- Clinton Ford (singer)
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Clinton Ford Birth name Ian George Stopford Harrison Born 4 November 1931
Salford, Lancashire, EnglandDied 21 October 2009 (aged 77)
Isle of ManGenres Skiffle, trad jazz, country and western, traditional pop music[1] Occupations Singer Instruments Vocals Years active Late 1950s-early 2000s Labels Oriole
PiccadillyClinton Ford (4 November 1931 – 21 October 2009) was an English popular singer of the 1950s and 1960s.
Contents
Biography
He was born Ian George Stopford Harrison, in Salford, Lancashire.[1][2]
Initially, he worked as a laboratory assistant, but in 1957 became a Butlins Redcoat in Pwllheli,[1] and worked there for three summer seasons.[3] During the winter season he sang with the group called 'Merseysippi' at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, recording several songs with them including "Get Out and Get Under".
He began his recording career as Clinton Ford with the Oriole record label, changing his name because his own did not fit some of his American songs. He performed skiffle in a band called the 'Backwoods Skiffle Group' and also recorded some singles with the 'Hallelujah Skiffle Group', but these were unsuccessful. He did appear at the Royal Albert Hall, and with Ken Dodd on Dodd's television shows. He also appeared later in Stars and Garters, The Billy Cotton Band Show and The Good Old Days.
Ford had his chart success in 1959, with a cover of the Red Foley's song "Old Shep"; albeit for just one week.[1] Ford donated his royalties from "Old Shep" to the Battersea Dogs' Home, so he made nothing from this high-selling record.[4] Nevertheless, Ford had the only version of this famous song ever to appear in the UK Singles Chart.[1] Unable to give up chasing the musical fads of the time, his next chart entry was "Too Many Beautiful Girls" in a trad jazz style, and for his biggest hit he turned to the music hall days of George Formby, who had recorded "Fanlight Fanny" in 1935.[1][2] This led to an eponymous album that reached number 16 in the UK Albums Chart in May 1962.[1][5] After touring for a while with Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen, he returned for a stint at Liverpool's Cavern Club, to find that the market for trad jazz and country and western styled novelties had been replaced by the beat music of a certain local band called The Beatles.[1]
His career outlasted many of his contemporaries, with his singles appearing in the UK charts over a span of more than eight years. He was also in great demand on BBC Radio programmes, such as Saturday Club where a live singer was required, to sing standards and also covers of current hit songs. In April 1963, a BBC manager complained that Ford seemed to be on nearly every radio show and demanded an investigation. As a result, practically every producer in the Corporation stopped using him.[4]
After recording for Columbia Records, in 1966 Ford changed record label to Piccadilly Records. In 1967 "Run To The Door" again made the UK chart,[5] and other singles including "Dandy" and "This Song Is Just For You" were released. In 1968 Ford made a comic album with George Chisholm and the Inmates, Clinton The Clown, in a single all-night session. The album included the innuendo-laden "My Baby's Wild About My Old Trombone", which was written for Ford, and "The Old Bazaar in Cairo" which Ford co-wrote with Charlie Chester.[4]
He set up a guest house with his wife on the Isle of Man but continued to tour throughout the 1980s and 1990s. BBC Radio 2's veteran DJ, Brian Matthew, who was best man at Ford's wedding, revealed on his Sounds of the 60s show, on 10 March 2007, that Ford was living on the Isle of Man but was seriously ill, unable to work and bed-ridden.
Clinton Ford died on 21 October 2009.[6] He is survived by his wife, Margaret (Maggie) (née Worsfold) whom he married in 1962, and four children, Georgina, Susannah, Becky and Ian.[6]
Ford's track "Dance With a Dolly (With a Hole in Her Stocking)" was chosen by the television producer, Anne Wood, as one of her Desert Island Discs in October 2011.[7]
Discography
Selected singles
- "Old Shep" (1959) – UK No.27
- "Too Many Beautiful Girls" (1961) – UK No.48
- "Fanlight Fanny" (1962) – UK No.22
- "Run To The Door" (1967) – UK No.25
- "The Last One to Say Goodnight" WB 7182
Albums
- Clinton Ford (1962) – UK No.16
- Listen With Us (1965)
- Clinton The Clown (1968) with George Chisholm (Pye 182010)
- Songs For Children Aged One to a Hundred (1969) Marble Arch Records[5]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Biography by Sharon Mawer". Allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p768183/biography. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
- ^ a b 45-rpm.org.uk – accessed 4 July 2009
- ^ The Times 20 October 2009 -Accessed 29 Oct 2009
- ^ a b c Obituary The Independent 23 October 2009 – Accessed 29 October 2009
- ^ a b c d Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 207. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ a b Laing, Dave (22 October 2009). "Obituary of Clinton Ford". The Guardian (UK). http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/oct/22/clinton-ford-obituary. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
- ^ Anne Wood - Desert Island Discs at bbc.co.uk
- ^ Discogs.com – accessed November 2009
External links
Categories:- 1931 births
- 2009 deaths
- English male singers
- People from Salford
- Skiffle
- Music from Salford
- Musicians from Manchester
- Butlins Redcoats
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