You probably won't believe this, but in the late 1970s I became friends with a man named Ed Lewing. We were friends until Ed passed away years later. Ed built guitars and was interested in recording. He traded me engineering lessons for amp repair work, as I was into multi track recording. Ed worked for years building amps for Leo Fender in Fullerton. Eddie told me that he visited Les's house one day in the 50s. Mary was home but told Ed that if he wanted to see Les, he would have to follow the low impedance cable 150 yards up the path to the cave on the hill behind the house. Sure enough, Les was just coming out of the cave when Ed finally made it up the hill. Big grin on his face, Les said that the damn Mic was too far away from the speaker for the recording he was working on. This I a true story. Those guys were a breed of their own.

Just as Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, backwards and in heels, Mary Ford did everything Les Paul did, in the shadow of her husband. She was a great guitarist. Awesome analysis, as always, Dear Fil. Thank You! ❤️

I live close to the cemetery where Les Paul is buried. It is always interesting to walk there and, similar to Jewish graves where people leave a pebble, his grave always has a bunch of guitar picks left on it in remembrance.

Mary also had a great, smooth singing voice as well. Two very talented musicians.

How High the Moon was a wonder for it's time. Still a masterpiece to this day.

I saw Les play several times very late in his life when he and his band would play Monday nights at the Iridium in New York. His hands were gnarled with arthritis but he was still able to put on quite a show. What great memories.

What Les and Mary gave us was way more than guitar playing.

LOVE this. She has just the right amount of sarcasm (in her guitar pickings}

Another great video Fil! This clip shows that Les and Mary were not only great musicians, but great entertainers as well. And when it comes to Mary's level of musicianship, I think we can safely say it was high. VERY HIGH.

Came across this from a while back and had to watch it again. I’m sure that Les and Mary would be honored that you introduced them to a new generation! Thanks Fil.

Dr Fil, I just love these history lessons. You sir, are a master.

That was hilarious. I could watch them for hours. Your insight Fil, only added to the pleasure.

I had no idea this existed, this was a wonderful history lesson. Incredible talent that is just not seen in popular music of the past few years - I mean decades!

I was saying to my better half how they sort of reminded me of George Burns and Gracie Allen but of music, you know what you are doing very well to perform in the manner they did, both where extremely talented and thanks Fil, have a great Halloween.

Les Paul was one of the great guitarist that ever lived. Very interventive. She also was the first as far as I know to sing in two part harmony How High The Moon, Vaya Con Dios. I'm so glad you go back to the greats from history. Thanks much

I got to meet Les Paul when I was a sophomore in high school. A classmate's dad was his 1st cousin and Les had come for some sort of family gathering. He was delighted that someone of my age (15 at the time) was not only familiar with his playing, but Mary's, too. My gramma had many of their 78's.

Thanks Fil. The thing I admire about this clip is Mary's vocal harmony phrasing. It stays in perfect sync with Les no matter how much he goofs around.

Steve Miller lived in the same town in Wisconsin as did Les Paul and Mary Ford. Steve would wander over and learned about guitar and electronic production. Small World!!

Les Paul and Mary Ford along with Roy Clark where so entertaining on stage one tends to forget how advance they where at playing their instruments. I could watch Less, Mary and Roy all night long and never get tire of watching masters at work. superb analysis footage Fil.

Les used to tell the story of being in the hospital and there being two doctors, one of which had no idea who Les was and wanted to amputate his arm. The other doctor was a jazz fan who knew who Les was and took over. He leaned down to Les and said he wouldn't be able to move that arm much, and where did he want it? Les said he told him "Point it at my navel" and the anesthetic took over. BTW, in his early days, he did an act where he called himself "Rhubarb Red" and played guitar and harmonica in a rack. There are 4 records that I know of, though it's rumored he had about 500 recordings that he never released. Fun stuff.

You're so awesome, Fil!! You cover so many genres of music with such true interest and great insight. You really KNOW music while most of us just appreciate it. You're a wonderful teacher to so many, and you make learning fun. You're the BEST youtube has to offer!!

Fil, I love it when someone introduces artists like this to people who are enjoying their work for the first time.

It really was entertaining, like “Anything you can do I can do better, I could do anything better than you.” 😄

Now that is entertainment! Imagine being around to see that show live..... The master of Guitar and Les Paul too..lol.. And well... you said it all Fil. love them so much.

Great shout out to Mary Ford's ability in her own right

A delightful couple that made sure they entertained their audiences. Great musos too. Thanks Fil

The fact he built the les paul guitar and he also built mary's guitar just for her

how lucky to have the same name as the guitar.

It's impossible to not smile while watching this performance.

Fil, I'm so excited! This was my suggestion. Thanks for the great analysis. Interesting that Les's guitar has two P-90s while Mary's guitar has a white P-90 in the neck position and a different black (wider) pickup in the bridge position ... maybe a humbucker? An early version? Certainly her tone here is a little darker than Les's. Thanks again, Fil.

Nice harmonic fill... Could you imagine a couple musicians coming out on stage and performing this in today's music world.... I have to love the simplicity of it all.

There was no mistaking that both of them were having alot of fun doing this one and also no mistaking they both had such incredible talent..

They were a delight! Your knowledge of music is astounding Fil, it's obvious that you have a real passion for music

Les is king of the guitar tricks, and inventor of one of the most iconic guitars of all time. However I must admit that I'm a Tele/Strat guy. Thanks Fil.

So perceptive. I loved their music because they had such talent and ability. Thank you.

What an incredible duo! Her early demise was a great pity. Thanks for this review, Fil!

Everything you could want here, great playing, great singing and simultaneously doing such great physical comedy. Mary's a beauty and you can see the love and respect they have for each other.

8:35 that laugh! It's like she's getting revenge and then she starts to shred but Les won't let her embarrass him! hehe interesting stuff. Two studio musicians who could also pull it off live.

Hey Fil! Awesome video! It's so important that people know musical history. Music didn't start with the Beatles, or Zeppelin, or Nirvana. There is a reason the most famous guitar in the world is named after this man. Such sweet, clean tones, and Mary Ford is world class herself. I don't know if you ever saw Les Paul jamming with Chris Guest (Spinal Tap). It's historic. Rock on Fil.

These two were pioneers to be sure. Throughout the performance you hear rifts and techniques that clearly influenced rock guitarists in the years to come.

This is great Phil. Not enough people see this era of talent.

Fil is a wealth of music history and information. 👍👍

It makes me sad to think that most “ kids these days “ will never understand the Importance of Mary and Les. They were purveyors of technique .

LES WAS A GENIUS, PLAIN AND SIMPLE, THNKS FIL ALWAYS GREAT

Great analysis as usual, Fil. The other day I was driving by myself and flipping through my CDs I popped the Best of Les & Mary in. The next day my wife and I got in the car and I’d forgotten about the music. My wife was freaked-out! LOL She’s used to the car starting to Van Halen or Iron Maiden. I think she thought I was loosing my mind. I don’t care; it’s all great music.

I've only just seen this and it has warmed my heart! My dad died in 1997 but he was a massive Les Paul and Mary Ford fan so I used to hear their music regularly growing up in the 1960s. Anything by them reminds me so much of him. Thank you for the analysis too! It's so interesting to not only learn the musical technicalities, but also to see your genuine enjoyment of the artistes and their talents.

Mary Ford's stage persona was always so sweet! Great post, Fil! just packed with interesting information about Les and Mary.

Thank you Fil... my favorite song by Mary Ford as a kid was "The World is Waiting for the Sunrise". Something about that song stuck in my mind and to this day I still hear it clearly. Another jewel! 🎼🖤

It is kind of mind-boggling how this music holds up over so many years. Just as amazing is the fact that the guitar bearing his name is still one of the ultimate benchmarks of the craft. Thanks for going this far back to analyze. Feel free to go back even further in time LOL!

Behind every great man is a great woman!!! (And she knew it and so did he...So she had to be up front side by side).

Mary Ford is underrated! Everyone knows that Les Paul was one of the greatest guitarists while Mary Ford had that beautiful voice. Seeing pictures of the two on stage, it was easy to assume that Les played the lead and Mary played in the background. Who ever knew that Mary could compete?

So glad to see you do Les Paul and Mary Ford, they were such an entertaining act. And yes, truly talented. Back in those days, acts had to be talented in a number of ways to keep the crowd engaged and especially for the then-new format of TV. Such fun at around 7:00 with the guitar playing. You're right, Fil, in those days acts had to be very talented because there were relatively few media outlets and competition was stiffer than now to get on the air. Such an entertaining act and so talented, thx Fil!

This was wonderful to see. I loved their recording of How High the Moon. Thanks Fil.

Loved it. Thank God, no excruciatingly loud/offensive Wings of Pegasus YT lead-in.

Great coverage of a master and a terrific performance by Mary. I couldn't imagine performing nightly with Les Pauls with such thin straps. Those suckers are heavvvy.

Les Paul and Mary Ford are so incredibly talented! Amazing how they just feed off each other’s brilliance! Smokin analysis Fil! Cheers Mario! 😀🤘🤘

As a kid in the 50s, living in a small town of 8000 with one radio station, if you listened to the radio, you couldn't get through the day without hearing Les and Mary at least once. They were incredible. I liked your comments.

The technology to record tv in the early 50s was so crude that scenes like this are preciously rare. They were filmed on a special screen, non digitally, on an ordinary movie camera. Great stuff!

Thanks for sharing this performance. Their chemistry is incredible.

Les was great... AND, so was Mary! I've seen this video before while surfing for Les Paul's stuff. Very entertaining. Yeah, Les and Mary were as good as it gets. And there we have it, indeed! Thanks for sharing!

Please show one of their hits so the people can appreciate just how vocally talented they were in their day. As a young girl, I remember trying to figure out how they could sing and harmonize at the same time, LOL! I LOVED their sound, and it was instantly recognizable!

Watched this video over and over, but I never noticed those things you mentioned. What an eye openers they are! Thanks Fil, for your great professional analysis!

There will never be another Les Paul and Mary Ford. I'm old enough (10 days shy of 75) to remember listening to them on the radio with my parents in the late 40's and early 50's, and then watching them when we finally talked Dad into getting a T.V. about 1952. Great review, as usual, Fil! Cheers! :)

Nice job fil once again very informative

They are so good, man alive!! Awesome analysis!!!👍❤

How could anyone watch these two and not smile.

The legendary Les Paul, a great guitarist who invented the greatest rock guitar ever made, The Gibson Les Paul. And Mary Ford was a gifted player as well. Great video.

Really enjoy your analyses!

Fil, another great analysis. You pick up the essence ot Les and Mary. Can you imagine what their records sounded like in 1951?!? Les was not only a fantastic guitarist (he could hold his own in any style with anyone) - Mary was the perfect compliment with a pure vocal tone and an excellent guitarist in her own right. But Les' desire to find a sound that no one had heard or done was only escliped by his crowning achievement of sound on sound which lead to multi-track. To put that into perspective Les and Mary were using an 8 track machine in 1950's and Atlantic Records took the delivery of the 2nd 8 track AMPEX machine, I believe in 1957 or 1958. To put this into historical context, the first 2 Beatle's LP's were recorded on 2 track machines and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" being the first Beatle's record done in 4 track up to and INCLUDING Sgt. Pepper, which I find amazing that George Martin and the Beatles had to "bounce" tracks tells how great they were. Abbey Road studios didn't get their 8 track until 1968 when American studios had moved onto 16 track. I remember vividly the day we took delivery of an 16 track MCI macnine {bought from Atlantic (they'd moved to 24 track)} where I was producing music. Again, Fil you're spot on!

‘Chester and Lester’ - one of my all time fave albums.

Nice harmonies. She was very pretty. They played extremely well. Please check out Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper. The Big Wheel is great. They had many hits in the late 50's and early 60's. It is great hearing you discuss the groups. It is a blast and so informative hearing you talk about them. ❤️🌹❤️

Always love your analyses. And ALWAYS learn so much! Thank you, again!

8:10 The show was on NBC. Probably lost on most international viewers and younger Americans, but those three notes - G below middle C, E above middle C, Middle C have been associated with the National Broadcasting Company for 95 years.

I don't think Mary's voice was multitracked on How High the Moon. Not sure multitracking was in use yet. I think they simply bounced tracks over two tape decks at that time. Great video, Fil!

I just love this site. So good every time. I came across the Les Paul and Mary analysis. So enjoyable, especially at times like we have at the moment. God bless. Thank you, big time.

Twin guitar attack before heavy rock. Great stuff. Mary was obviously a great guitar player in her own right. Nice one, Fil!

Thank you Fil, for another pleasant watch, and listen! Always the ray of light, in the day. Winter cold has already Hit, where I live, so this Is a blessing. 😉

This one was fun, Fil! Your enthusiasm for new as well as older talent is refreshing. Thanks for this! ❤️

Wow. What a great selection Fil. You do a consistently great job!

excellent subject matter Fil... their live performance is overlooked much of the time...the man, the master, and innovator...and quite the entertainer...along with his talented wife Mary...both he and Mary were a true treasure...Paul

My favourite is "How High the Moon" it's such a Classic & Way ahead of it's time Mary's dubbing is incredible.

Nice that Mary is getting some props! Les was never in doubt as a guitarist....but think on this, he'd never have included Mary to this extent in the act if he didn't know she could keep up with him, lick-for-lick. And she always did! GO MARY!

Interestingly, I was watching this Les & Mary video a few minutes before finding this video. It struck me at the time that Mary Ford was comparable to Les Paul in ability, though I did wonder whether Les had taught/coached her - not that I would like to take anything away from her. Whatever, it highlights their amazing ability with the instrument and, like you say, it also shows, despite the humorous nature of the piece, that they were both very comfortable with their instrument enough to act as if they weren't.

Fred and Ginger. George and Gracie, Les and Mary.

Spot on review!

Les is the G.O.A.T. No one else comes close to his technical ability and entertainment ability.

Great video as always Fil. I love the authenticity of the music and the innocence that was still around in those days. I came across my mom’s Buddy Holly record and ‘60 senior annual in 7th grade and I was hooked on everything 50s.

He was a Genius and she had a great voice.

Hey Fil, I really appreciate how you dig deep and delve into various genres.

Now . . . THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT ! ! ! Thanks again , Fil ! You never disappoint !

Another outstanding analysis, Fil!

Les & Mary are so adorable... "How High The Moon" is one of my all time favourites on KZfaq.

That was so much fun to watch!

Part of my love affair with music, is my reverence for history and heritage. Watching the antics of legendary figures such as these two, juxtaposed with the wonderous sounds that I've heard people wring from guitars for over 50 years, is just plain doing my head in........I wonder whether, given identical influences, would these two have played like a Dick Wagner, a Zakk Wylde, or a Paul Kossoff? I think that the answer is no, that every one looks for their own thing, and there is still plenty to be found. Great clip, thanks.

Thank you Fill. I found this segment very interesting as well as entertaining. These were some pretty serious guitar players.

Mary Ford , beyond insane guitar goddess and vocals

There is a diner in Grand Rapids, Michigan the was transported from New Jersey that Les Paul use to eat at, They still have the seat and table that he use to eat at.

Loved the way he showed his appreciation of Mary’s guitar skills He was a very modern thinking man Thanks for such enlightenment Les Paul was amazing and so is their story

While Les Paul was the genius, Mary Ford was the rhythm guitar behind that genius. Side note. My first true bass was a Gibson Les Paul studio custom bass. It weighted like 25 pounds. It had a beautiful tone and the sustain was so natural. Wonderful Bass.

Really enjoyed this analysis and bio of these amazing artists! Thanks Fil