Back in the Fifties, when the name Les Paul was spoken, it was often in tandem with that of Mary Ford, his wife and musical partner.
The duo were among the biggest recording artists of the early Fifties, cutting 16 top-10 hits, including “How High the Moon” and “Vaya Con Dios.” In 1951 alone, they sold six million records. Small wonder that Gibson sought out Les in 1952 to put his name on their new solidbody electric guitar.
While Mary Ford was the featured singer on the couple’s songs, she was a fine guitarist as well, as the clip above reveals. It comes from a performance on the NBC TV show The Colgate Comedy Hour and originally aired in March 1954, with the comedy duo Abbott and Costello as hosts.
In the video, Les and Mary, each with a Gibson Les Paul, perform a mock guitar battle during a performance of a song called “There’s No Place Like Home.”
Enjoy this classic.
“Eddie told us that he copied that style from listening to us. He was a big fan of the band and came to see us play regularly.” Rick Derringer recalls a young Eddie Van Halen and performing with Johnny Winter
“They said, 'You've got to do it,' but I'm so glad they did. It became my biggest song.” The guitarist behind a power-pop gem almost let his hit single pass him by
