T-Model Ford ( ? -2013)

Blues singer and guitarist “T-Model” Ford passed away at his home in Greenville, Mississippi on July 16. He died of respiratory failure induced by a stroke that he suffered in 2012. His age is uncertain; estimates vary between 89 and 93. He was a representative of the North Mississippi hill country style of blues—juke joint music that is characterized by a steady, driving rhythm (sometimes called a drone style), infrequent chord changes, and irregular song structures. The style was originated by Mississippi Fred McDowell and more recently popularized by R. L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough.

James Lewis Carter Ford was born on June 24 sometime in the early '20s in Forest, Mississippi. As a child, he was severely beaten by his father and lost a testicle. This handicap did not slow him down, however, as he reportedly had six wives and 26 children. His obituaries are filled with colorful tales about his violent, sexual and alcoholic exploits. These should be treated with some skepticism, since blues men have been known to exaggerate when reporters are about. However, it is generally acknowledged that he spent two years of a ten-year sentence on a chain gang for killing a man, he says in self-defense. His nickname came from his occupation as a truck driver at a logging camp.

Mr. Ford first picked up a guitar at age 58 and was largely self-taught. He began playing in Mississippi juke joints in the '80s, along with his drummer Tommy Lee Miles, aka, Spam. His first CD, Pee Wee Get My Gun, was released in 1997 on Fat Possum, a label that specialized in hill country blues. Here's a representative cut, “I'm Insane,” on one of his favorite topics, “kicking ass.” (Stella is his sixth wife.)

He released eight CDs in all—four more on Fat Possum, one on Mudpuppy, and two on Alive Naturalsound, the last coming in 2011. He usually toured as part of a package along with other Fat Possum artists. He was fitted with a pacemaker in 2008, and had a minor stroke in 2010, but continued to perform. His second stroke, in 2012, was debilitating.

Here is an interview, complete with background noise, that T-Model Ford did for the British newspaper, The Guardian, about five years ago.