughout their collaboration [they divorced in 1963] the Mary Ford sides, with her silky-smooth, jazz-tinged voice, consistently outdid the purely instrumental sides. With three exceptions: Josephine, at # 12, finished six positions higher than I Wish I Had Never Seen Sunshine in 1951; Meet Mr. Callaghan, a # 5 in 1952, outpaced Take Me In Your Arms And Hold Me [# 15]; and Moritat [# 49 in 1956] did much better than Nuevo Laredo [# 91].

But everywhere else it was Mary's voice that made the hit. Whether or not that sat well with Les is known only to his close friends and acquaintances. But I have always wondered at the photo on the front of this disc, and the caption. Although it's clearly the same photograph as the one on the cover of "Les Paul And Mary Ford All-Time Greatest Hits", in this later release not only has Mary been cropped from the picture, she gets almost second billing: les PAUL with Mary Ford. Curious.

Paul, who never cut a R&R record in his life, was inducted into the R&R Hall Of Fame in 1988 as an "early influence" - ostensibly because he invented the electric guitar.

This has to be one of the very best retrospective albums ever produced. It spans the entire careers of the artists and includes much of their best work--from Les' experiments with multiple recording in the 1930s (on acetate, using a turntable made from an old Cadillac flywheel) through their major hits of the 1950s. The liner notes are extensive and authoritative, consisting mostly of an extended interview with Les Paul himself, describing the background to each song in sequence, how and when it was composed/recorded, the instruments used, and interesting asides as to the performances.

Not everyone will appreciate this music. It got mixed reception when it was new, and it lies far from contemporary style, but on its own terms it is superb. I first knew this music as a high school kid listening to the radio. Coming back to it five decades later, after considerable musical education and experience, most of it classical, I realize how far it went over the heads of my teen generation.

The musical skill and sensitivity Les and Mary display far surpass most popular artists of the past century. Professional guitarists and guitar makers may revere Les' legacy, but Mary deserves at least as much praise for her vocal skills. Her phrasing is wonderfully elastic, comparing with the best of Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald. Her intonation is impeccable--including her five-part harmonies and backups with herself via multiple recording. And her entrances in the multiple recordings are perfect--where Patti Page was often ragged and Doris Day feared to tread. All of the arrangements are magnificently suited to the spirit of the song and to the talent of the performers. And most of the songs have never had a more competent or imaginative presentation. "In the Good Old Summertime" is an absolute tour de force.

Some might quibble over the choices made in constructing this release. But there was only space for 20 tracks, and this selection is arguably the best possible coverage of Les and Mary's incredible range. Inevitably, within the limitations of 20 tracks, some good things muwt be left out. Those who want more should try to find the complete boxed set. I think it is useful to have Les and Mary's superior "Mockingbird Hill" and "Tennessee Waltz" versions to compare with the ones from Patti Page. I am happy to trade that comparison for any other choices which could have been made.

In all, this album deserves a space in the library of every serious music collector--both for its historical importance and for the excellence of its presentation.

If you think about it pop singing hit an all time low after the swing era ended and you had 2nd rate singers singing about doggies in the window, and music music music!!! So it must have been refreshing to hear something different, and "How High Tho Moon" certianly was that. Paul's guitar was overdubbed as well as Ford's sensious voice. For some outer space style, ahead of it's time space-age msuic, with a tocuh of rockabilly, and even vaudevillian style playing. In fact most of thier hits were from 1920's sings like Tiger Rag, & In The Good Old Summertime. Thier formula worked over and over again. It is a unique mixture of hillbilly jazz meets esquivel style wackiness. This cd captures thier hits and the formula taht made them stars. And today these guys should be celebrated in the "lounge revival" music era. A great cd, and it's really all the Paul & Ford you need.

Les Paul was a guitar pioneer in the league of Chet Atkins. He also experimented with voice over voice with his then wife Mary Ford and so began the singer harmonizing with themself. All the hits are here including some not included on the Greatest Hits package, notably 'Hummingbird' and a few more. Great memories.