16 Facts About T-Model Ford

T-Model Ford began his musical career in his early seventies and continuously recorded for the Fat Possum record label before eventually moving to Alive Natur und Records.

Conversely, T-Model Ford's passport stated that his date of birth as June 24,1921, while his Mississippi driver's license read that he was born on June 27,1924.

T-Model Ford's father was an abusive figure and severely injured his son at age eleven.

T-Model Ford, who was illiterate, began working various blue collar jobs before he was a teenager, which included plowing fields and working in a sawmill.

T-Model Ford was later employed as a foreman at a lumber company before becoming a truck driver.

Around this time, T-Model Ford was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for murder and served on a chain gang.

Later, T-Model Ford lived in Greenville, Mississippi and for a period and wrote an advice column for Arthur magazine.

T-Model Ford is thought to have fathered at least twenty-six children.

T-Model Ford taught himself how to play without being able to read sheet music or guitar tabs.

T-Model Ford toured juke joints and other venues and for a while opened for Buddy Guy.

In 1997, T-Model Ford was featured in documentary entitled Juke, directed by Mary Flannery, appearing alongside his fellow musicians Farmer John and John Horton.

GravelRoad, who were longtime fans of T-Model Ford, subsequently supported T-Model Ford on a ten-show tour.

T-Model Ford had a pacemaker inserted at the end of 2008, but appeared on stage again with GravelRoad in both 2009 and 2010, after which T-Model Ford suffered a stroke.

T-Model Ford eventually suffered a second stroke in the summer of 2012 that severely limited his public appearances.

On July 16,2013, Fat Possum announced that T-Model Ford had died at home in Greenville due to respiratory failure after a prolonged illness.

T-Model Ford's gravestone was designed by Amos Harvey and engraved by Alan Orlicek.