The Best of the Capitol Masters- 90th Birthday Edition

crazy cool.
To understand that all of these recordings involve only Les Paul and Mary Ford "multi-tracking" in the late 40s, through 50s is the crazy part. The songs and presentation are the cool part. Or is it vice-versa? I don't know. But I know you may need to understand both to truly appreciate what you are getting on this collection. Its a wonderful tribute to celebrate his 90th birthday.

Poor Quality Release of a Great Artist
No recording dates, no chart information, no sessionography. You get a brief anecdote with each track, that's it. Capitol could have done a much more thorough job. Choose a different Les Paul cd.

Les Paul 90th Birthday CD
Great Les Paul CD. Includes "sthichk" stuff with great music from the radio show! This 90th birthday album contains much of the essential Les Paul & Mary Ford.

Like guitar? This one is a must-have...
When I was 12, my parents bought a Les and Mary LP on Capitol. This would have been very early in 1957, and it contained a dozen or so of their hits from the '40's and earlier '50's. Almost everything on that old record is now on this disc. I was just really getting into pop, rock and country music, just beginning to buy records on my own, and of course, Les and Mary seemed "old" to me, and had the stigma of my parents' approval. However, the album became a guilty pleasure. I said I liked Paul's playing, but secretly I did not mind Mary's singing either. In that pre-teen year, I wasn't ready for Miles Davis or Dave Brubeck, but Chet Atkins was cool, and so were Bobby Darin, Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash and many other rock and rockabilly heroes. I fell in love with the guitar, but we couldn't afford an instrument or lessons, and I learned within a few years I had no talent for playing anything or vocalizing anything. But I dreamed. And listening to Les Paul play, I was transported by the size of the emotions he could evoke by strumming relatively small devices. I never actually purchased a Les Paul album for my own use until getting "Chester and Lester" a few years ago, but that one kind of disappointed me. This one brings back in the vocals some of the happier memories of my imperfect childhood, but more importantly, it sounds fresh and vital in the instrumentals, and the genius of Mr. Paul is evident. The booklet is full of fascinating trivia about why he and Mary released singles in a certain order, and equally interesting facts about his musical inventions. Sure, the songs were written long ago, and the performances sometimes recorded in Les and Mary's home studios, but it is really quite beautiful. The final track, just for fun, is an episode from the couple's '50's network RADIO show: worth hearing once, to get a sense of their personalities and of the times they lived in as best-selling musicians. This is jazz, pop, sentimental in spots, cutting-edge in other moments. It's also an important piece of Americana commercial music history. Invest in it, and enjoy it, before it goes "out of print."

A wonderful CD for guitar lovers
Dreams of youth : this CD is a marvelous tool for playing my guitar Thank you Mary, thank you Les... Idid'nt know you enough before I bought this CD. Nice to ear you "agaiiiiiiin"(as Mary used to say !