Obituaries: Ohio Players Founder, "No Woman, No Cry" Songwriter

The Ohio Players founder Robert Ward passed away on Christmas Day at his home in Georgia. He was 70. Ward, a noteworthy blues guitarist, is credited with forming the Ohio Untouchables, who later changed their name to the Ohio Players after Ward left the band in 1965. Without Ward, the group went on to become one of the biggest funk-soul bands of the '70s, penning hits like "Love Rollercoaster" and "Fire." Ward, who had some hits of his own like "I Found A Love" with the Untouchables roster, pursued a solo career that spawned four solo albums and a stint as a Motown Records session musician.

The music world also lost Vincent Ford, the credited songwriter of Bob Marley's 1974 hit "No Woman, No Cry." Ford, who suffered from diabetes, died of complications from the disease on December 28th in Jamaica at age 68. Ford was a friend of Marley's who ran a soup kitchen in "Trenchtown," or Kingston, Jamaica. "No Woman, No Cry" became a major hit for the reggae star after it first appeared on Marley's Natty Dread. Rolling Stone ranked "No Woman, No Cry" as Number 37 on the list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Ford was also credited with penning three songs on Marley's 1976 album Rastaman Vibration. Although many credit Marley with actually writing the song, with the royalties Ford received from the long-lasting success (and non-stop covers and samples) of "No Woman, No Cry," Ford reportedly used the money to ensure that his soup kitchen would stay open.

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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