#43 'How High the Moon' by Les Paul and Mary Ford (1951)

SONG

"I like this one a lot. Can definitely hear some familiar rock structure in this song, including the almost obligatory guitar solo, but it's also 'different' enough to still be interesting." - LC

Written by: Morgan Lewis and Nancy Hamilton. 
Producer: Les Paul.
Label: Capitol.

FACTS

• The first thing that sprung to my mind when I read the name Les Paul was the T. Rex lyric "With my Les Paul, I know I'm small but I enjoy living anyway." ...how true. Anyways, my point is, to me a 'Les Paul' has always been a model of guitar. Well, it turns out that Les Paul (the singer this time) was so dissatisfied in the 1930s with his semi-acoustic guitar, which he deemed to be too weedy on its own but too prone to feedback once amplified, that he decided the only solution was a fully amplified, solid-bodied instrument. He built his solution from a length of timber and added two cut-away sides to give the familiar appearance of an acoustic guitar as audiences found the initial appearance too bizarre. Nicknamed "the Log", it was the first-ever electric guitar! It was the direct precursor to the later Gibson model named in Paul's honour.

 

Les Paul with the original "Log"                              A Gibson Les Paul

• After he had succeeded at solving the problem of how his guitar sounded, Paul set about solving the problem he had with the sound of his records. Bing Crosby suggested that he should build his own studio to better suit his own needs. 
• Paul started his own studio in the garage of his home on Hollywood's North Curson Street. He equipped it to allow him to record himself playing various parts of a song which could then be layered together to create a whole song. 
• In 1948, Les Paul was given one of the first Ampex Model 200A reel-to-reel audio tape recording decks by Crosby and went on to use Ampex's eight track "Sel-Sync" machines for multi-track recording. 
• The same year, Capitol Records released a recording that had begun as an experiment in Paul's garage, entitled "Lover (When You're Near Me)." The song featured Paul playing eight different parts on electric guitar, some of the which were recorded at half-speed and therefore sounded twice as fast when played back at normal speed for the master. This was the first time that Les Paul had used multi-tracking in a recording. 
• The studio drew many other famous vocalists and musicians who wanted the benefit of Paul's expertise. The home and studio are still standing, but both had been moved to Pasadena at some point after Paul no longer owned the home. 
• In 1979, Paul and Ford's How High The Moon was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. 
• Paul received a Grammy Trustees Award for his lifetime achievements in 1983. 
• In 1988, Paul was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Jeff Beck, who said, "I've copied more licks from Les Paul than I'd like to admit." 
• In 1991, the Mix Foundation established an annual award in his name; the Les Paul Award which honors "individuals or institutions that have set the highest standards of excellence in the creative application of audio technology." 
• In 2003, Les was ranked as #46 on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time." 
• In 2005, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his development of the solid-body electric guitar. In July of this year, a 90th-birthday tribute concert was held at Carnegie Hall in New York City. After performances by Steve Miller, Peter Frampton, Jose Feliciano and a number of other contemporary guitarists and vocalists, Paul was presented with a commemorative guitar from the Gibson Guitar Corporation 
• In 2006, Paul was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. He was named an honorary member of the Audio Engineering Society. 
• In 2007, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. 
• In February 2009, Paul sat down with Scott Vollweiler of Broken Records Magazine, in which would be one of Les Paul's final interviews. His candid answers were direct and emotional. Broken Records Magazine had planned to run that cover feature the following month but due to delays was held until the summer. 3 days before the release, Les Paul died at the age of 94. 
• Upon learning of his death many artists and popular musicians paid tribute by publicly expressing their sorrow. After learning of Paul's death, former Guns 'n' Roses guitarist Slash called him "vibrant and full of positive energy.", while Richie Sambora, lead guitarist of Bon Jovi, referred to him as "revolutionary in the music business". U2 guitarist The Edge said, "His legacy as a musician and inventor will live on and his influence on rock and roll will never be forgotten."
• In August, 2009, Paul was named one of the ten best electric guitar players of all-time by Time magazine. 
• On June 9, 2010, which would have been Les Paul's 95th birthday, a tribute concert featuring Jeff Beck, Imelda May, Gary U.S. Bonds and Brian Setzer among others, was held at the Iridium Jazz Club where Les Paul played nearly every week almost to the end of his life. The concert was released on the live album Rock 'n' Roll Party (Honoring Les Paul) in 2011. 
• On June 9–10, 2011 Google celebrated what would have been Paul's 96th birthday with a Google doodle of an interactive guitar. I actually remember this one but, back in July, I had no idea what an amazing man he was. Click here for the doodle - it's worth it! Just make sure you do come back again :p

Ok, so that was more of a biography of Les Paul, but tbh I couldn't help myself. What an amazing man! He even made it into my Facebook status, ha. I shall add a few more facts about the pair of them now... longest blog entry to date ;)

• Paul met country and western singer Colleen Summers in 1945. They began to work together in 1948, during which time she adopted the stage name Mary Ford.
• By 1949, Paul and Ford were married.
• They had a string of hits, all of which featured Ford harmonising with herself (using the technique Paul had perfected in his home studio).
• They adopted a girl, Colleen, in 1958 and their son Robert (Bobby) was born the following year. They had also lost a child, who was born prematurely and died only four days old.
• Les Paul and Mary Ford divorced in 1963.

Recommended songs by this artist...


Bye Bye Blues (1953)
Just One More Chance (1951)
Meet Mister Callaghan (1952)
The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise (1951)
Tiger Rag (1952)
Vaya con dios (May God Be With You) (1953)