Les Paul Albums (9)
'California Melodies'
Release Date 12/9/2003
Tracks 20
Label Collectors' Choice Music
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Les Paul was a guitar innovator before Chet Atkins learned his first three chords, but somehow, he never could match Mr. Guitar's publicity. California Melodies travels back to the mid-'40s when Paul and his trio appeared on a radio program of the same name with Frank DeVol & His Orchestra. The introductions to each song on these radio transcriptions are a bit cheesy ("Maybe swing is a whole lot older than we think it is"), and the orchestra -- when it chimes in -- pretty much turns the quartet's music into easy listening. But when Paul, rhythm guitarist Cal Gooden, bassist Clint Nordquist, and pianist Tommy Todd are left on their own, they do swing. The song selection is smart, including now accepted standards like "All of Me," "Oh, Lady Be Good," and "Ain't Misbehavin'." There are also interesting oddities like Tchaikovsky's "Andante Cantible" and Duke Ellington's "Caravan." Paul's a nifty guitarist who fits comfortably within the electric school of jazz following Charlie Christian's innovations in the late '30s and early '40s. California Melodies also includes four bonus cuts that were taken from various radio shows -- the Bing Crosby's Kraft Music Hall, the Andy Russell Show -- in 1945. For jazz guitar buffs and anyone addicted to the great standards of '30s and '40s jazz, California Melodies is a fun romp. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., All Music Guide
'The Guitar Artistry of Les Paul'
Release Date 6/8/1993
Tracks 10
Label One Way
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Chester and Lester went at it again in Nashville after the success of their first encounter, and the results are just about as marvelous. Reportedly, there was a lot of tension at these sessions, with Les being in a particularly foul mood and suffering from a cold, but it didn't seem to affect the splendid playing on tunes like "Limehouse Blues," and the rollicking "It Don't Mean a Thing" and nine others. The tension may have given a bit of a real-life edge to the hilarious mutual joshing of "I'm Your Greatest Fan," but who can say? The choice of tunes again falls mostly in Paul's territory, with old standbys like "Over the Rainbow," "Brazil" and "I Surrender Dear," but Atkins gets in Ralph Flanagan's lovable "Hot Toddy," and there is even a countrified take on Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Meditation." Atkins suavely handles both acoustic and electric guitars on the sessions, while Les' brittle, everywhere-at-once electric guitar is heard for the last time (so far) on a full-length album. Tracks from this album, along with those of Chester and Lester, can be heard on the CD Masters of the Guitar Together (Pair PDC-2-1230). ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Les Paul was coaxed briefly out of his musical retirement in 1967 to put together an album for London's audiophile Phase Four label -- and who better than this audio pioneer? But rather than use the opportunity to redefine himself as a progressive force in a different decade, Les meekly responded with a series of remakes of his earlier Capitol hits -- this time without the help of now-ex-wife Mary Ford. The tracks he originally recorded with Mary are rearranged completely for multiple guitars; only the spectacular "Tennessee Waltz" gains in the translation. The solo tracks for Capitol are remade with all kinds of fascinating stereo effects, but, with the exception of "Caravan," otherwise follow the original blueprints with a few embellishing touches. The only two bits of new material are credited to a writer named Manners: "The System," which went nowhere as a single, is a rare example of Les playing rock & roll, and "Los Angeles" is just a rewrite of Les' hit "Meet Mr. Callaghan." While it was nice to find Les back in action at the time, this record sounds like warmed-over goods. This album was re-released under the title Multi-Trackin'. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Les Paul and Mary Ford's second trip to Nashville is far more invigorating than their first, a grittier immersion into the country music universe with a slight touch of rock & roll besides. Paul's involvement is far more evident here; his spectacular guitar and fuzz-tone effects are a match for the buzzing harmonicas and swaggering basslines, and there is more evidence of his trademark sound-on-sound layerings. Ford too sounds more deeply involved with the material and the tougher backings; she even offers a bit of a down-home growl. The high point of this album -- and Paul's Columbia period in general -- is his own jangly, madly swinging Saturday night whoop-de-do, "Les' Country Blues" (later adapted into a song "So Long Baby, Goodbye" that didn't emerge until 1991 on Capitol's The Legend and the Legacy box). Indeed, five of the 12 tunes here are by Paul, all of them interesting, a burst of creativity unprecedented for him on an album and not even approached since. Alas, this highly spirited outing would be Paul and Ford's last album together, as they began divorce proceedings later in 1963. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Les Paul and Mary Ford try to take their driftin'-and-dreamin' ballad style of the Silent '50s into the Swinging '60s, where all of the gleaming stereo sound cannot hide the stark fact that the formula had already been stretched very thin. The menu is mostly time-worn standards and other artifacts from then-dying Tin Pan Alley. The tempos are languorous, and Ford's vocals have little of the soul of her best, more fragile Capitol recordings; Paul is always worth hearing for his imaginative curling around the vocals, urbane harmonic sense, and quirky bent notes, and there is a nice nostalgic moment when they do a spangled remake of "It's a Long, Long Time" (his No. 1 hit with Bing Crosby) for the Space Age. Collectors' note: the whole album was also issued on 33 1/3 RPM 7-inch singles as part of an attempt to launch that instantly doomed format. Taken all by itself, this is a lovely record but there is a lot of better Les Paul and Mary Ford vinyl to be heard, even from their waning days at Columbia. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Funny that history should repeat itself so blatantly, for as was the casse with Decca, Les Paul's first album for Columbia was -- surprise -- a Hawaiian album. Whose idea it was is not clear, but the sequel is only intermittently satisfying, despite the advances in recording technique (this was Les Paul's first released stereo recording). Five of the 12 tunes are retreads from the Decca album, if anything even more leisurely in tempo and lazy in feeling. While side one is rather down and dreary, Paul's gleaming tone, still-savvy selection of notes, a few gee-whiz glissandos, reverb effects and lively jazz-inflected solos on side two enliven potentially deadly tunes like "On the Beach at Waikiki" and "My Little Grass Shack." Although Mary Ford is given co-billing, her singing is relegated to occasional wordless, overdubbed choral vocals in the background, although it is possible that she is playing rhythm guitar (she was actually a fine overlooked guitarist in her own right). ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
It was a confusing time to be in the record business in the mid-'50s, as this 16-selection album could be found as a single 12-inch LP, two 10-inch LPs, two 45 RPM double albums, four 45 RPM single albums, and it has been spotted on 78s too. Not only were the formats diversified, so was the repertoire -- to a degree extreme even for the free-thinking Les Paul. Alone and/or with Mary Ford, Paul plays with pop standards ("On the Sunny Side of the Street," "Just One of Those Things"), old jazz ("Twelfth Street Rag"), Berlin cabaret-vintage Kurt Weill ("Moritat" a.k.a. "Mack the Knife," which Paul at first tried to copyright under his own name as "Theme from Laughing Eyes"!), gospel ("Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"), Brazilian samba ("Tico Tico"), even a recent country hit like Hank Snow's "I'm Movin' On." Sometimes one gets the feeling that Paul and Ford were beginning to reach the limits of their hit formula, but the energy of "Tico" and Ford's spirited choral belting of "I'm Movin' On" have plenty of the old pizzazz. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
By 1952, Les Paul was already thinking in terms of album concepts; hence this often-soulful collection of genuine blues, or songs with blues in their titles. As a result, the tempos are mostly relaxed, with Paul giving himself ample opportunity to bend notes to his heart's content and exercise his jazz instincts more than he usually does on his Capitol records. The exceptions to the down-and-out feeling are, ironically, the upbeat hit title track, which professes to blow the blues away, and the spectacular "Mammy's Boogie," a single-line boogie blues transformed by echo into an electronic shooting gallery. The 12-inch version added older tracks like "Jazz Me Blues" and "Walkin' and Whistlin' Blues," which fit the concept, and "It's a Lonesome Old Town" and "Smoke Rings," which are a stretch. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide
