Mary Ford (1,848 views)

[Baronessa]

Iris Colleen Summers (7 July 1924 - 30 September 1977)
Member of: Les Paul & Mary Ford (1951 - 1964)
Vocal Range: B2 - A5

As a vocal presence Mary Ford exuded a sort of delicate cool few female singers could in her day. Undoubtedly in-part due to her then-husband and collaborator Les Paul's insistence on using pioneering multi-tracking techniques that enabled Mary to explore avenues in singing without having to exert herself more than she needed for a particular part. While it may be hard to pick out some of her harmonies due to the recording quality of the time, Mary did not shy away from either high or low parts despite her restrained lead vocal approach, and executed all of them with the same unflappable calmness that gave her voice a sort of power in itself.

Throughout her unfortunately short discography very little change in Mary's approach can be observed, with the exception of her low notes becoming more prominent towards the end of her musically active years; Mary and Les being determined to ride out their tenure in the spotlight with churning out hits with their unconventional country-infused traditional pop style alone, it arguably might have caused them to sit on much of Mary's untapped potential. But, regardless of lengthy speculations as to what Mary could have gotten up to after divorcing her collaborator, what does exist is a string of sixteen hits over the course of less than a decade, which more or less can heard to be a blueprint in female pop singing from the likes of Madonna to Karen Carpenter -- an influence hard to cast aside as anything less than momentous in the history of popular music.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Vocal Range Timeline}Les Paul & Mary Ford:
Les Paul's New Sound, Vol. 2 (1951): C3 - E♭5
Bye Bye Blues (1952): D3 - A5
The Hit Makers! (1953): C♯3 - C♯5
Les and Mary (1955): C♯3 - C♯5
Time to Dream (1956): C♯3 - G4
Lovers' Luau (1959): N/A^[1a]
Bouquet of Roses (1962): B2 - G♯4
Warm & Wonderful (1962): C♯3 - G4
Swingin' South!! (1963): D3 - C5
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[1] Inapplicable albums
a. Instrumental albums

Significant High Notes:

A5 ("It's a Lonesome Old Town")
E5 ("Wonderful Rain")
E♭5 ("I Can't Give You Anything but Love")
D5 ("Bye Bye Blues", "Frankie and Johnny")
C♯5 ("All Night Long", "How High the Moon", "Just One of Those Things", "Mockingbird Hill (Tra La La Twittle De Dee Dee)", "Tiger Rag", "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise")
C5 ("Fantasy", "I Just Don't Understand", "I'm a Fool to Care", "In the Good Old Summertime", "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise")
B4 ("At the Save-a-Penny Super Store", "Bye Bye Blues", "Don't Cha Hear Them Bells", "Frankie and Johnny", "I Can't Give You Anything but Love", "I'm Movin' On", "St. Louis Blues")
B♭4 ("All Night Long", "At the Save-a-Penny Super Store", "Baby, Won't You Please Come Home", "The Best Things in Life Are Free", "Blues Stay Away from Me", "Bye Bye Blues", "Mockingbird Hill (Tra La La Twittle De Dee Dee)", "The Moon of Manakoora", "Nuevo Laredo", "Some of These Days", "Tennessee Waltz", "Tiger Rag")
A4 ("The Big Cry", "Blues Stay Away from Me", "Don't Cha Hear Them Bells", "Hummingbird", "How High the Moon", "I Just Don't Understand", "It's a Lonesome Old Town", "Jura (I Swear I Love You)", "Just One of Those Things", "Trouble in Mind", "Whither Thou Goest", "Your Cheatin' Heart")
G♯4 ("All Night Long", "The Best Things in Life Are Free", "Hummingbird", "I Am My Love's", "I Love You So Much It Hurts Me", "I Really Don't Want to Know", "I'm Movin' On", "I'm Sitting on Top of the World", "Jealous Heart", "Just One More Chance", "Just One of Those Things", "Lonesome Road", "Mockingbird Hill (Tra La La Twittle De Dee Dee)", "Smoke Rings", "Some of These Days", "St. Louis Blues", "Whither Thou Goest", "Wonderful Rain")
G4 ("At the Save-a-Penny Super Store", "Baby, Won't You Please Come Home", "The Best Things in Life Are Free", "Fantasy", "Four Walls", "Goodnight, Irene", "I'm a Fool to Care", "I'm Sitting on Top of the World", "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes", "In the Good Old Summertime", "It's Been a Long, Long Time", "Jura (I Swear I Love You)", "Moonlight and Shadows", "Nuevo Laredo", "This Is It", "Worried Mind", "You Win Again", "Your Cheatin' Heart")
F♯4 ("Am I Blue", "The Big Cry", "Call on Me", "Falling in Love With Love", "Farewell (For Just a While)", "Four Walls", "Frankie and Johnny", "I Am My Love's", "I Can't Give You Anything but Love", "I Gotta Have My Baby Back", "I Love You So Much It Hurts Me", "I Really Don't Want to Know", "I'll Never Be Free", "I'm Movin' On", "Jealous", "Jealous Heart", "Just One More Chance", "Lonely Guitar", "Lonesome Road", "Moonlight and Shadows", "My Baby's Comin' Home", "My Silent Love", "She'll Have to Go", "Trouble in Mind", "Wonderful Rain", "Worried Mind", "You're Free to Go")

Significant Low Notes:

G♯3 ("Baby, Won't You Please Come Home", "Blues Stay Away from Me", "A Cottage for Sale", "Hummingbird", "I Can't Give You Anything but Love", "I Love You So Much It Hurts Me", "I Really Don't Want to Know", "Just One More Chance", "Lies", "Lonesome Road", "Mockingbird Hill (Tra La La Twittle De Dee Dee)", "She'll Have to Go", "Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You)", "Some of These Days", "St. Louis Blues", "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", "That Old Feeling", "Tiger Rag", "Vaya Con Dios", "Whither Thou Goest", "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise", "You Call It Madness (But I Call It Love)")
G3 ("Am I Blue", "At the Save-a-Penny Super Store", "The Big Cry", "Bye Bye Blues", "Come Back to Me", "A Cottage for Sale", "'Deed I Do", "Don't Cry Baby", "Fantasy", "Four Walls", "Goodnight, Irene", "I Just Don't Understand", "I'm Sitting on Top of the World", "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes", "In the Good Old Summertime", "It's a Lonesome Old Town", "June in January", "The Moon of Manakoora", "My Silent Love", "Prisoner of Love", "This Is It", "The World Stands Still", "Worried Mind", "You Win Again")
F♯3 ("All Night Long", "Don't Cha Hear Them Bells", "Falling in Love With Love", "Frankie and Johnny", "I Gotta Have My Baby Back", "I'll Never Be Free", "I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)", "I'm Movin' On", "Jealous", "Jealous Heart", "Lonely Guitar", "Lonesome Road", "Mockingbird Hill (Tra La La Twittle De Dee Dee)", "Moonlight and Shadows", "My Baby's Comin' Home", "My Silent Love", "St. Louis Blues", "Trouble in Mind", "Wonderful Rain", "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (And Dream Your Troubles Away)", "You're Free to Go")
F3 ("Baby, Won't You Please Come Home", "The Best Things in Life Are Free", "Blues Stay Away from Me", "Bouquet of Roses", "Bye Bye Blues", "'Deed I Do", "Goodnight, Irene", "How Deep Is the Ocean", "I Can't Give You Anything but Love", "I Hang My Head and Cry", "I'm a Fool to Care", "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes", "Just One of Those Things", "Lies", "Lonely Guitar", "The Moon of Manakoora", "Nuevo Laredo", "Smoke Rings", "Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You)", "Some of These Days", "Tennessee Waltz", "Tiger Rag", "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise", "Your Cheatin' Heart")
E3 ("All Night Long", "At the Save-a-Penny Super Store", "The Big Cry", "Bouquet of Roses", "Call on Me", "Don't Cha Hear Them Bells", "End of the World", "Falling in Love With Love", "Farewell (For Just a While)", "Hummingbird", "How Deep Is the Ocean", "How High the Moon", "I Am My Love's", "I Gotta Have My Baby Back", "I Love You So Much It Hurts Me", "I Really Don't Want to Know", "I'll Never Be Free", "I'm a Fool to Care", "I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)", "I'm Movin' On", "In the Good Old Summertime", "It's a Lonesome Old Town", "It's Been a Long, Long Time", "Jealous", "Jealous Heart", "June in January", "Jura (I Swear I Love You)", "Lonesome Road", "Moonlight and Shadows", "My Silent Love", "Nuevo Laredo", "Prisoner of Love", "That Old Feeling", "Vaya Con Dios", "Whither Thou Goest", "Wonderful Rain", "The World Stands Still", "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (And Dream Your Troubles Away)", "You Call It Madness (But I Call It Love)", "You Win Again")
E♭3 ("At the Save-a-Penny Super Store", "Baby, Won't You Please Come Home", "The Best Things in Life Are Free", "A Cottage for Sale", "I Hang My Head and Cry", "I Really Don't Want to Know", "I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)", "Just One More Chance", "Just One of Those Things", "Lies", "Lonely Guitar", "She'll Have to Go", "Smoke Rings", "St. Louis Blues", "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", "Tennessee Waltz", "Whither Thou Goest")
D3 ("Am I Blue", "Call on Me", "Come Back to Me", "Don't Cry Baby", "End of the World", "Farewell (For Just a While)", "Four Walls", "Frankie and Johnny", "I'm a Fool to Care", "I'm Sitting on Top of the World", "It's Been a Long, Long Time", "Jealous Heart", "June in January", "Jura (I Swear I Love You)", "Prisoner of Love", "Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You)", "That Old Feeling", "This Is It", "Trouble in Mind", "The World Stands Still", "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (And Dream Your Troubles Away)", "You Win Again", "You're Free to Go", "Your Cheatin' Heart")
C♯3 ("Am I Blue", "Bouquet of Roses", "Come Back to Me", "Four Walls", "How High the Moon", "I Am My Love's", "I Gotta Have My Baby Back", "Jealous", "Just One of Those Things", "My Baby's Comin' Home", "She'll Have to Go", "Smoke Rings", "You Call It Madness (But I Call It Love)")
C3 ("Fantasy", "The Moon of Manakoora", "This Is It")
B2 ("I Love You So Much It Hurts Me")
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• Bold marks outstanding passages.
• Underlines mark obscured notes.