Doug Ford (musician)

Douglas John Ford (born 26 January 1945) is an Australian rock guitarist and songwriter since the mid-1960s. He was lead guitarist of rock n roll group, the Missing Links (1965–66), then during 1968–72, he joined the pop-rock band, the Masters Apprentices. He established a writing partnership with that group's lead singer, Jim Keays. Ford participated in some of the reunions of the Masters Apprentices from 1988 to 1991 and 1997. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1998 the group were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.

Doug Ford
Ford performing at the Fête de la Musique, Brisbane in June 2010
Background information
Birth nameDouglas John Ford
Born (1945-01-26) 26 January 1945
Casino, New South Wales, Australia
OriginSydney, New South Wales, Australia
Genres
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter
InstrumentsGuitar, vocals
Years active1965–present
Labels
Associated acts
Websitefacebook.com/dougfordmusic/

Biography

Douglas John Ford was born in Casino, New South Wales on 26 January 1945. In Sydney in late July 1965 Ford became the guitarist and vocalist of the second incarnation of rock n roll group, the Missing Links.[1] Fellow members were Andy Anderson on lead vocals, John Jones on guitar, Dave Longmore on vocals and guitar, Frank Kennington on vocals and Col Risby on guitar.[1] Ford wrote "Hobo Man" for the group.[2]

When the Missing Links disbanded in August 1966 Ford and Anderson formed the Running, Jumping, Standing Still (a.k.a. RJSS) as an R&B group in Melbourne with Rick Dalton on bass guitar (ex-The Pink Finks) and Ian Robinson on drums.[1][3] According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, they "made a name for themselves as the feedback kings of the Melbourne scene, and alongside The Purple Hearts, the RJSS was one of the most exciting live acts of the day."[1]

In March 1967 RJSS issued a cover version of Bo Diddley's "Diddy Wah Diddy" as a single on the Sunshine label.[1][4] By that time the line-up was Ford with Doug Lavery on drums, Peter Newing on lead vocals and John Phillips on bass guitar.[3][5] Their second single, "She's So Good to Me", appeared in August with the line-up of Ford, Burgess and Ian Ferguson on bass guitar and Mick Elliott on drums.[5] By the end of that year the group had disbanded.[1]

In February 1968 Ford, as lead guitarist, backing singer and songwriter, joined pop-rock band, the Masters Apprentices, which had formed in Adelaide in 1965; they relocated to Melbourne in February 1967.[6][7][8] He established a writing partnership with the group's lead singer and founding mainstay, Jim Keays.[6][7][8]

Alongside Ford and Keays in the Masters Apprentices were Colin Burgess on drums and Glenn Wheatley on bass guitar.[6][9] This line-up issued three top 20 singles, which were co-written by Ford and Keays: "5:10 Man" (July 1969), "Turn Up Your Radio" (April 1970) and "Because I Love You" (1971).[6][10][11] With Ford they released three studio albums, Masterpiece (February 1970), Choice Cuts (April 1971) and A Toast to Panama Red (January 1972) before disbanding in London.[6][9]

Ford and Keays co-wrote, "Quicksand" (June 1970), which was a single for Sydney-based blues, pop band, the Expression.[12] McFarlane observed "this record ranks as one of the most astonishing hard guitar/psychedelic singles of the period."[12] Ford wrote "Midnight Witch" (1971) for the Ash, which McFarlane noticed "combined Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull elements" for a group that was "one of the first local bands to embrace an English-flavoured hard rock sound."[13] Ford and Keays co-wrote, "St John's Wood" (1971), for Melbourne-based pop group, The Sect.[14]

Ford stayed in the United Kingdom after the Masters split.[6] He wrote and performed with various UK musicians before relocating to Spain and then Portugal for a short while. He returned to Australia in the 1980s and rejoined the Masters Apprentices for reunions from 1988 to 1991 and in 1997. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1998 the group, including Ford, were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.[15]

The group were featured on ABC-TV's six-part series, Long Way to the Top, in episode two, "Ten Pound Rocker 1963–1968",[16] and three, "Billy Killed the Fish 1968–1973" (August 2001).[17] They reformed for the related Long Way to the Top Tour in August–September 2002 and appeared on its associated DVD album, Long Way to the Top – Live in Concert.[18][19] The classic line-up of Burgess, Ford, Keays and Wheatley reformed although Wheatley only performed for a couple of the concerts and was subbed by his son, Tim Wheatley.[19]

"Because I Love You" has been used in a number of advertising campaigns. In the early 2000s he worked with former RJSS bandmate, Ian Ferguson (ex-Carson), as a covers duo, Ford and Ferg.[20] They played "'Seasons of Change', 'Golden Miles', along with Masters Apprentices and Carson songs."[20] Ford formed the Doug Ford Trio by April 2004 and started performing in Queensland.

Awards and nominations

Go-Set Pop Poll

The Go-Set Pop Poll was coordinated by teen-oriented pop music newspaper, Go-Set and was established in February 1966 and conducted an annual poll during 1966 to 1972 of its readers to determine the most popular personalities.[21]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1970 himself Best Guitarist 1st
Best Composer 2nd
1971 himself Best Guitarist 2nd
Best Songwriter / Composer 5th

References
General
  • Kimball, Duncan (2002). "The Masters Apprentices". Milesago: Australasian Music and Popular Culture 1964–1975. Ice Productions. Archived from the original on 13 November 2016. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  • McFarlane, Ian (1999). "WHAMMO Homepage". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 5 April 2004. Retrieved 29 January 2010. Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.
  • Spencer, Chris; Nowara, Zbig; McHenry, Paul (2002) [1987]. The Who's Who of Australian Rock. Noble Park, Vic.: Five Mile Press. ISBN 1-86503-891-1.[22] Note: [on-line] version was established at White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd in 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition. As from September 2010 the [on-line] version is no longer available.
Specific
  1. McFarlane, 'The Missing Links' entry. Archived from the original on 23 August 2004. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  2. "'Hobo Man' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 28 May 2017. Note: For additional work user may have to select 'Search again' and then 'Enter a title:' or 'Performer:'
  3. "R. J. S. S. [Running, jumping, standing still] [picture]". The Herald and Weekly Times. 1967. Retrieved 28 May 2017 – via State Library of Victoria. Subjects: Phillips, John; Newing, Peter; Robinson, Ian; Ford, Doug; Running, jumping, standing still (Musical group); Musical groups – Victoria; Group portraits; Portrait photographs; Gelatin silver prints
  4. Nuttall, Lyn. "'Diddy Wah Diddy' – Running Jumping Standing Still (1967)". Pop Archives – Sources of Australian Pop Records from the 50s, 60s and 70s. Archived from the original on 4 May 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  5. Ainsworth, Andrew (2002). Duncan Kimball (ed.). "Running Jumping Standing Still". Milesago: Australasian Music and Popular Culture 1964–1975. Ice Productions. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  6. McFarlane, "'The Master's Apprentices' entry". Archived from the original on 18 June 2004. Retrieved 24 August 2009..
  7. McFarlane, "'Jim Keays' entry". Archived from the original on 30 September 2004. Retrieved 23 July 2015..
  8. Kimball, "The Masters Apprentices". Archived from the original on 13 November 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2009.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link).
  9. Holmgren, Magnus. "The Masters Apprentices". hem.passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  10. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.
  11. Kent, David (2005). Australian Chart Book 1940–1969. Turramurra, NSW: Australian Chart Book Pty Ltd. ISBN 0-646-44439-5. Note: Chart positions back calculated by Kent in 2005.
  12. McFarlane, "'The Expression' entry". Archived from the original on 12 May 2003. Retrieved 21 June 2014.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link).
  13. McFarlane, "'Freeway' entry". Archived from the original on 3 August 2004. Retrieved 21 June 2014.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link).
  14. McFarlane, "'The Sect' entry". Archived from the original on 15 June 2004. Retrieved 21 June 2014.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link).
  15. "ARIA Awards – History: Winners by Year 1998: 12th Annual ARIA Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  16. "Episode 2: Ten Pound Rocker 1963–1968". Long Way to the Top. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Archived from the original on 15 October 2002. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  17. "Episode 3: Billy Killed the Fish 1968–1973". Long Way to the Top. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Archived from the original on 15 October 2002. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  18. "Long Way to the Top – Live in Concert – DVD". Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Archived from the original on 14 September 2007. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  19. Long Way to the Top – Live in Concert (Media notes). Various Artists. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2002.CS1 maint: others (link)
  20. "Ford And Ferg – Artists > Bands / Musicians > Blues – Australia". EntertainOZ. Archived from the original on 19 February 2006. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  21. "Australian Music Awards". Ron Jeff. Retrieved 16 December 2010.
  22. "Who's who of Australian rock / compiled by Chris Spencer, Zbig Nowara & Paul McHenry". catalogue. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
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