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Robben Ford

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Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox musical artist

Robben Lee Ford (born December 16, 1951)<ref name="Larkin">Template:Cite book</ref> is an American blues, jazz, and rock guitarist.<ref name="AMG">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was a member of the L.A. Express and Yellowjackets and has collaborated with Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harrison, Larry Carlton, Rick Springfield, Little Feat, and Kiss. He was named one of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of the 20th Century" by Musician magazine.<ref name="NPR.org 2013">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Early lifeEdit

Robben Ford was born in Woodlake, California,<ref name="Larkin"/> and raised in Ukiah, California. He began playing the saxophone at age 10 and the guitar at age 14. Robben and two of his brothers (Patrick and Mark) created the Charles Ford Blues Band in honor of and named after their father.<ref name="russell">Template:Cite book</ref> A fourth brother died in the Vietnam conflict.

CareerEdit

At age 18, Ford's band was hired to play with Charlie Musselwhite,<ref name="AMG"/> and recorded two albums The Charles Ford Band<ref name="Larkin"/> and Discovering the Blues. He recorded two albums with Jimmy Witherspoon<ref>Bob Porter radio show December 8, 2012, on WBGO "Portraits in Blue"</ref> called Live and Spoonful. In the 1970s, Ford joined the jazz fusion band, L.A. Express,<ref name="AMG"/> led by saxophonist Tom Scott. In 1974, the band supported George Harrison on his American tour and played on the Joni Mitchell albums The Hissing of Summer Lawns and Miles of Aisles.<ref name="AMG"/>

File:Miles davis robben ford 1 3.jpg
Miles Davis & Robben Ford in Montreux in 1986

After leaving the L.A. Express in 1976, Robben Ford recorded his first solo album, The Inside Story with a band that later became the Yellowjackets.<ref name="AMG"/>

In 1977 Ford was one of over half a dozen session players asked to play a guitar solo for the Steely Dan song "Peg." The band eventually used a version by Jay Graydon. In 2006, a tribute album to Steely Dan – The Royal Dan – was released, with Ford covering "Peg" in his own style.

In 1982, Ford was one of several guitarists who appeared on the KISS album Creatures of the Night, playing lead guitar on the songs "Rock And Roll Hell" and "I Still Love You".

Ford worked briefly with Miles Davis in 1986;<ref name="AMG"/> and can be heard on Davis' Montreux box set. Ford released his second solo album Talk to Your Daughter in 1988.<ref name="Larkin"/> He joined Philippe Saisse, Marcus Miller and J.T. Lewis in the cast of The Sunday Night Band for the second and final season of the late-night NBC television program Sunday Night in 1989.<ref>Sunday Night – episode #121 (1989), Broadway Video, Inc.</ref> In the 1990s, he released the albums Robben Ford and the Blue Line, Mystic Mile, Handful of Blues, Tiger Walk and Supernatural.<ref name="Larkin"/>

Robben Ford has received five Grammy Award nominations<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and was named one of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of the 20th Century" by Musician magazine.<ref>[1] Template:Webarchive</ref> He credited pianist and arranger Roger Kellaway and saxophonist and arranger Tom Scott, whom he met while playing for Joni Mitchell, as major influences on his musical development.<ref name="Lesson">Archived at GhostarchiveTemplate:Cbignore and the Wayback MachineTemplate:Cbignore: {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref>

Robben Ford was married to Anne Kerry Ford. As of 2022 he lives in Paris, France.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In October 2022, Ford toured in Italy opening for Eric Clapton.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

EquipmentEdit

GuitarsEdit

Ford considers his first good electric a Guild Starfire III with a single Florentine (sharp) cutaway. He used a Gibson L-5 when he played with Charlie Musselwhite and the Ford Band, although he never thought it was a great guitar. While playing with Jimmy Witherspoon, Ford traded the L-5 plus $200 for a 1964 Gibson Super 400CES (which he sold in 1986). When Ford began playing with the L.A. Express and Joni Mitchell, he used a 1958 Gibson dot-neck ES-335. At some point he also acquired a 1963 Gibson Es-335.

After Ford's Talk to Your Daughter album was released in 1988, Robben used a Robben Ford Signature model guitar created in a collaboration with Dan Smith of Fender and produced in Japan between 1987 and 1993. That guitar was based on the Fender Master Series Esprit Ultra that was produced from 1983 to 1986 in Japan. In 1987, new management at Fender authorized the first production of the Robben Ford Signature guitar. In 1994, production of the guitar moved from Japan to the Fender Custom Shop. Three models were produced: Ultra FM (with a carved maple top), Ultra SP (with a carved spruce top), and the Elite FM (with a carved flame maple top). The guitar line continued to be produced until 2002 when it was discontinued by Fender.

Sometimes he plays a vintage 1960 Fender Telecaster, Gibson Les Pauls,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> a 1963 Gibson SG,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> a Gibson Es-335 12-string that he has set up as a 6-string, a 1966 Epiphone Riviera (with the original Bigsby tremolo removed and replaced with a stop tailpiece).

File:Dumble Overdrive Special on Robben Ford's Rig, 2008-09-12.jpg
Ford's Dumble Overdrive Special

In a May 1–16, 2017 tour which ended in Niagara Falls NY, Ford debuted a newly acquired 1953 Gibson Les Paul.

In the summer of 2021 he teased a PRS Robben Ford Limited Edition McCarty signature guitar which was finally released in October 2022.

AmplifiersEdit

Robben Ford uses Dumble Amplifiers and Celestion G12-65 speakers. In 1983, Alexander "Howard" Dumble made Robben's first Dumble Overdrive Special (serial #102) for Robben. Dumble himself is the owner of serial #001.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

When traveling abroad he prefers taking his Dumble, but will sometimes use Fender Super Reverb or Fender Twin amplifiers.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> When playing his Fenders, Ford uses a Hermida Zendrive overdrive pedal, which was designed to replicate the sound of Ford's Dumble amplifier.<ref name="Ross">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Robben Ford has lately been playing hand crafted amplifiers by Little Walter Tube Amps.

DiscographyEdit

As leader/co-leaderEdit

  • Schizophonic (L.A. International, 1976)
  • Live: Jimmy Witherspoon & Robben Ford (LAX, 1977)
  • The Inside Story (Elektra, 1979)
  • Talk to Your Daughter (Warner Bros., 1988)
  • Minor Elegance (MGI, 1989) - with Joe Diorio
  • Live at the Notodden Blues Festival (Blue Rock'it, 1992) - with Jimmy Witherspoon
  • Robben Ford & the Blue Line (Stretch, 1992)
  • Mystic Mile (Stretch, 1993)
  • Handful of Blues (Blue Thumb, 1995)
  • Ain't Nothin' New About the Blues (AIM, 1995) - with Jimmy Witherspoon
  • Blues Connotation (ITM, 1997) - reissue of A Song I Thought I Heard Buddy Sing
  • Tiger Walk (Blue Thumb, 1997)
  • The Authorized Bootleg (Blue Thumb, 1997)
  • Discovering the Blues (Avenue, 1997)
  • Sunrise (Avenue, 1999)
  • Supernatural (Blue Thumb, 1999)
  • A Tribute to Paul Butterfield (Blue Rock'it, 2001)
  • Blue Moon (Concord, 2002)
  • Keep On Running (Concord, 2003)
  • Truth (Concord, 2007)
  • Soul on Ten (Concord, 2009)
  • Bringing It Back Home (Provogue, 2013)
  • A Day in Nashville (Provogue, 2014)
  • Into the Sun (Provogue, 2015)
  • Purple House (Ear Music, 2018)
  • The Sun Room (Ear Music, 2019) - with Bill Evans
  • Common Ground (13J Productions, 2020) - with Bill Evans
  • Pure (Ear Music, 2021)
  • Night in the City (Ear Music, 2023)

As memberEdit

Yellowjackets

As sidemanEdit

Template:Div col With Larry Carlton

  • Live in Tokyo (335 Records, 2007)
  • Unplugged (335 Records, 2013)

With A.J. Croce

With Tommy Emmanuel

  • Can't Get Enough (Columbia, 1996)
  • Midnight Drive (Higher Octave, 1997)

With Jerry Granelli

  • One Day at a Time (ITM, 1990)
  • Koputai (ITM, 1990)
  • A Song I Thought I Heard Buddy Sing (ITM, 1992)
  • Dance Hall (Justin Time, 2017)

With Jing Chi (Jimmy Haslip, Vinnie Colaiuta)

  • Jing Chi (Tone Center, 2002)
  • Live! (At Yoshi's) (Tone Center, 2003)
  • 3D (Tone Center, 2004)
  • Supremo (Tone Center, 2017)

With Little Feat

With Barry Manilow

With Eric Marienthal

  • Oasis (GRP, 1991)
  • Turn Up the Heat (Peak, 2001)

With Keiko Matsui

  • A Drop of Water (Passport Jazz, 1986)
  • Under Northern Lights (MCA, 1988)
  • No Borders (MCA, 1990)

With Amanda McBroom

  • Dreaming (Gecko; Analogue Productions, 1986)
  • Midnight Matinee (Gecko; Analogue Productions, 1991)

With Michael McDonald

With Charlie Musselwhite

  • Louisiana Fog (Cherry Red, 1968)
  • Takin' My Time (Arhoolie, 1971)
  • Goin' Back Down South (Arhoolie, 1974)
  • Tell Me Where Have All the Good Times Gone? (Blue Rock'it, 1984)
  • One Night in America (Telarc, 2001)

With John Kaizan Neptune

  • West of Somewhere (Milestone, 1981)
  • Mixed Bag (Eastworld, 1983)

With Renegade Creation

  • Renegade Creation (Blues Bureau International, 2010)
  • Bullet (Blues Bureau International, 2012)

With Tom Scott

  • Tom Cat (Ode/A&M, 1975)
  • Reed My Lips (GRP, 1994)
  • Night Creatures (GRP, 1995)
  • Bluestreak (GRP, 1996)

With Supersonic Blues Machine

  • West of Flushing, South of Frisco (Provogue, 2016)
  • Californisoul (Provogue, 2017)

With Jennifer Warnes

With Jimmy Witherspoon

  • Spoonful (Blue Note, 1975)
  • Live at the Mint (On The Spot/Private Music, 1996)

With others

Template:Div col end

VideosEdit

  • Robben Ford and the Blue Line: In Concert (Recorded April 7, 1993)
  • Robben Ford: New Morning - The Paris Concert (Recorded May 2001)
  • Playing the Blues (2002)
  • The Blues and Beyond (2002)
  • Back to the Blues (2004)
  • Autour Du Blues: Larry Carlton and Robben Ford (2006)
  • The Robben Ford Clinic: The Art of Blues Rhythm (2007)
  • Robben Ford: In Concert: Revisited (2008)
  • The Robben Ford Clinic: The Art of Blues Solos (2009)
  • Robben Ford Trio: New Morning the Paris Concert: Revisited (2009)

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

External linksEdit

Template:Robben Ford Template:Authority control

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