Frankie Ford who rose to fame with 1959 hit Sea Cruise dies age 76 in his native Louisiana following five-decade career

By Paul Chavez For Dailymail.com and Associated Press

Published: 19:56 EST, 29 September 2015 | Updated: 09:42 EST, 30 September 2015

Frankie Ford who reached international fame with his 1959 hit song Sea Cruise has died in his native Louisiana aged 76.

The rock and roll and rhythm and blues singer died on Monday of natural causes in the New Orleans suburb of Gretna, according to the Jefferson Parish Coroner's Office.

Ford had been ill for some time and unable to walk since being hit by a car in Memphis several years ago, said Mike Shepherd, a friend of Ford's and head of the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

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Louisiana legend: Frankie Ford, shown performing in New Orleans in 2011, died on Monday aged 76

The singer was known as the New Orleans Dynamo and he frequently toured in a career that spanned more than five decades.

Ford had sung since childhood. His adopted parents, Vincent and Anna Guzzo of Gretna, brought him to New York when he was five to perform on the Ted Mack Amateur Hour.

Shepherd said Ford was among three white singers called to Cosimo Matassa's New Orleans studio in the late 1950s to cover songs by local black musicians whose records got less airtime because of racial discrimination.

Hit song: The singer is shown in 1959 when his song Sea Cruise climbed the charts

'All the music was coming from New Orleans, yet people like Pat Boone were covering people like Little Richard and Fats Domino and getting hits. It was a black-white thing,' Shepherd said.

His stage name was suggested, in a nod to hot rods, by Ace Records owner Johnny Vincent, according to his biography on the hall of fame website.

Sea Cruise was written by Huey 'Piano' Smith and the piano-heavy tune in 1959 reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

Prolific entertainer: Frankie is shown performing in April 2009 at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

The catchy tune remained on the charts for 17 weeks and earned a 19-year-old Ford a gold record when it sold more than one million copies.

Ford's other songs included You Talk Too Much, Alimony, Time After Time, Whiskey Heaven and Roberta.

The singer's last performance was at the 2013 Gretna Heritage Festival.

Piano man: The performer knows as the New Orleans Dynamo is shown in a 1970 file photo

He was born and rasied in Gretna, Lousiana and maintained a home there over the years despite his busy touring schedule.

Ford was drafted in 1962 and performed for troops in Japan, Vietnam and Korea.

He was inducted in May 2010 into the Lousiana Music Hall of Fame.

Shepherd said he last saw Ford a couple of months ago when he visited to get items for the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame museum.

Military veteran: Ford, shown in 1970, was drafted in 1962 and performed for troops overseas

He said Ford, no longer able to walk, told him, 'Son, you go up and take whatever you want, because I'm never wearing any of it again.'

His choices included a sequined jacket — dark red except for a piano keyboard in cream and black sequins.

He said Ford 'put one hand on the sleeve of the jacket ...and he said, ''My mama made this for me.'"

Music prodigy: The Sea Cruise singer, shown in 1959, started performing at age five

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