Blues singer and guitarist Robert Ward, who was also a founding member of the Ohio Players, passed away back on Christmas Day at the age of 70. His wife, Roberta, said he had suffered a stroke in 2001 and had never fully recovered.
Ward first played guitar at the age of 10 in rural Georgia and, after a stint in the Army in the mid-50's, formed the Brassettes who opened for artists like James Brown. While he gained great experience on the road, he wanted more and soon moved to Dayton, Ohio where he formed the Ohio Untouchables.
The group played area clubs for two years until 1962 when they signed with Lupine Records of Detroit. At Lupine, they started by playing backup for a young Wilson Pickett and the Falcons, including their 1962 top ten R&B hit, I Found a Love. The group eventually cut three singles, none of which went national. This led to a few years of them bouncing between small labels with no success on the charts.
Ward left the group in 1965, three years before they would change their names to the Ohio Players and record Trepassin', the first of their 29 records to reach the charts. His first stop as a solo artist was with Grove City Records where he recorded Fear No Evil and My Love is Strictly Reserved for You, two songs that had little impact upon release but have gone on to be recognized and admired by soul aficionados.
During the 70's, Ward became a session guitarist at Motown, playing behind some of the biggest artists on their roster but, after the death of his wife in the late-70's, he disappeared from the music scene.
In 1990, a long forgotten Ward met Dave Hussong, a guitar shop owner in Dayton, who hooked him up with Hammond Scott of Black Top Records. The results were two critically acclaimed albums, Fear No Evil and Rhythm of the People. Ward's final album, New Role Soul, was released in 2000.
SOURCE: http://winkscollectibles.blogspot.com
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