Les Paul & Mary Ford on “Omnibus” (1953)
FANTASTIC!…First TV Demonstration Of Multi Track Audio Tape Recording
In this 1953 kinescope from “Omnibus”, Alistair Cooke hosts Les Paul and Mary Ford in a recreation of their 1951 hit “How High The Moon”. The song not only topped the ‘Top 40’ charts, but the ‘R&B’ charts too, which was another first.
Although Les and Mary had released a few other multi tracked songs, which were well received, those were done with discs and not tape. Using the disc method was difficult and tedious, with one track at a time being added as the previous compilation of tracks was played back and re-recorded with each new part.
In 1947, Bing Crosby brought Les an Ampex 200 tape recorder to play with, and the rest is history. I am attaching two excellent links that go into great detail about the process and the string of discoveries, so make sure you take a look and a listen.
http://www.les-paul.com/timeline/sound-on-sound/
At the bottom of this page, there is an embedded video of Les recording “Brazil” on the discs, and when the pop up screen appears, click the play button at the bottom and the + and – controls to add or remove tracks.
http://www.soundonsound.com/people/classic-tracks-les-paul-mary-ford-how-high-moon
At this link, you’ll find a great history, most in Les’ own words, that take you from the start, all the way through the 8 track machines and more.
Finally, this clip came to my attention while watching the great PBS series “Soundbreaking” which has so far aired 4 of the 8 episodes (nightly) and I can’t wait for the rest.
By the way…notice in this video clip, the whole thing starts out with a prop given credit for the way the recording system works. That part is pure Les Paul. He was a joker and all around great guy. ENJOY and SHARE! -Bobby Ellerbee
I saw this on a PBS show this week, “Soundbreaking.” If you’re into how recorded music is created & designed & this series is on your local PBS station (or website) check it out!
Anyone who’s ever done this sort of overdubbing and phasing (as we called it back in the day) knows that it’s a hit and miss proposition. Demonstrating it on live TV as they did hear takes more faith in technology than I would have had…even fifteen years later.
I am totally enthralled by “Soundbreaking” I am going to buy the Blu-ray Discs even the budget permits.
Thank you for alerting us ( me ) to this series it is just great
I ran across this a couple years ago with Jeff Beck and Imelda May using Les Paul’s techniques, I totally adore Imelda May https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAUAAn46ji0
just saw this on the PBS docu. Soundbreaking. Great so far.
Terrific!
Pure genius.
Great share, thank you!