Mary Ford and Les Paul

Mary Ford ,original name Iris Colleen Summers,was born on July 7, 1924, in Pasadena, CA. Mary Ford is best known for one-half of a husband-wife musical duo, the other half being Les Paul.

Les Paul,original name Lester William Poifus,has had such a staggeringly huge influence over the way American popular music sounds today that many tend to overlook his significant impact upon the jazz world.

Mary Ford teamed with Paul in 1946 and they married in 1949. In 1964 they broke up, both personally and professionally; Mary Ford went into retirement. Les Paul continued to perform and act as a consultant for Gibson guitars.

Between the years 1950-54, Les Paul and Mary Ford had 16 top-ten hits. They had five top-ten hits within nine months. "Tennessee Waltz", "Mockin' Bird Hill", "How High the Moon" ( #1 for nine weeks), "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise" and "Whispering". From August 1952 to March 1953 they had five more top-ten hits; "My Baby's Coming Home", "Lady of Spain", "Bye Bye Blues", "I'm Sitting on Top of the World" and "Vaya Con Dios" (#1 for 11 weeks).