Les Paul

Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, which made the sound of rock and roll possible. Paul taught himself how to play guitar and while he is mainly known for rock music, he had an early career in country music. He is credited with many recording innovations. Although he was not the first to use the technique, his early experiments with overdubbing (also known as sound on sound),delay effects such as tape delay, phasing effects and multitrack recording were among the first to attract widespread attention.

His innovative talents extended into his playing style, including licks, trills, chording sequences, fretting techniques and timing, which set him apart from his contemporaries and inspired many guitarists of the present day. He recorded with his wife Mary Ford in the 1950s, and they sold millions of records.

Epiphone Les Paul

The Epiphone Les Paul is a line of solid body electric guitars produced by Epiphone as a more modestly priced version of the famous Gibson Les Paul. Epiphone is a subsidiary of the Gibson Guitar Corporation and manufactures the Les Paul and other budget models at a lower cost in Asia. Visually and ergonomically, it is almost identical to a Gibson Les Paul.

Les Paul Standard

Very similar to a Gibson Les Paul Standard, it has a solid Nato wood or alder body, Set-neck nato neck (most models) with a rosewood fretboard, Alnico Classic Humbuckers, Grover Machine heads and a Tune-o-matic bridge. Is considered by some to be the flagship Les Paul model made by Epiphone. There is a "Plain-Top" model that features a plain maple top and a "Plus-Top" model that features a flame maple top.

Les Paul Standard PlusTop and Quilt Top PRO

The Les Paul Standard PlusTop PRO is a version of the Epiphone Les Paul Standard. It has ProBucker-2 and ProBucker-3 pickups with coil-tapping, which distinguishes it from the regular Standard PlusTop. PAF humbuckers were the original humbuckers from 1957, which were not perfect, since the coils were not wound perfectly, which created an out-of-phase sound that is associated with the era. The ProBucker is designed to replicate that out-of-phase 1950s sound. However, the coil-tapping feature allows one to turn this sound on or off. Like the Standard PlusTop, this guitar features a flame maple veneer top. There are multiple available color finishes including Honeyburst (inspired by late '50s vintage Les Pauls), Heritage Cherry Sunburst, Trans Blue, Vintage Sunburst and Wine Red. The body is nato (with the maple veneer top), the neck is hand-set nato, with a rosewood fingerboard. The scale is 24.75". The Les Paul Standard Quilt Top PRO is identical but has a quilted top maple veneer finish and is only available in Trans Blue and Faded Cherry Sunburst colors.

Gibson Les Paul

The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The Les Paul was designed by Gibson president Ted McCarty, factory manager John Huis and their team with minimal input from guitarist/inventor Les Paul.

The Les Paul was originally offered with a gold finish and two P-90 pickups. In 1957, humbucking pickups were added, along with sunburst finishes in 1958. The sunburst 1958–1960 Les Paul – today one of the best-known electric guitar types in the world – was considered a failure, with low production and sales. For 1961, the Les Paul was redesigned into what is now known as the Gibson SG. This design continued until 1963 but continued as a separate guitar, when the traditional single cutaway, carved top bodystyle was reintroduced. The Les Paul has been continually produced in countless versions and editions since. Along with Fender's Telecaster and Stratocaster, it was one of the first mass-produced electric solid-body guitars. Les Pauls have been used in many genres, including rock, Country, pop, soul, rhythm and blues, blues, jazz, reggae, punk, and heavy metal.

Les Paul and Mary Ford

Les Paul and Mary Ford were a popular 1950s husband-and-wife/group musical team in which Les Paul played the guitar and Mary Ford sang. In 1951 alone, they sold six million records.

Background

The couple were introduced to each other by Gene Autry in 1946 and were married in 1949.

They first appeared in the pop charts in 1950. Between the years 1950 and 1954, Les Paul and Mary Ford had 16 top-ten hits. They had five top-ten hits within nine months. "Tennessee Waltz", "Mockin' Bird Hill", "How High the Moon" (#1 for nine weeks), "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise" and "Whispering". From August 1952 to March 1953 they had five more top-ten hits; "My Baby's Coming Home", "Lady of Spain", "Bye Bye Blues", "I'm Sitting on Top of the World" and "Vaya Con Dios" (#1 for 11 weeks). Their 1954 version of "I'm a Fool to Care" went to #6, and was featured in a memorable Southern Comfort commercial in 2013 that got over 1 million views on YouTube.

In 2009, they were inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

Mary Ford

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Mary Ford (July 7, 1924–September 30, 1977), born Iris Colleen Summers, was an American vocalist and guitarist, comprising half of the husband-and-wife musical team Les Paul and Mary Ford. Between 1950 and 1954, the couple had 16 top-ten hits, including "How High the Moon" and "Vaya con Dios", which were number one hits on the Billboard charts. In 1951 alone they sold six million records. With Paul, Ford became one of the early practitioners of multi-tracking.

Early life

Mary Ford was born Iris Colleen Summers in El Monte, California, the second daughter of Marshall McKinley Summers (born February 13, 1896, in Ridgway, Illinois; died August 5, 1981, in Los Angeles), a Nazarene minister, who later became a painting contractor, and his wife, Dorothy May White Summers (born April 5, 1897, in Missouri; died February 22, 1988, in South El Monte, California), and was the sister of Byron Fletcher Summers, Esther E. Williams, Carol Jean Corona, Bruce Summers, Eva Wootten and Bob Summers. Ford came from a musical family. Her parents left Missouri, travelling cross-country while singing gospel music and preaching at revival meetings across the United States. They eventually settled in southern California, where they were heard over KPPC-AM, Pasadena's first Christian radio station. Her sisters and brothers were all musicians; Esther, Carol, Fletcher, jazz organist Bruce and film composer Bob Summers.