Gibson Mary Ford Les Paul Standard

Born Iris Colleen Summers on July 7, 1924, Mary Ford was an accomplished guitarist, vocalist, and actress who was among the biggest recording artists of the early 1950s. Through her career in country music and her connections with Gene Autry and Eddie Dean, she developed a musical partnership with Gibson icon Les Paul that led to their marriage in 1949. In 1951 alone, the duo sold over six million records, and between 1950 and 1954, they recorded a string of 16 top-ten hits that showcased Mary’s rich, smooth voice, complex, perfectly executed harmonies that she sang along with herself through multi-track recording and overdubbing (a ground-breaking recording technique for the time), and versatile guitar playing that seamlessly blended country, jazz, and pop. In 1951, Mary and Les influenced the design of the ES-295 hollowbody with a custom order, which Mary often used.