LOVE AND MARRIAGE: The Magician and His Lovely Assistant

Les Paul is best known for his eponymous guitar, manufactured by Gibson and beloved by axslingers everywhere. He should have one named after him: he is one of the inventors of the solid body electric guitar, which expanded the instrument's sonic potential and made rock and roll as we know it possible. Paul also invented multi-track recording and developed the close miking technique that forever changed the way singers approach studio recording. Les Paul, still with us at 93, is a sort of musical Nikola Tesla, a genius inventor with some hot licks to boot.

Paul's success as a recording artist, though, owed just as much to his partner than to his wizardry. Paul and his wife, singer Mary Ford, enjoyed huge success in the 1950s with their records, radio appearances, and television program. Ford, born Iris Hatfield, possessed a warm and soothing voice that countered Paul's frenetic noodling. The duo created one of the most unique sounds of the era by using Paul's multi-tracking technique years before it became commonplace in popular music. Les would overdub a complex web of guitar lines, while Mary sang her own harmony like a one-woman Andrews Sisters. It still doesn't sound quite like anything else.

Paul and Ford racked up sixteen top ten hits. They divorced in 1964, Mary dying thirteen years later from complications due to diabetes. Today, Paul still plays a weekly gig in New York, despite the fact he can barely use his right hand anymore. But arthritis can't take his name off those Gibson guitars, and it can't take away the huge impact he's made on the art of recording. And let's not forget the heavenly voice of Mary Ford, which has been silenced but not erased.

TODAY'S RECOMMENDATION: "The World is Waiting for the Sunrise" by Les Paul and Mary Ford
AVAILABLE ON: Best of the Capitol Masters; iTunes