Frankie Ford was one of the artists often referred to as being typical of “swamp rock” – the style of R&B and rock ’n’ roll that was associated with Louisiana and New Orleans during the late 1950s. Born in Gretna, Louisiana, across the Mississippi from New Orleans, he was playing in a band when he was spotted by an artist manager who took him to Johnny Vincent’s Ace label in Jackson, Mississippi.
For his second release, Vincent had him record the vocal for Huey ‘Piano’ Smith’s song Sea Cruise for which Smith had recorded the backing track, but was now away on tour. The record was a Top 20 pop and R&B hit, and Ford followed up with several smaller hits, before signing to the Imperial label. Ace released an LP by Ford, Let’s Take A Sea Cruise With Frankie Ford, before the singer moved to Imperial Records in late 1960. He recorded with producer Dave Bartholomew, and released a version of You Talk Too Much before his version of Boyd Bennett’s 1955 hit Seventeen became his last chart entry in 1961.
This 30-track CD comprises the A&B sides of all his singles on Ace, Vin and Imperial from these years, plus the tracks from Let’s Take A Sea Cruise With Frankie Ford not otherwise released on singles.
This collection includes Cheatin’ Woman, Alimony, Time After Time, Chinatown, My Southern Belle and Saturday Night Fish Fry, as well as his release on the Vin label entitled Morgus The Magnificent, which he recorded with Mac Rebennack (Dr. John) and Jerry Byrne, as Morgus & The 3 Ghouls He was an artist who very much typified the musical atmosphere of New Orleans in that era, and this is a comprehensive overview of his output during these years.
TRACKS
Disc 1 |
|
|
Track |
Title |
Artist |
1 |
Cheatin' Woman |
Frankie Ford |
2
|
Last One To Cry |
Frankie Ford |
3 |
Sea Cruise |
Frankie Ford |
4 |
Roberta |
Frankie Ford |
5 |
Alimony |
Frankie Ford |
6 |
Can't Tell My Heart (What To Do) |
Frankie Ford |
7 |
Time After Time |
Frankie Ford |
8 |
I Want To Be Your Man |
Frankie Ford |
9 |
Chinatown |
Frankie Ford |
10 |
What's Goin' On |
Frankie Ford |
11 |
Morgus The Magnificent |
Morgus & The 3 Ghouls |
12 |
The Lonely Boy |
Morgus & The 3 Ghouls |
13 |
You Talk Too Much |
Frankie Ford |
14 |
If You've Got Troubles |
Frankie Ford |
15 |
My Southern Belle |
Frankie Ford |
16 |
The Groom |
Frankie Ford |
17 |
Seventeen |
Frankie Ford |
18 |
Dog House |
Frankie Ford |
19 |
Love Don't Love Nobody |
Frankie Ford |
20 |
Saturday Night Fish Fry |
Frankie Ford |
21 |
Let 'Em Talk |
Frankie Ford |
22 |
What Happened To You |
Frankie Ford |
23 |
A Man Only Does (What A Woman Makes Him Do) |
Frankie Ford |
24 |
They Said It Couldn't Be Done |
Frankie Ford |
25 |
Danny Boy |
Frankie Ford |
26 |
It Must Be Jelly |
Frankie Ford |
27 |
Watchdog |
Frankie Ford |
28 |
Your Game Is Over |
Frankie Ford |
29 |
I'm Worried About You |
Frankie Ford |
30 |
Hour Of Need |
Frankie Ford |