Ford, real name Vincent Francis Guzzo, had been ill since a vehicle accident several years ago, which left him unable to walk.
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While neither of those recordings were hits, Caronna did convince Ford to record a Huey “Piano” Smith song, Sea Cruise, saying that it was ideal for his voice.
Although the vocalist and pianist never repeated the commercial success, he’d continued performing.
Mike Shepherd, executive director of the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame and longtime friend of Ford explains the singer had been confined to his bed over the summer (15) while fighting an undisclosed illness. After winning a local talent competition at the age of 12, his parents drove him to New York so that he could appear on The Ted Mack Amateur Hour. It was a black-white thing, ‘ Shepherd said.
Ford’s other songs included You Talk Too Much, Alimony, Time After Time, Whiskey Heaven and Roberta. “The producers understood the point: This is our music, this is Louisiana’s music, yet we’re letting them take it out of here and making a fortune with – I’ve got to say it – white guys”, Shepherd said.
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The catchy tune remained on the charts for 17 weeks and earned a 19-year-old Ford a gold record when it sold more than one million copies.
