File:Les-Paul-Mary-Ford-1951.jpg

DescriptionLes-Paul-Mary-Ford-1951.jpg	English: Montage of photographs of Les Paul and Mary Ford in the August 1951 issue of The American Magazine. The photomontage illustrates the department "America's Interesting People", in a section headed "Orchestra and Chorus"
Date	August 1951
Source	Self scan from The American Magazine for August 1951 (p. 56)
Author	Crowell-Collier Publishing Company, photographs by Joe Pazen
Permission (Reusing this file)	Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse This work is in the public domain because it was published in the United States between 1929 and 1963, and although there may or may not have been a copyright notice, the copyright was not renewed. For further explanation, see Commons:Hirtle chart and the copyright renewal logs. Note that it may still be copyrighted in jurisdictions that do not apply the rule of the shorter term for US works (depending on the date of the author's death), such as Canada (70 years p.m.a.), Mainland China (50 years p.m.a., not Hong Kong or Macao), Germany (70 years p.m.a.), Mexico (100 years p.m.a.), Switzerland (70 years p.m.a.), and other countries with individual treaties. العربية ∙ Deutsch ∙ English ∙ español ∙ français ∙ galego ∙ italiano ∙ 日本語 ∙ 한국어 ∙ македонски ∙ português ∙ português do Brasil ∙ русский ∙ sicilianu ∙ slovenščina ∙ українська ∙ 简体中文 ∙ 繁體中文 ∙ +/−

Text of article follows:

Orchestra and Chorus

IN THESE DAYS when, what with the cost of living and everything else, you get so little for so much, it's sort of nice to talk about Les Paul and his wife, Mary Ford, one of the nation's top recording teams. They give you the reverse treatment—so much with so little of everything but talent. With one guitar played by Les and one voice owned by Mary, you get on one record what sounds like an orchestra and chorus. Anyone who has heard How High the Moon (sales of recordings over 1,250,000) and Mocking Bird Hill (sales over 750,000) knows how successful this bargain-basement musicale has been.

It's all the result of Les's ability to get unique effects on a guitar, making it sound like many different instruments; Mary's wide range of voice, making it sound like many different voices; plus a recording trick. Put them all together and they sound like a 12-piece band and choir. The idea of getting more out of something than really should be there seems appropriate to Les, because that has been his actual experience in life itself. Although he is only 35, Les should have been dead three times—once from electric shock, then an auto accident, finally from a heart attack. He survived all three but, because of injuries in the car crash, he found that he could not play the guitar in the regulation way. By experimenting, he came up with effects never thought of before, leading to his ability to simulate an orchestra.

Les was born in Waukesha, Wis., and first studied the harmonica. He switched to the guitar when his father bought him one. Mary was the daughter of a minister and met Les when he called her for an audition after having heard her sing on a Gene Autry radio program. They were married three years ago.
_________

August 1951 issue of The American Magazine was copyrighted in 1951 by Crowell-Collier Publishing Company but not renewed:

• No renewal is listed for The American Magazine: [1]

Background
"Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly began publishing in 1876. In 1904, it was renamed Leslie's Monthly Magazine, and then Leslie's Magazine in 1905. Later that year (in the middle of volume 60), it was renamed the American Illustrated Magazine, shortening to the American Magazine in 1906. It kept continuous volume numbering throughout its history. The magazine ceased publication in 1956. While no copyright renewals are known for the issues, a number of stories that appeared in the magazine had their copyrights renewed."