With a head of shocking red hair and ever a joke on his lips, guitarist “Red Hot Red” began his lifelong musical career early, joining Rube Tronson's Texas Cowboys at 17 years old. The creative and colorful young country-western guitarist would soon be better known as “Rhubarb Red.”  Playing country and western swing music by day and haunting Chicago’s Jazz-era music halls by night, Red began sharpening his Jazz skills (notably influenced by legendary Gypsey Jazz guitarist Django Rheinhardt). Now using a shortened version of his birth name (Lester Polsfuss), Les Paul gained a name for himself as a gifted Jazz player in the Chicago area. 

At 28 years old, Paul was called to serve his country in the Armed Forces Radio Network, backing popular singers such as the Andrews Sisters and Bing Crosby, as well as playing the inaugural “Jazz at the Philharmonic” concert featuring Nat King Cole. Paul’s experience with the trio of singers—and especially his work and friendship with Crosby played a decisive role in Les Paul’s industry-shaping and ahead-of-its-time sound and style. 

Les Paul’s 1948 single, “Lover,” is the first recording to showcase the New Sound Les Paul had been chasing. Despite the song's whimsical sound, there was nothing funny about the recording process. “Lover” was not just remarkably challenging to create with the equipment available in the late 1940s —it was impossible. However, that didn’t stop Les Paul. The otherworldly guitar sounds and multi-layered “sound on sound” studio techniques Paul used to create “Lover” are the result of years of tinkering—and occasionally forcing gear to behave beyond its design limitations. 

Before “Lover” was released, its “Space age” sounds, textures, and tones existed only in Paul’s imagination. In an era before reel-to-reel tape (or multitracking), Les transformed his guitar into an orchestra of melody, harmony, and rhythm with pinpoint precision, using only his modified straight-to-disc recording lathe, determination, and ingenuity.

The sound Paul coaxed from his electrified archtop was so unique that it left other guitarists wondering how he achieved such complex and fresh guitar sounds. Music lovers even asked if they were indeed listening to a guitar at all. In some sections of the song, Paul's guitar parts are sped up to achieve notes that are well above the guitar's normal range. Other sections feature multi-layered arpeggios that create a sound reminiscent of a spaced-out guitar orchestra as a counterpoint to the melody. All told, the bass, rhythm, complex harmony, and melodies that complete the instrumental track total an astounding 37 sound-on-sound layers of Les’s guitar.  

The first opportunity came in the form of cutting-edge technology discovered in post-war Germany. The reel-to-reel tape recorder enabled pre-recorded music to achieve sound fidelity comparable to that of a live broadcast. Compared to the straight-to-disk recording method used before 1950, the leap in audio quality is nothing less than game-changing. For producers and headline stars (like Bing Crosby, who invested heavily in the new tech), it’s a dream come true. It means enhanced sound quality, reduced time spent in the broadcast studio, and increased revenue through pre-recorded programming for future and syndicated radio broadcasts.

For Les Paul and Mary Ford, the astounding (but expensive) recorder was the gateway to creating more well-defined and complex “new sound” recordings. More importantly, the much greater fidelity made it possible to apply the same multi-layer New Sound recording effect to Mary Ford's voice. It must have been a banner day when “Uncle Bing” dropped off a brand new reel-to-reel tape machine, saying, “Now you can perfect your multiple-track recordings.” That’s just what they did. Within no time, Paul had his tape recorder modified with an extra head to accommodate his sound-on-sound recording technique, ushering in the modern era of recording. 

With all the ingredients in place, including a recording contract with Capitol records, the stage is set, and the future is bright, but the job isn’t an easy one. Even with the modified tape machine, the duo is still limited to Paul’s innovative but challenging pre-multi-track era “sound-on-sound” recording method. The procedure takes the ability to perform with precise timing, take after take. Each part (sometimes exceeding 40 individual layers) requires careful pre-planning to determine a proper volume level before it's committed to tape. Not to mention, a single sour note (on, say, take #37) means scrapping everything and starting from the beginning again.  

Of course, that meant Mary Ford had the superhuman task of delivering “Andrews Sisters” style 4-part harmony vocals with the same inflections and timing, and perfectly in tune with a lead vocal track that she hadn’t even recorded yet. Long before today's commonly used digital pitch correction plug-ins (or even multitrack recorders), Ford’s vocal performances were consistently immaculate. A testimony to her natural talent and years of experience creating harmony with her voice and on the guitar.