Marc Ford


Marc Ford is an American blues-rock guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is a former guitarist of the rock and roll band The Black Crowes, the former lead guitarist of The Magpie Salute and the leader of his own bands: Burning Tree, Marc Ford & The Neptune Blues Club, Marc Ford & The Sinners, Fuzz Machine, and Jefferson Steelflex.
Ford ranks as a world class musician. He was awarded a Grammy and an NAACP Image Award—an honor bestowed on few Caucasians, for his work with Ben Harper and The Blind Boys of Alabama on There Will Be a Light.

Early life

Marc Ford was born in 1966, in Long Beach, California, United States.
Ford grew up in a non-musical household. He used to listen to his mother's small music collection of old 45s consisting of Chuck Berry and Little Richard. He had early fond memories of the Beatles' music, however, based on where he grew up in Los Angeles, Ford did not have a whole lot of exposure to music and its genres. He described it as being in a "very bland-white-suburb".
At the age of ten, his grandmother bought Ford his first guitar from the Rose Bowl Flea Market/Swap Meet. Ford was taught the acoustic guitar in elementary school, and attended his teacher's music night class for house wives. Originally, Ford played the trumpet in his school's band class. He was dissatisfied with the trumpet, despite being encouraged by his father to pursue it. He came to appreciate learning an instrument, as it first introduced Ford to the world of music, and the effect it can have on a room full of people.
In his early teens, he became influenced by Elton John, Jimi Hendrix, and the 1960s English bands Pink Floyd, and The Jeff Beck Group—in particular the first two albums, which featured guitarists Jeff Beck, Ron Wood, and the vocal talents of Rod Stewart. He delved deeper into Southern roots music, and his love and appreciation for it still upholds to this day.

Career beginnings

Marc Ford started out playing the Southern California/Los Angeles underground punk rock scene in the early to mid-eighties in garage bands such as Citadel, which later went by the names Citadel Ltd & Head. Formed by Ford's acquaintances in high school, Citadel eventually disbanded due to disagreements with their singer, which led to the formation of Burning Tree. Ford and his high school bandmates were influenced and lived vicariously through the rockumentary films: The Who's The Kids Are Alright, and Jimi Hendrix. Ford graduated from high school in 1984, and left to pursue a career in music in Hollywood, Los Angeles by 1986.

Appearances

  • Stronzo – He played in the Los Angeles side-project band Stronzo which featured Mickey Finn of Jetboy, Sami Yaffa of Hanoi Rocks/Jetboy, and various other musicians playing shows outside of their main bands.
  • In 1988, Ford played guitar for Michael Monroe at the Scream Club, also with Sami Yaffa on bass, which was the first ever L.A. show for the former Hanoi Rocks singer.
  • He played with early Dogs D'Amour/L.A. Guns man Robert Stoddard.

    Career

1983–1984: Cathedral of Tears

In 1984, eighteen-year-old Ford played in the post-T.S.O.L. band Cathedral of Tears, led by Jack Grisham and Greg Kuehn. He played guitar on the self-titled 1984 EP on which he was credited as "Mark Ford". In 2019, 1983 Demo EP was released, based on the band's previously unreleased demos from 1983. Ford was not involved.

1988: The Scarecrows

Ford was briefly in the Orange County band The Scarecrows. Throughout the eighties, the members of Burning Tree and The Scarecrows had been fitting in and out each other's bands for several years. When Ford launched Burning Tree with drummer Doni Gray and bassist Mark "Muddy" Dutton, Ford had played an integral role in revival of the Scarecrows, which came back in early 1988 after a year's absence. Ford contributed to the Scarecrows demo recordings and played in many of the band's live shows.
The album The Scarecrows featuring Marc Ford was released in 2006, based on the band's 1988 recordings.

1987–1991: Burning Tree

In the late eighties, Citadel Ltd/Head evolved into the blues-rock outfit Burning Tree, a power trio featuring Ford on guitar and vocals, Mark "Muddy" Dutton on bass and vocals, and Doni Gray on drums and vocals. Burning Tree released their self-titled debut album on Epic Records in 1990, produced by Tim Palmer. On the album, Booker T. Jones made an appearance and played the Hammond B-3, featuring on two songs. Although the band was known for sharing vocal roles, Ford sung lead on the following tracks: "Burning Tree", "Fly On", "Mistreated Lover", "Playing With The Wind", "Last Laugh", and "Baby Blue". Ford was reluctant to sing at first, but Stevie Ray Vaughan inspired him after watching him perform at the Greek Theatre. Ford's wife Kirsten Konte also sang backing vocals on the album.
A commercial failure, but a critical success, Burning Tree allowed the group to tour extensively throughout most of 1990 and 1991. The band struggled to find an audience in the States during the height of "big hair" hard rock music, and instead toured England. During their 1990 tour, Burning Tree opened and supported English bands such as The Damned, The Quireboys, The Dogs D'Amour, and The Riverdogs.
Overcome with frustration and stagnation in the industry, the band's career was cut short when Ford left to join the Black Crowes in 1992, for whom Burning Tree had opened for on their first tour.
In 2006, fourteen years after the disbanding of Burning Tree, Ford unexpectedly reunited with his original bandmates. The trio performed three gigs at the King King in Hollywood, California. A few years later, Burning Tree reunited for a gig at the Whisky a Go Go on December 11, 2014 and again on February 19, 2016.

1992–1997: The Black Crowes

Before knowing of The Black Crowes, Marc Ford was given a promotional copy of Shake Your Money Maker by a friend who worked at a record store. He first listened to the album while out driving with his wife and he pulled the car over, even before getting on the freeway, in utter disbelief. Ford was overcome with a burning passion for their sound. "Listen to that dude sing! He sings like I play the guitar. I'm going to play with that dude someday." Ford quickly became friends with Chris Robinson and the rest of the Crowes. In mid-1991, Ford sat in a couple of times with the Black Crowes in concert, performing The Allman Brothers Band's classic hit, "Dreams".
When the Black Crowes severed their relationship with their original guitarist Jeff Cease, Ford was asked to fill the vacancy. He accepted the offer, but a few days later he was asked by Slash to join Guns N' Roses, after the departure of rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin from the band. Ford refused. At the time, Guns N' Roses were in the middle of a huge stadium world tour. Ford later said in 2017, that he would probably be dead now, had he joined them. However, in 1992, Ford was involved in the recording of Izzy Stradlin's solo debut Izzy Stradlin and the Ju Ju Hounds where he was featured alongside the talents of Ron Wood and Ian McLagan of the Faces.
Marc Ford stepped into the Crowes' lineup as their newest guitarist to record their 1992 sophomore album, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion. The album reached Number 1 on the Billboard charts and earned a double platinum certificate for sales. On the album, which sold more than a million copies, Ford's main task was lead guitar and playing solos, while Rich Robinson provided rhythm guitar on his own compositions.
In late 1992, Ford said that the band's two guitarists had developed a partnership that allowed for a greater interplay. "When I joined the band, I said to Rich , 'I really want to make the two-guitar thing work together,' instead of dividing the labor into traditional rhythm and lead roles.. It has developed musically, and the band sounds totally different than it did when we recorded the record. We've got a ton of new songs that we've been coming up with at sound checks...we just start jamming on things." Some new parts were unplanned and improvised during their concerts, for example the opening jam of "Thorn In My Pride". Their guitarist dynamic and musicianship resembles the likes of Neil Young and Stephen Stills.
Ford performed on the next two Black Crowes releases, Amorica and Three Snakes and One Charm, and is also credited for tracks from the band's two unreleased albums. His addition to the Black Crowes sound, which consisted primarily of slide guitar and southern twang, helped define the band at the time. It was during his time in the band, that Ford learnt how to play slide guitar. Ford's ability to adapt to core songwriter Rich Robinson's music and crunchy rhythm guitar sound solidified him and Robinson as the preeminent guitar duo of the 1990s.
During his time in the Black Crowes, Ford also played slide guitar on British band Thee Hypnotics' 1994 album The Very Crystal Speed Machine, produced by Chris Robinson.
Ford had a realization "light bulb" moment while the Crowes were on tour, opening for The Rolling Stones during the 1995 Voodoo Lounge Tour. "I've reached the top of the mountain. Wrong mountain, dude!". Ford became disillusioned with the rock star dream while watching Keith Richards and Ron Wood behave like 12-year-olds in Wood's hotel suite after a show in Montpellier in 1995.
The intensity of the Black Crowes, their four long years of nonstop touring and substance abuse, affected Ford's performance immensely. He was dismissed from the Black Crowes in August 1997, following the band's stint on the summer-long Furthur Festival tour. Black Crowes leaders Chris and Rich Robinson cited Ford's excessive Heroin and drug use as the reason for his firing. The guitarist entered a rehab facility soon after his dismissal. In 2000, Chris Robinson said that he "will always be happy knowing that Marc Ford didn't die while he was in the Black Crowes," and added that Ford was doing well and making music with friends in Los Angeles.
In 2016, Marc Ford reflected on his time in the Crowes. "It was an incredibly harrowing time for young adults to go through...and not ever being able to be prepared for the muchness of it all, the good and bad. If you don't have your own sort of limiters and impulse control, no one ever tells you no. It was a beautiful time. I don't know if I would walk through that again. It's just a bizarre place to be. I would do it differently now, knowing what I know now. I know why it kills so many people."