One night after a local gig, Frankie Ford was introduced to Joe Caronna, who was the New Orleans distributor for Ace Records. Asked if he was interested in making a record, Frankie's answer was, of course, yes.

A few weeks later, Frankie was called to come down to Cosimo's studio. He went down and played two songs for him, "Cheatin' Woman," and "Last One To Cry." Joe Caronna was very impressed with the tunes and became Frankie's manager. Joe set up Ford's first recording session with Ace Records.

Ace Records released "Cheatin' Woman" backed with "Last One To Cry" in 1958. It was a modest hit in southern Louisiana.

About this time, Huey Smith had a song called "Sea Cruise". He had recorded it and it was to be the follow-up to "Don't You Just Know It" which was high up on the charts. Huey was having a few problems with his lead singer, Bobby Marchan. Johnny Vincent, who owned Ace Records, heard the finished masters and decided they needed some more work. Vincent called in Frankie and had him overdub his vocals on the backing tracks of "Sea Cruise" and "Roberta". They thought Frankie sounded a lot like Marchan. It was decided that Frankie would take over as vocalist with Huey Smith and the Clowns. Frankie's manager, Joe Caronna, was against the idea, especially with Smith's group doing so well at the time with "Don't You Just Know It." So Joe suggested that they release the record on Frankie.

In 1960, Frankie Fiord signed a contract with Imperial Records. They approached him with an offer he couldn't refuse. Imperial had better distribution and they offered him "front" money. His producer was going to be Dave Bartholomew, who at the time, was one of the best producers around.

His first release for Imperial was "You Talk Too Much". Joe Jones had cut the song for Roulette Records in New York and they put it on the shelf. They cut it exactly like Joe Jones' version. After the session, they took it to Los Angeles on a Monday night. It was mastered on Tuesday, and by Wednesday and Thursday it was pressed and being sent out. The public couldn't buy the Joe Jones version, so everyone was buying up the Frankie Ford 45. Imperial sold close to a million copies on Frankie's cover record.

Other releases followed on Imperial such as "My Southern Belle" b/w "The Groom" in November of 1960, "Dog House" and "Seventeen" in March of 1961, "Let 'Em Talk" and "What Ever Happened To You" in October of 1961, and "They Said It Couldn't Be Done" b/w "A Man Only Does" in March of 1962.

In 1974, Frankie signed with ABC Records and hit the national charts with the Fats Domino tune, "Blue Monday",  and in 1978, he appeared in the motion picture American Hot Wax.  "Sea Cruise" has been used to advertise Diet Coke, Sprite, Coors Light Beer on radio and in TV commercials. It's on the soundtrack of the award winning Canadian film My American Cousin, as well as in Stewardess School, Ski Patrol, Quantum Leap, and Lifestyles of The Rich & Famous.

Frankie Ford is known all over the world as the "New Orleans Dynamo" and spends about 200 days a year on the road. The legendary rock n' roll pianist and performer has continued to record and to entertain the masses all over the world in concerts, night clubs, casinos and festivals.