Clifford T Ward

[gryphon]

The Beginners Guide To Clifford T Ward


( I write this as a personal indulgence , I have been a great Clifford T Ward fan since 1973 and believe that he is one of the lost talents of the 20th century………….He was sadly ,never recognized , he was badly exploited and used but remained a great character…………..It was my privilege to meet this man when he was severely ill ,near the end of his career and living in very difficult life……………..he was still full of life and had enough time to spend an afternoon with me discussing his career and life……………………..I remember it so well and after that I decided to attempt to do my best to help in anyway that I could……Clifford had been compared to Paul McCartney in is song writing abilities and so it was to mpl, that I sent a letter…..drawing attention to Clifford and his situation…………………..a few weeks, later I learnt that Paul had contacted Clifford’s team and had asked if he could become a patron of the foundation that administered Clifford’s affairs …………….)


Clifford died on 2001 after a long battle with MS. To all intents and purposes the world might never have known that he existed…………………….There are a few albums which reached the charts in the 70’s , a few precious singles , only two of which, made the charts in 1973…….
However, this man did manage to rank in the UK’s best ever top ten song writers, he had a number one single in Brazil, was covered by a Beatle and was a legend in Ireland. In 2005 one of his songs was voted into the top hundred of BBC Radio 2’ s greatest songs of all time.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/s...ghts.shtml
He leaves behind a treasure trove of material and only a few live performances .
His story begins in Kidderminster in 1944: Clifford was born into a simple close knit community . His early days showed that he had a keen interest in music which culminated in his forming a band : Cliff and The Cruisers:


They covered “ Candy To Me “( Eddie Holland ) in 1965
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxhOHLQMB2o


Success was not to be, and Clifford T Ward and the Cruisers turned up on various labels with various names to attempt that elusive hit:
As the sixties closed, the chances of a hit seemed further away than ever: Clifford T Ward soldiered on but in the end, he decided to pursue his day job : A Teacher of English. However, he did not let his song writing drop, he went on and in the early seventies assembled an excellent album of his own material for cult English Radio One DJ :John Peel’ s Dandelion label……………….
This album called” Singer Song Writer “ is an excellent work and shows that Clifford had a different side to his talent other than lead singer in a band……………………Here ,Clifford showed that he was talented song writer………..who could hone a song about almost any subject.
Much from this album is excellent but nothing is available on youtube , so I guess you’ll just have to buy a copy to find out more.
The album was not a commercial success but, it did get Clifford noticed by one Tony Straton-Smith , Head Of Charisma Records …………………….Following on from this, Clifford recorded his second solo album “ Home Thoughts From Abroad”…………………….This album was to prove to be the high point of his career .


Starting Point…………….Home Thoughts From Abroad


· Nightingale
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u1M-LSss...re=related


· Home Thoughts From Abroad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OInWxUPid...re=related
( This was voted into The UK’s top ten best ever songs )


· A Day To Myself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szjv8TF8TGM



( Played on English radio on Remembrance Sundays)

This album produced his best performing single : Gaye:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rCV66Ugv...re=related


So , the album is riding high in the charts , so is the single , the PR machine rolls and stardom looks probable……………………..a second single is drawn from the album:


· Scullary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rCV66Ugv...re=related

So what goes wrong?
Look at the Scullery video maybe the clues are there ? This guy is petrified of live performance!
He is too much the perfectionist ……………even though he can do it , he will not believe it.
He does manage one full live performance , alongside the up and coming star Lesley Hornby ( Twiggy) ……………….and that is it. Clifford will not do it anymore……..there are no more concerts !!!!!!!!!!!

This leaves him at a disadvantage………………………. he will go on recording but, will not go out on the road:

Further Listening:


· Mantle pieces


An excellent album with many different and interesting songs:


· Wherewithal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EDsIT1lh...re=related

A rare TV appearance:
· All Modern Conveniences
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zps0-Jb-R...re=related
[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zps0-Jb-Rbg&feature=related"]
[/URL]
Screen Test
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liptjO9BP...re=related



Charisma records try to support Clifford but, they too have problems and in the end they fail to give the support he needed: A third album is released
· Escalator
Along with this are two excellent singles :


· Jayne Unavailable on youtube
· Jigsaw Girl ( Excellent single but, totally unpromoted)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__N1pWdug5M

Dispirited Clifford is dropped by Charisma and moves to Philips records

• · No More Rock and Roll
  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeP-U5CDO...re=related


Clifford soldiers on and produces another interesting album
At this point he receives the accolade of being covered by a Beatle
Ringo reworks Lady Gaye for his Rotograve album.
Cliff Richard covers “Up In The World”
Clifford moves on with the album

• · Waves
  

This has virtually no sales but does yield some of his best tracks:
Heaven



Ocean Of Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4bSUHHFSzY



Clifford continued to issue singles and work on projects at this point in his career…………..The excellent ”Ocean of Love” is put out ..but, with no promotion or live performances it fades without trace.
At this point in his career Clifford starts to find that things are about to take another turn………He seems to have some problems with balance and strength and he has problems at times with his voice.


Onward……………….Clifford begins to write a screen play for Channel 4 in the UK, he takes on new management and the first move is to make an album in the USA and to make another attempt to make it .

• · New England Days
  

Clifford finds himself in Massachusetts and is recording……………. another attempt at the big time!
The sessions are completed and an album is produced but, it is well away from Clifford’s normal style and somehow he seems overwhelmed and ill.
There are moments of excellence:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khw8zHfhEy4


· Someone I know
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvbnpFTJ63E


Clifford worked on submitting his screen play to Channel 4 in the UK and producing the sound track album…………………Channel four rejected the story …………………….The album got a local release on the Philips label in Ireland only:

• Both Of Us
  

Still it contained gems:


· Messenger
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8JRDukvdC0


· The ironic “ The Best Is Yet To Come “
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMA7HVEwn...re=related


Now the day darkens on Clifford……………….The MS has really set in and he can hardly walk or function, yet on his hands and knees Clifford crawled into his home recording studio to continue his work.
There was one more album in his attempts to go on
Clifford had struck up a friendship with the musician Mark Tibenham ( Heartache Avenue :The Maisonettes) . He assisted Clifford to make an album of his current work , laboring hard and long on tracks that were barely above demo level the album……………
Sometime Next Year ( Released on Roger Whittiker’s Tembo label)

• · Laugh It Off
  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koQLGLzbCRY
( A brave attempt to reassure those around him that all would get better)


At this point Clifford just about folded………………………..He was ill broke ( His deals were made in the days before the law protected the artist a from starving to death …………………….
At this point Clifford’s career passed to a specially set up society
The Friends OF Clifford T Ward………………….This has some friends whose aim was to help Clifford generate enough to survive on………………..

Quickly the friends set about taking what back catalogue and recordings he had and tried to get them released. The earlier albums, were mostly deleted and not scheduled for any further action.

The Friends obtained rights to issue CD-R copies of the albums and approached small record companies to issue some of the unreleased work Clifford had made.
An early success was the vinyl only album:

• · Laugh It Off
  

More has followed and interest in Clifford has been maintained……….The Friends have made available the following albums:

· The Ways Of Love
· Julia and Other Stories
· Bittersweet
· Hidden Gems
· Anthology
· This Was Our Love
· Work In Progress
· Path Through The Forest

Books
· Bittersweet

Videos
Clifford remained a big figure in Ireland …………….In his later years he was persuaded to appear on and perform on The Late Show and below are the collected performances : Scared still and shaking with heavy MS you have to admire this man !


· Up In The World
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGcw7dPGXqc


· Watching The TV News

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv8wFLGCE...re=related

· Home Thoughts From Abroad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsJ8iqS-K...re=related

· Messenger
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL0B8pr34Uc

There are many clips of Clifford on Youtube, his fan base is loyal and inventive .

There are some excellent websites
· http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_T._Ward
· http://www.cliffordtward.info/
· http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obitua...29601.html
· http://www.mick-armitage.staff.shef.ac.uk/cliffordt/ward.html:cool: