LES And MARY Are The Hit Makers!

Original released on LP Capitol H 416 (US 1953)

and on LP cAPITOL T 416 (US, 1955)

Having turned his creative energies back to the singles market until 1955, Les Paul's only album entry for 1953 was a roundup of his most successful hit singles of the early 1950s. Here is where an LP fan could find Paul and Ford's astonishing rendering of "How High the Moon," and now considered a classic take on jazz's national anthem, along with "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise," "Mockin' Bird Hill," a wacky "Tiger Rag," and four other concise, imaginative examples of Paul's ability to construct perfectly proportioned hit singles out of nothing but his guitar and Ford's sultry voice. The sleeper of the bunch is the nearly forgotten "Meet Mr. Callaghan" in a sublime arrangement. For their biggest smash "Vaya con Dios" and three other later hits, record buyers had to wait until 1956 for the 12-inch version to come out. (Richard S. Ginell in AllMusic)