Customer Reviews

Fabulous Les Paul & Mary Ford

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This album, while not representative of the years when Les Paul and Mary Ford ruled the charts, captures some very tasty guitar playing. Les is of the school of music which says "if you want to deviate from the melody, you'd better have a better one!". Students of lead guitar and jazz improvisation would do well to study this album closely. The Master presents the electric guitar with practically every effect and treatment that made him famous, yet with a touch and sensitivity which shows his supreme artistry at its best. Mary's lush voice is only present occasionally, which is a pity.

Les Paul started the electric guitar fire. Lest we forget.

P.S. Amazon.com's database cannot decide whether Les Paul is a Jazz, Rock or Pop artist. Neither can I!

Even if you don't know nothing about Les Paul (and he is an all too sadly obscure figure among non musicians) this is one musician who truly produced a music that had no defining label. But what he and his musical partner Mary Ford did on music such as this showcased his musical purpose. Here we have the man who innovated (if not invented even) the musical concept of overdubbing as well as his style on the electric guitar. And the best part of his musical vision is even NON MUSICIANS who just enjoy the possibility of sounds can come right along on the ride with him. That's because his music,with and without Mary Ford is highly accessible. As he once told Miles Davis the key was to play for the people but be yourself at the same time. It's a hard concept to master:totally communicating with listeners but in the right hands it can be done. There are two instrumentals here that really take the cake on that front;"The Poor People Of Paris" and "After You've Gone" feature guitar licks that stand in the exact middle ground between Charlie Christian and Wes Montgomery in the sense he delivers what's basically a clean line but makes it ring,echo and express incredible shifts in moods and passion. As far as the Mary Ford material goes.......there's a whole school of people who dismiss interpretive musicians and vocalists over those who write and do all their own music. What needs to be said about both of these people,in this case Mary is her interpretive ability to make a song so much her own to the degree that it seems it was written by her. The moodily,low octave and slinky style Mary uses on arrangements of "Am I Blue","Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams","Goodnight Irene","Makin Whoopee!" and "Deed I Do" not only possition her phrasing and interpretation with the best jazz singers of the era but also some of the soulful influences of what Ray Charles did at the time. This shows up especially strong in a blues drenched,heavily proto funk version of the country standard "Your Cheatin' Heart" wherin the overdubbed chorus courtesy of Les himself showcases the proto psychedelic nature of the sound in which the musical sounds all bled together. It was something that was already developing in jazz long before Les Paul but somehow he along with a number of other clinched it even here as early as 1964. In a few years after this album rock and jazz would branch out in directions all directly influenced by the music you'll hear on this album. Makes you realize in a way how the 1950's,even if this wasn't recorded in the 50's were not the 'square and uptight" era musically,even on pop records that one might think.