Mary Ford: The First Guitar Heroine

As a woman learning the guitar, I occasionally hear comments about how guys can play better than women, that it's really hard for girls to play, yadda, yadda, yadda. To which I say to all poppycock. There are tons of great female guitarists - Bonnie Raitt, Joan Jett, Nancy Wilson, Charo (yes, Charo as in Cuchi-Cuchi Charo...if you don't believe me, look her up on YouTube) and countless others. However, Mary Ford would probably have to be my pick for the first famous female guitarist and a quite smashing one at that. Mary was married to guitar player extraordinaire Les Paul and often sang while he played, so even I was surprised to learn she could pick up an ax. Here's one of the few times she was shown having a little duel between her and her husband, and she has no problem whatsoever keeping up. You go, girl! This is from the Colgate Comedy Hour.