Ted Ford

American soul singer, and artist. Born: 21 January 1948 in Montgomery, Alabama, USA. Died: 23 September 2019 in Montgomery, Alabama, USA (aged 71). Ted Ford is the recordings stage name of Horace Henry Ellis. A hero of Ford's was Joe Tex, and it was while opening for Tex at a Montgomery, Alabama club that he was talent spotted by Charles Cassandra "Buddy" Spears, who became his manger. Both names feature on For's first 45 for Gaye in the mid 1960s. Although "Hold On To The Key" is the track dancers want, the slow bluesy deep of "You Don’t Love Me" is arguably superior. One of the very best sides released on the cult Atlanta label, Ford's voice is suitably downbeat over subdued horns and a chanting girl chorus. It's local Georgia success brought about interest from Atlantic via their field man Joe Galkin, but Buddy Spears passed on the offer. Ford's cuts for SS7, recorded at Chips Moman’s AGP studios, were equally as good, with the tricksy and superbly arranged "Pretty Girls Everywhere", along with "She’s Gonna Come Back", a very well crafted ballad. But Ford's second outing for Richbourg is the killer, with the pounding uptempo number "You're Gonna Need Me" propelled by some great bass work from Tommy Cogbill being first class, while the other side's "Please Give Me Another Chance" a deep soul treasure; from the desperate pleading that he brought to his performance, to the lovely piano fills, and the way the emotional screw is turned up during the bridge and the late entrance of the horn section being quite brilliant. He also cut some unissued sides at Willie Mitchell's studio around the turn of the 1960s, before recording his very best 45 at Fame. The dance side "Real Soul" is what has pushed up the price of his Budd single, but it is the brilliance of the top side "I Can't Give You Up" that makes the release special. Hearing the wonderful piano fills of Clayton Ivey, Freeman Brown's fine drumming, and those classic Muscle Shoals horns, along with Ford's almost manic desperation in his most heart wrenching vocal performance. Other's were cut at Fame while he was there, but sadly the tapes seem to have been lost. By 1971 Ford was in LA, hanging around with people like Bobby Womack and Joe Hicks, but it would be a few years until his next 45 came out. The more dance orientated "I Wanna Be Near You" (1975) on his own Stallion label, was picked up by President in the UK to be issued on their Barak label in 1977. The track featured the cream of the LA session players at the time, plus Fred Wesley's horn section and Ford's own lead guitar. Subsequently, rights to his material were picked-up by Paul Mooney's Ardent company, who released what was to be Ford's final single in 1980. Buddy Spears passed away in 2001, while Ford was still going strong back home in Alabama where he preached in a Montgomery church until his death in 2019.