{"id":252902,"date":"2026-01-26T19:20:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T19:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/252902\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T19:20:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T19:20:13","slug":"rock-n-roll-musician-ricky-ford-retires-after-70-year-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/252902\/","title":{"rendered":"Rock ‘n’ roll musician Ricky Ford retires after 70-year career"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RickyRicky Ford<\/p>\n

Former railway clerk Ricky Ford (right, with knee up) began his career with a band called The Cyclones<\/p>\n

A rock ‘n’ roll musician who has been performing on stage since 1955 is retiring after seven decades of singing.<\/p>\n

Ricky Ford, 85, from Bristol, toured Germany in the 1960s, worked with Beatles manager Brian Epstein, sang to sold-out crowds at Bristol’s Colston Hall and did recording sessions at the world-famous Abbey Road studios.<\/p>\n

“I think it’s a great age to say ‘adios’ and it’s been a great ride,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I wouldn’t alter it because I’ve had a wonderful career as a live singer, which is what I always wanted. I don’t think you could wish for much more, could you?”<\/p>\n

Ford’s career began in 1955, when he appeared on stage while working as a projectionist at a cinema in Chipping Sodbury, to the north of the city.<\/p>\n

“In 1959 I was working as a railway clerk at Temple Meads [station], and we used to sing in the office.<\/p>\n

“One of the guys asked if I wanted to join the Cyclones, and within a few months we went up the barometer of local rankings.<\/p>\n

“We did five gigs a week in youth clubs and village halls, and then eventually at the Colston Hall with 2,000 folks in.<\/p>\n

“The village hall gigs were all about music, with strict rules: no swearing, no smoking, and no drinking.<\/p>\n

“The promoter’s mother had tables with jugs of orange squash on, that’s all the kids were allowed,” he remembered.<\/p>\n

Ricky’s career began as a cinema projectionist in Chipping Sodbury in 1955<\/p>\n

He met famous musicians throughout his career, like Billy Fury, right<\/p>\n

In 1963, the band toured Germany. <\/p>\n

“All the bands did it, because it guaranteed three months’ work, and then we got a job backing Peter and Gordon to promote their song World Without Love.”<\/p>\n

Ford’s music career saw him meet dozens of stars, including Screaming Lord Sutch, Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, Terry Dene and Billy Fury.<\/p>\n

“Billy stayed with me all night when we met, I rarely met such a lovely person, he seemed more interested in you than himself,” Ford said.<\/p>\n

He also met Roy Orbison, and his band tried to demo their composition entitled You Are My Love for the singer.<\/p>\n

“That’s a beautiful song, but too many words for me,” Orbison told them.<\/p>\n

\"RickyRicky Ford<\/p>\n

Ford was also the star of a pioneering religious rock ‘n’ roll musical in 1964<\/p>\n

Ford was the star of the first rock ‘n’ roll religious musical, A Man Dies, which was staged in Bristol, the Royal Albert Hall, and on ITV.<\/p>\n

EMI and producer Norrie Paramor recorded the whole cast at the world-famous Abbey Road studios, which Ricky remembered was a “wonderful experience.”<\/p>\n

“It was overshadowed by Jesus Christ Superstar later, but A Man Dies was the forerunner of all these musicals.<\/p>\n

“It’s still being played on evangelist radio stations in America,” Ford said.<\/p>\n

“Just when I thought things were at the end, I was 63 and I did a show in Crumlin, Wales, and the following week I had a call from a guy in Llanelli, who booked me for another 15 shows. <\/p>\n

“I ended doing 70 clubs in the Welsh valleys which kept me going until well over 80.<\/p>\n

“I’ve just really enjoyed being an all-round singer and entertainer and had a career that sustained me and kept me in demand my entire life,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ricky Ford Former railway clerk Ricky Ford (right, with knee up) began his career with a band called…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[156,157,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-252902","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-music","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}