Jim Ford - Sounds Of Our Time

Compilation
Jim Ford was an American singer-songwriter, who after releasing one fantastic album in 1969 mysteriously disappeared from the music business.

In 2006 L-P Anderson, of Sweden's Sonic Magazine, managed to track down the elusive Jim Ford to his trailer home in California. Ford had been a singer-songwriter back in the late 60s and early 70s, and his songs had been recorded by many artists including Bobby Womack and Aretha Franklin. He had also released a brilliant album in 1969's Harlan County, but had never really got much recognition, and had since retired from the music business. Nobody had heard of him since the 70s.
On his rediscovery, he was able to help locate some lost master tapes, and Bear Family Records re-issued Harlan County in 2007 with 15 new bonus tracks. These new songs, consisting of demos and lost singles, are truly fantastic, so I have put them together here into an album of their own. The original Harlan County LP, without bonus tracks, can be found here.
Stylistically, the bonus tracks cover a broader range of styles than Harlan County's soul-rock, as they touch on rock, pop, R&B, soul, folk and country. Many of the songs aren't the best sound quality, and you can tell that a few of them are clearly unfinished recordings, but the material itself is brilliant, featuring what must be many of Ford's best songs, among them "She Turns My Radio On", "Linda Comes Running", "Big Mouth USA", "Hanging From Your Lovin' Tree" and "I Wonder What They'll Do With Today". The title track was co-written with Bobby Womack. Also features an excellent cover / re-working of Sam Cooke's "Chain Gang". The result is a brilliant compilation, which in reality gives a wider and much more accurate vision of Ford's music than Harlan County does.
With the success of the re-issue, there were plans for Ford to start recording again. Unfortunately it would not come to pass, as he died in 2007.

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