Les Paul & Mary Ford on Omnibus (7min version with jokes)

[TheHornet79]

1:14 I wonder how much that mixer is worth on Ebay by now.

[crazyvideoshow]

pls someone tell me whats the last song they´re playing ? :O

[ZonieBill]

@crazyvideoshow I think it's "How High The Moon"

[UGLYPAPA]

Aaaaaaaammmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaazi­ng!!!

[lukpac]

FYI - those are not Ampex 200 machines, nor are they 1". They are 1/4" machines, probably Ampex 400.

Also, dubbing back and forth 24 times is not the same as a 24-track machine. Those were not introduced until 1968/9, as the Ampex MM-1000.

[fieldfullofthistles]

brill

[xijack]

He played live regularly right up to the end

[hifijohn]

please stick the mic right infront of les's hand when hes playing!

[fromthesidelines]

"OMNIBUS" was a live weekly Sunday afternoon "arts and culture" show on CBS, offering everything from historical drama {Royal Dano as Abraham Lincoln in a series of filmed vignettes about his early years, before he became President} to light comedy {Jack Benny in a condensed version of his famous movie "turkey", "The Horn Blows At Midnight"}, including musical demonstrations such as this, and Leonard Bernstein's "lectures" on classical and popular music.

[zekepig]

August 2020?  Someone's still playing these tracks one-by-one!

[jenzeppelin]

watching them perform together make one's heart burst with such a sweet feeling

[hotgoalie11565]

My guess it was a prototype of some sort. The pickups may be prototype P-90's that were on Gibson Les Pauls until about 1957.

[zellerauer1]

one of the best guitar palyer ever!!! R.I.P.

[steviemodouglas]

It's a standard Les Paul (now nicknamed a goldtop) guitar from 195X with a Bigsby tailpiece added and standard white P-XX (P-90s, I think) pickups. I have a 30th Anniversary model made in 1985 (without the tailpiece and white pickups).

[MikeyTSH]

@steviemodouglas correct sir, les pauls ORIGINALLY had the "trapeze" tailpiece, but moved onto the stop bridge around 57

[bondman00794]

Geez that man can play. RIP

[TEMPmichaelhansen]

les paul & mary ford transcends all music styles

[Juliaflo]

A to the MEN!!!!!!

[TEMPmichaelhansen]

cool

[strong1235]

Anyone know where I can get tubes for my Cinemafutzer? I put some heavy metal through it and it blew up 8-((

[2283124418]

I tend to agree with mstag, Les took credit for a lot of things, however, he was a great synthesizer of many things...Rheinheart's playing, multitrack recording and reinterpretations of old standards. The demo part of this video is a bit misleading as well. The full song is lip synched and mimed by Mary and Les-it's the relased song exactly. The demo was set up to show, somewhat, the process of overdubing. Les used two tape machines exactly as to not have to go back to bhe begining for mistakes.

[williamanesbitt]

So why did the Beatles, with all their millions to spend on recording technology, do all those recordings on four tracks, with all the silly sounding ping-ponging, where, for instance, the entire drum track would be on one side and all the vocals on the other? Doesn't make sense to me, when Les Paul was doing 24 tracks (granted, not stereo) more than a decade earlier?

[alcockell]

That wasn't the Beatles' or George Martin's fault. They mastered a lot of the early stuff in mono. Was only when Parlophone safety masters went across to Capitol - they insisted on a "stereo" mix. As they were 4-track mono masters, the only way to produce them was to pan whole instruments and voices hard to one side or the other.

It's only since the Remastered ones have come out have they managed to rework into true stereo mixes.

[lukpac]

@alcockell Your description of the Beatles' recordings is incorrect. The first two albums were recorded on 2-track, dubbing from one machine to another for overdubs. Not until I Want To Hold Your Hand did they utilize 4-track machines. And the stereo mixes had nothing to do with Capitol. They were produced by George Martin and released concurrently (or, a month later for Please Please Me) with the mono mixes in the UK. The first two albums are basically dubs of the 2-track session tapes.

[111sherman]

This is Robert Saudek's show, Omnibus... Alistair was the host...

[chrian31410]

Wow, this is the true origin of 24 track tape recording! Amazing! As a producer, this is just an amazing find.

[mstag]

When you have the rhythm track on machine A and you monitor it while recording a solo track on B, you won't screw up the A track - nothing was erased. Just rewind and do a new solo track. No need to start all over.

[wado1942]

"ignorang rumor that the basis of Les Paul & Mary Ford music is electronics"

Too bad that's not true anymore. My completely music illiterate room mate downloaded a free program off the internet and had a song done in a few minutes. It now takes NO talent to make music. Though I'll state that GOOD music at least still takes talent.

[elpresley]

@wado1942 : could you tell me what programm that is?

[wado1942]

@elpresley

I've never been into computer manufactured music so I don't remember. Sorry. It was about 10 years ago though.

What's even worse is now there's computer programs the write the music FOR you. You notice how all those "reality TV" shows' background music sounds the same, yet they're all different? You give the computer a set of rules to follow, and it can compose music automatically for a 1 hour TV show in 15 minutes.

[bumperstickerguy]

Les Paul was so far ahead of his time, it was scary!

[jumpemup78]

WONDERFUL

[ramtha9]

Les Paul and Mary Ford! Forefronts of the multi-track universe! Pay homage! What beautiful people! I bless them in multi-prayer-I-love-you-and-th­anks-4-everything- format.

[aminmatamin]

both (les-mary) really incredible & genius, thanks for posting

[bobbyguitar09]

Does anyone have this audio track called "Jungle Bells" by Les Paul & Mary ford, I believe this was recorded and issued in the 1950's. It's a beautiful song with a solid tempo. I just can't fine it anywhere.

[yfh10mg]

Yes,Les Paul was a genius,but if it wasn`t for the Germans at the AEG plant all these new record things had been impossible.The americans stole the ide when ww2 was over.

[pegbars]

To the victors go the spoils.

[1pollo1rabbit]

Amazing talent.Les paul and Mary Ford are the only reason why rock n roll even exists.

[johnbfield13]

I have been celebrating Les Paul's life since I first met him. That gave me the opportunity to appreciate all that he has done for music and technology and gives me great memories of him. We had one-on-one conversations in the middle of the night in a little NY nightclub just talking about all the the good days in his life and the people we both know. I never was successful in getting him his Kennedy Center Honor, but I sure tried. Yes, when Les passed, the music died again.

[EnragedSlash]

... 24 tracks?!? Les was a genius!! R.I.P. man

[LifetimeMusican]

26 with the 2 ongoing here :D thumbs up

[LUVTheMotels]

That is simply unreal!

Two people who can perform repeatedly on time.

Such talent they each possessed!

[leoseries]

Only an Englishman like Alistair Cooke could keep the joke going for so long, play the straight man so perfectly and then switch effortlessly into an intelligent interview..

[hebdag44]

Thanks for posting this. They made these complex recordings using technology that would be considered primitive today but in meant that they both had to have incredible timing ana a feel for a tune that has rarely been matched since.

[robbif]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

I searched for this a long time ago.

I remember seeing it LIVE..really!!!

[DesertBurst92]

impressive guitar ending

[oo1ooo1oo]

total mastery of one's technique - it's a beautiful thing

[colocoug]

These two absolutely personified both technical brilliance and performing virtuosity. Fantastic clip!

[Kalimon789]

Anyone who listens to modern music owes a debt to Les Paul

[julianozain]

Everyone who has an electric guitar hanging around his neck must`pay tribute to him.

[Fooblestheclown]

Fucking genius!!!!!!!!!!

[CusterFlux]

Monster Talents - Mary's ear is deadly, and Les' playing is incredible: wow.

[meeebit]

thank you les paul, but now we do that with a foot-pedal

[acbulgin2]

It's amazing how Les Paul simply added an additional playback head in front of the usual erase record playback heads and was able to monitor it and mix its signal with a new input signal to the record head, thus layering track upon track. Only problem: make a mistake, and you have to start all over. Hence the 2nd tape deck, to make a safety copy each time. Also, the sound quality started to falter after a bit. Then came multitrack tape decks.

[effectroid]

Incredible stuff, really. Appears to me that the guitar is a Les Paul prototype as the cord connects on the top surface and there are only two knobs!

[earthgirlvibes]

BRAVO!!!

[72gibson]

RIP Les. When they downed you for the electricity, you didn't cave. You gave us decades the Les Paul. Thank You.

[video7audio]

1953- quite ahead of the Beatles and George Martin...wonder what a Beatle album produced say anytime after 1964 by Les Paul would have sounded like?

What would Sgt. Pepper have sounded like in 1967 if produced by Les Paul?

[mishupanda]

God Bless you Les Paul. Thanks for your gift's of music and the electric guitar.

You are the real GUITAR HERO.

REST IN PEACE

[NIaItIhIaInI]

is that an amp then?

[alienhuman]

Amazing video saves from the past... what a bittersweet evening... watching his greatest... knowing he is gone.

[Juliaflo]

In the most loving memory of

Lester William Pollfuss, a/k/a Les Paul

1915-2009

[TerraCanailloTube]

Thanks for a lot of jazz, rock & roll and fun day & night

[imstarre]

i am so sad...vaya con dios

[IHeartKatyPerry]

Mary and Les are now together again, making beautiful music again!!!.. RIP LES!

[JAWZ15]

RIP man

you were an inspiration to everyone who knew anything about music

[aznickTube]

I had no idea...incredible video. Watching a pioneer demonstrate something he created decades ago and we all now take for granted.

[NeoClassicalManiac94]

R.I.P Les

[Bigpapamoumou31]

What a lucky man. His whole life has been enjoyable because of his love of music. And he's made himself eternal, we'll never forget him as long as the world's most famous guitar is sold to and played by some of the greatest.

[tonkehar]

Les Paul....way....way ahead of his time. Thank You Les Paul!

[argees]

Thank You!!!

[smokindog]

Mary was a pretty good guitar player also. This was done 4 years before I was born and is still very cool!!

[SheikhYerbubi]

This is history being made. First multilayered track!

[mabumanssur]

look at this huge thing, thank god today we have the protools.....

[sarisun1]

I hear Les still plays in NY.

[gspete1340]

Yep, he plays at the Iridium Club in NYC every Monday night - bloody fantastic!!

[llewesa]

"the rhythms in the guitars"Silver Beatles Liverpool 1960.This was their excuse when turning up for gigs without a drummer.Maybe they were thinking of these 2.

[roro1634]

wow! 7:12 totaly boss

[eaterdivine]

The Father of 20th Century Electric Guitar

heroes. Everyone else falls into line behind him. 'Respect' !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tullynewyork]

Unbelievable! Putting the shredders to shame at 6:41

[wa6tkq]

I've heard this recording of "How High the Moon" hundreds of times in the last 50 years and I've always wondered what the click sound is at 6:05.

[scottp02]

The click sound also appears at 6:35.  (I too have and still play this recording, hundreds of times since 1951.) They both appear (the snapping or cracking sound) on the original recordings I have on CD and were on my old 78s and 33s.

[Bigpapamoumou31]

That's Les tapping his foot.

[DailyBrusher]

_SO_ much of what we love in American music comes from Les Paul... and Mary Ford was no slouch! This actually brings tears to my eyes! I feel very, very fortunate to have shaken his arthritis-crippled right hand!

[GonzoGuyy]

Damn it's hard to believe that Les is still performing a weekly gig in NYC. At least according to his website. His genius still shines. I love this guy.

[hotgta]

I love the whey how people talk back in the 50's

[Barnekkid]

First time I've ever seen this, thanks so much for posting. I still get chills when I hear this song, especially to see Mary and Les performing it.

[opalasattic]

Oh, this is so COOL! Terrific post!

[singinjohnny]

INCREDIBLE video!!! What a classic! I grew up watching these two on television in the '50s. But I never saw this!!! Thank you, SO much, for uploading!

[mstag]

And he was no inventor - he took undue credit for the multitrack tape machine,an Ampex a concept, invention, and machine. He was a good musician but not very honest about his role in audio technology.

[DrBlowThingsUp]

@mstag did he not commission and help design the Ampex head? i just did an essay on him so it would be interesting to know if i was just lying for 1500 words lol

[lukpac]

@DrBlowThingsUp Paul told stories for years that he came up with the idea and design for the 8-track and had Ampex build it, but the truth is Ampex came up with the idea and brought it to Paul. The design was entirely that of Ampex.

I can't seem to post a link to the PDF, but search for this on Google:

Sel-Sync and the "Octopus" - Audio Engineering Society

That is the story of the development of the Ampex 8-track made for Les Paul.

[jefro0]

"he IS an inventor first, remember)."

This is incorrect. He and she are musicians first. They used technology to create new and different music.

Silly rabbit!

[ROUTE66OLDIES]

Long live "sound on Sound" recording

[patchcords]

Les Paul pioneered the technology of multitrack recording :)

Thanks for posting this clip!

[Morahman7vnNo2]

So Thats How They Did It.

[bergkamp48]

Ahhh...Omnibus...Sunday afternoon on CBS. Took an ex-pat Brit to capture the essence of American culture during the 1950's. From Les Paul to jazz to the classics...in the following half century broadcasting quantity has surely replaced quality.

[stephahahan]

amazing how they did it in those times. Now all you need is a computer and a keyboard.

[bergkamp48]

and some talent...

[purpledohboy]

wellllll...

[alcockell]

.. which software that simulates a multitrack tape deck.

[97036]

Thanks for posting, nice video :D

[oobleckboy]

Does anyone know what guitar Les Paul is using here? It is NOT a standard 4 dial, bottom plug Les Paul Gibson. Also, check out the tail piece (6:18) - strange.

[MusicIdiotSavante]

Probably one of the several custom made pieces he had made for him by Gibson, or perhaps one of his own design (he IS an inventor first, remember).

[silkee59]

It was one of his custom Les Pauls that he did work on notice the neck pickup is not a Gibson but a De Armond

[rentatrip1]

@oobleckboy

it is a 6 string solid body electric guitar - probably a Gibson