Frankie Ford

Biography

Frankie Ford(bornVincent Francis Guzzo, Jr.; August 4, 1939 – September 28, 2015) was an American rock and roll and rhythm and blues singer, best known for his 1959 hit "Sea Cruise". He was born in Gretna, Louisiana, across the Mississippi River from New Orleans, and was the adopted son of Vincent and Anna Guzzo, who named him Vincent Francis Guzzo, Jr. He learned to sing and dance at an early age, and when at high school joined a group, the Syncopators, as singer and pianist. He was spotted by manager Joe Caronna, who took him to Johnny Vincent of Ace Records. Taking the stage name Frankie Ford, he made his first recordings for Ace in 1958. He toured locally in Louisiana, before recording a vocal overdub on the song "Sea Cruise", a song written and originally recorded by Huey "Piano" Smith with his group, the Clowns, and featuring overdubbed bells and ships' horns. As Smith already had a record in the charts, and was away touring, the record label decided to release Ford's version, and it rose to No. 14 on the US pop chart and No. 11 on the R&B chart, selling over one million copies, and gaining gold disc status.