T-Model Ford
Morehead Chop House, Charlotte, NC USA
September 12, 1997

A Doodee Music Master Recording

Here's my tail-draggin' friend, T-Model Ford, opening for RL. I have to give it to T-Model - he's the first opener I ever saw that basically had to be told to stop playing so the headliner could go on. You gotta love T-Model, crutch and all. He's joined by Spam on the bass and snare drums. Great gritty, dirty guitar sound on this one - really up front. Whether you're familiar with T-Model or not, you need this. I don't have a setlist for this one ( T-Model seemed to be in a Neil Young & Crazy Horse groove in that it seemed to be "all one song") but would be obliged if anyone wants to compile one. In lieu of that I do have the great article below, courtesy of Fat possum's website, giving y'all some background on T-Model and Spam and illustrating exactly why these guys are such a treasure.
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T-Model's credentials are impeccable; if anything he's over qualified. He was born James Lewis Carter Ford in Forrest, a small community in Scott County, Mississippi. T-Model thinks he's seventy-five but isn't sure. He was plowing a field behind a mule on his family's farm by age eleven, and in his early teens he secured a job at a local sawmill. He excelled and was later recruited by a foreman from a bigger lumber company in the Delta, near Greenville, and eventually got promoted to truck driver. Between that and working in a log camp T-Model was sentenced to ten years on a chain-gang for murder. He lucked out and was released after serving two. He says, grinning, "I could really stomp some ass back then, stomp it good. I was a-sure-enough- dangerous man."

Well, old times here are not forgotten. T-model is constantly arguing playfully with Stella, his girlfriend, about their more violent disagreements. When asked how many times he'd been to jail, T-Model responded, "I don't know. How many?" He seemed to think it might be a trick question. Upon realizing it wasn't, he answered to the best of his ability. "Every Saturday night there for awhile."

As disheartening as this is, it's also a refreshing reminder of how ridiculous the present image of a bluesman is. Nothing could be more twisted that the romanticized and picturesque standard; and old black man devoid of anger and rage happily strumming an acoustic guitar on the back porch of his shack "in that evening sun". Three quarters of a century old, and with a dislocated hip, T-Model Ford is the only musician making his debut who could just as easily be starring in the most competitive branch of the National Wrestling Federation: The Cage Match.

Although Fat Possum makes it it's business to trod some wild paths, the wildest yet has to be the one that T-Models drummer, Spam, lives on. We stopped en route to New York City just as Spam's girlfriend walked out of the door dragging an oxygen tank and holding a cigarette in her other hand-a situation that could have been easily blown out her rib cage if not the entire block. Spam didn't care about that, though. He was worried she might snip off the tips of his fingers with a box cutter again.

Tommy Lee Miles to the authorities, Spam to his friends, he has been T-Model's A-number-one drummer for the past eight years. Sam Carr and Frank Frost, T-Model's old friends, were brought in for one session. But the guest musician's smiles gave way to scowls as T-Model's constant refrain ("T-Model Ford is going to remember you sorry fuckers how it's done") became more and more emphatic. Seconds before "Been a Long Time" was recorded, Frank Frost felt compelled to sate, "I want everyone to know that I'm now playing against my will."

T-Model and Spam are the only men still playing on Greenville's Nelson Street. Most of the audience has scattered due to violence from the crack trade, and with the exception of T-Model, the street that once boasted Booba Barnes and others is dead. On a typical night Spam and T-Model will arrive at the club and unpack T-Model's guitar and amp, and the bass drum and snare he allows Spam to use. When T-Model feels there are enough people, they start banging away in their own post-war Peavey-powered hill stomp. It's nothing unusual for T-Model to play eight hours a night. They keep going until no one's left standing. After his equipment's packed up T-Model will coat himself with Outdoorsman Off and climb into his van to crash.
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Now how in the world can you resist wanting to hear the racket these two make together. Pass the black-eyed peas and collards and y'all enjoy.


T-Model Ford - Guitar & Vocals
Spam - Bass & Snare Drums

Trade Only. Please upport T-Model, Spam and Fat Possum by buying their recordings and merchandise and attending their shows.

EX Audience Recording

Unknown mic>Sony WMD3 Cassette Master>BBE1002>BSR EQ3000>CDR>FLAC