Biografía de este/a artista
Jamaican Vincent "Tata" Ford will forever be linked with Bob Marley, since he is listed as writer or co-writer of four of Marley's songs, including the iconic "No Woman, No Cry" from the 1974 album Natty Dread and three songs, "Positive Vibration," "Roots Rock Reggae," and "Crazy Baldhead," from 1976's Rastaman Vibration. Ford was born at Spanish Town Road but moved to Kingston's Trench Town in the late '50s. He met Marley shortly after the singer also landed in Trench Town from his native St. Ann. Ford, wheelchair-bound after losing his legs to diabetes, became a sort of mentor for the teenaged Marley, feeding him and offering his semi-public kitchen at No. 3 First Street, known as the Casbah, as both a place to sleep and an all-night practice and rehearsal space for a nascent version of the Wailers. Whether Ford actually had a large hand in writing any of Marley's material is anyone's guess at this point, but one theory is that assigning Ford co-writing credit on the pieces in question was Marley's way of helping out a friend who had so often helped him. Ford himself was enigmatic on the subject, never saying directly what kind of role he might have played in Marley's creative process. The whole matter sparked a court battle in the 1980s between Marley's former publisher, Danny Sims, and his widow, Rita Marley, with Sims asserting that Marley simply attached Ford's name to the songs to escape contract obligations. The jury in 1987 did not agree, and the Marley estate has retained control over the disputed songs. However the compositions were written, Ford was, at the very least, an inspiration to the young singer and songwriter. Ford died on December 28, 2008, in St. Andrew at the age of 68. ~ Steve Leggett
Ciudad natal
Kingston, Jamaica
Género
Reggae