RaR3 – I’m Sittin’ on Top of the World
DIRECTIONS:
Listen to the recording of the tune by clicking the attached mp3 file. This will open the recording in a new window or tab. Listen and follow along with the listening guide in the book.
Read the liner notes below.
Read the information “What to Listen For”
Respond to the Rate-A-Record/Questions by clicking on the assignment link and then click on on the button “Write Submission” (to the right of Text Submission) to record your response. Do not use the comments field.
I’m Sitting on Top of the World by Les Paul & Mary Ford
In the early 1950s Les Paul and Mary Ford, his wife, and singing partner, were pop music superstars. Paul started his career as a country musician, but he also played with jazz giants like Coleman Hawkins and Art Tatum and was praised for his fluid technique, hard-swinging style, and lighthearted manner.
Les Paul is most celebrated today as a technological innovator. He is perhaps most famous for the Gibson Les Paul, the end result of his early tinkering with electronic amplification. He electrified his first guitar (a standard acoustic model) by attaching the pickup from a telephone receiver and a phonograph needle to the bridge of the instrument and then wiring the pickup to two radios, which he used for speakers. Early electric guitars often created ugly overtones and feedback; Paul figured out that if the instrument’s volume came from a pickup, the hollow body was unnecessary. He created an instrument he called the “Log”—a piece of pine with strings and a pickup attached. Audiences found it so disturbing that he had to attach carved pieces to the outside to make it resemble a conventional guitar; if anyone doubted the benefits of the solid-body instrument, he removed its disguise.
Paul also conducted the earliest known attempts at overdubbing; before the advent of tape recording, this involved precisely synching two turntables and recording the result on a disc-cutting lathe—an almost impossible task. He built a recording studio in his garage using simple equipment, and there produced hits for Andrews Sisters and Bing Crosby, experimenting with new techniques like close miking and echo delay. After World War II Paul gained access to a reel-to-reel tape recorder that had been taken from the Nazis; this new technology made overdubbing much simpler. Paul started producing records with layer upon layer of instruments and vocals, something he called the “New Sound.” His first hit with Mary Ford, “Lover,” involved eight overdubbed layers, and it was like nothing that had been heard before. The novelty of their sound, as well as Paul’s excellent guitar work and Ford’s graceful voice, propelled them to stardom; they not only had a number of hit records, but also a radio and TV show, Les Paul and Mary Ford at Home, that ran for seven years.
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR:
1. Mary Ford’s vocals – both in the melody and the background vocals.
2. Amazing guitar playing in many different roles (time-keeping, fills, solos, etc.)
RATE-A-RECORD/QUESTIONS TO ANSWER:
1. What is the technical significance of this recording?
2. Why is this artist important to know about? What did they contribute to the music industry?
3. Give it a rating: 0 = Bad, 100 = Awesome. Defend your number.
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APA
334 words