Vincent Ford

Vincent Ford (c. 1940 – 28 December 2008), known as "Tata" or "Tartar", was a Jamaican songwriter best known for receiving writing credit for "No Woman, No Cry", the reggae song made famous by Bob Marley & The Wailers, as well as three other Bob Marley songs. However, controversy persisted as to whether the compositions had actually been written by Marley himself, and had been credited to Ford to allow Marley to avoid contractual obligations, resulting in a legal battle that ended with the Marley estate being granted control of the songs.

Biography

Vincent Ford was born around 1940. He used a wheelchair, having lost his legs due to diabetes. Despite his disability, he was still able to save another youth from drowning when he was a teenager. He ran a soup kitchen in Trenchtown.

Ford died at age 68 on 28 December 2008 in Kingston, Jamaica.

Songwriting

Marley had signed a songwriting contract with producer Danny Sims at Cayman Music, and in 1972, Marley and the Wailers were signed by Chris Blackwell to Island Records.