YourRadioShows

Les Paul & Mary Ford

Although he was a professional musician even as a child, Paul didn't start out as a guitarist. Lester William Polfuss was born June 9, 1915, on North St. in Waukesha and Although he was a professional musician even as a child, Paul didn't start out as a guitarist. At age 8, Les was given an old harmonica by a construction worker, and within a year he was good enough to play in school talent contests. By the time he was 12, Les was making as much as $30 a week just playing for tips on the streets of Waukesha. About this time, Les acquired his first guitar, a $5 purchase. By the time he was 13, Les was a regular at local service clubs, talent shows and the Thursday night concerts at Waukesha's Cutler Park band shell.

At 17, going by the name Red Hot Red in reference to his hair color, he got an invitation to join Rube Tronson's Cowboys, a regional country band. Within the year, Les had quit high school and become a full-time pro. Through the 1930s, he followed one radio gig after another, moving to St. Louis and then to Chicago, migrating from his hillbilly roots to jazz and pop, and changing his stage name, first to Rhubarb Red and then to Les Paul. His big national break came in 1939 when, at age 24, he landed a job in New York with Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians, a big name band with a national radio show.

In the late '40s, Paul linked up with a sweet-voiced backup singer for Gene Autry named Colleen Summers. Paul renamed her Mary Ford, and she became his professional partner. In 1949 he married Ford on Dec. 29 of that year in the Milwaukee County Courthouse. By the early '50s, Les Paul and Mary Ford were one of the biggest acts in the music business, with a TV show, a radio show and a string of hit records. In the mid-1950s, though, the country's taste in music changed almost overnight. Paul and Ford had one last top 10 hit, "Hummingbird," in 1955

20 shows from 1950.
This CD is in the MP3 format.

Episodes
50-03-30 Les Paul Show starring Les Paul and Mary Ford
50-05-05 Les Paul Show Starring Les Paul and Mary Ford
50-05-12 Les Paul Show Starring Les Paul and Mary Ford
50-05-19 Les Paul Show Starring Les Paul and Mary Ford
50-05-26 Les Paul Show Starring Les Paul and Mary Ford
50-06-02 Les Paul Show Starring Les Paul and Mary Ford
50-06-09 Les Paul Show Starring Les Paul and Mary Ford
50-06-16 Les Paul Show Starring Les Paul and Mary Ford
50-06-23 Les Paul Show Starring Les Paul and Mary Ford
50-06-30 Les Paul Show Starring Les Paul and Mary Ford
50-07-11 Les Paul Show Starring Les Paul and Mary Ford
50-07-14 Les Paul Show Starring Les Paul and Mary Ford
50-08-04 Les Paul Show Starring Les Paul and Mary Ford
50-08-11 Les Paul Show Starring Les Paul and Mary Ford
50-09-01 Les Paul Show Starring Les Paul and Mary Ford
50-09-22 Les Paul Show Starring Les Paul and Mary Ford
50-10-06 Les Paul Show Starring Les Paul and Mary Ford
50-11-16 Les Paul Show Starring Les Paul and Mary Ford
xx-xx-xx Les Paul Show (02) - The Gas Guitar
xx-xx-xx Les Paul Show (03) - The Les Paulverizer