John Ford Coley (born October 13, 1948) is an American singer, classically trained pianist, guitarist,

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

, and author most known for his partnership in the musical duo England Dan & John Ford Coley.

Early life

Coley was born John Edward Colley in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...

, United States. He grew up listening to the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divi ...

, early

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

, singing church

hymns A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

and was trained as a classical pianist. At 16, while at W. W. Samuell High School in Dallas, Coley, along with schoolmate

Dan Seals Danny Wayland Seals (February 8, 1948 – March 25, 2009) was an American musician. The younger brother of Seals and Crofts member Jim Seals, he first gained fame as one half of the soft rock duo England Dan & John Ford Coley, who charte ...

, joined the group Theze Few, which later became Southwest F.O.B. and toured the Texas music scene where they had one hit, "The Smell of Incense", which in 1969 rose to number 43 on the charts. This band played on the bill with

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

and other acts. While in the band, Seals and Coley began their own acoustic act, Colley and Wayland. The act was renamed England Dan & John Ford Coley, and the duo was signed by

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

. In 1971, the two moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

where they opened for numerous bands. Their first break came in 1972 with the song "Simone". It became a number one hit in Japan and was popular in France. However, "Simone" did not fare as well in the United States, and the two were released from their contract with A&M after three albums.

Signing to Atlantic Records

Two years later, they acquired another record deal from

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most ...

subsidiary Big Tree Records and released the song "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight". Overall they had four top-ten hits and two top-twenty hits. They were nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

, received triple-platinum and gold records and released eight albums; additionally, other recordings were released abroad. The duo disbanded in 1980.

After the 1980s

Coley formed another group that released an album on A&M Records: Leslie, Kelly and John Ford Coley (featuring sisters Leslie and Kelly Bulkin). He acted in teen films in the 1980s, acquired a small ranch in the 1990s, and wrote songs for film and television. He returned to touring in 1996. Coley plays with groups and artists including

Ambrosia In the ancient Greek myths, ''ambrosia'' (, grc, ἀμβροσία 'immortality'), the food or drink of the Greek gods, is often depicted as conferring longevity or immortality upon whoever consumed it. It was brought to the gods in Olympus b ...

and Terry Sylvester (formerly of

The Hollies The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke and Graham Nash founded the ba ...

Three Dog Night Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, with founding members consisting of vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael A ...

Lou Gramm Lou Gramm (born Louis Andrew Grammatico; 2 May 1950) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for being the lead singer of the rock band Foreigner from 1977 to 1990 and 1992 to 2003 during which time the band had numerous successful albu ...

(of Foreigner),

Christopher Cross Christopher Cross (born Christopher Charles Geppert; May 3, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter from San Antonio, Texas. He won five Grammy Awards for his eponymous debut album released in 1979. The singles "Sailing" (1980), and " Arthur's ...

Poco Poco was an American country rock band originally formed in 1968 after the demise of Buffalo Springfield. Guitarists Richie Furay and Jim Messina, former members of Buffalo Springfield, were joined by multi-instrumentalist Rusty Young, bassi ...

, Stephen Bishop,

Al Stewart Alastair Ian Stewart (born 5 September 1945) is a Scottish born singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician who rose to prominence as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s. He developed a unique style of combining folk-rock s ...

Edgar Winter Edgar Holland Winter (born December 28, 1946) is an American musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist, playing keyboards, guitar, saxophone, and percussion, as well as singing. His success peaked in the 1970s with his band the Edgar Winter Group ...

and others. In 1996, Coley made a trip south for Tin Pan South and began making trips to Nashville to be part of the music community. He moved his family and horses across country to Tennessee in 1999. While in Tennessee, Coley, once a Baháʼí, converted back to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism, monotheistic religion based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, life and Teachings of Jesus, teachings of Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth. It is the Major religious groups, world's ...

. Coley continues to perform internationally. On August 11, 1997, a handyman in Long Island, New York was arrested for impersonating Coley.

Discography

Albums

*''Smell of Incense'' - Southwest F.O.B., 1969 *''England Dan and John Ford Coley'' - England Dan and John Ford Coley, 1971 *''Fables'' - England Dan and John Ford Coley, 1972 *'' I Hear Music'' - England Dan and John Ford Coley, 1976 *''Nights Are Forever'' - England Dan and John Ford Coley, 1976 *''Dowdy Ferry Road'' - England Dan and John Ford Coley, 1977 *''Some Things Don't Come Easy'' - England Dan and John Ford Coley, 1978 *''Dr. Heckle and Mr. Jive'' - England Dan and John Ford Coley, 1979 *''Just Tell Me You Love Me'' - England Dan and John Ford Coley, 1980 *''Leslie, Kelly and John Ford Coley'' - Leslie, Kelly and John Ford Coley, 1980 (A&M Records) *''The Best of England Dan and John Ford Coley'' - England Dan and John Ford Coley, 1980 *''Live from the Philippines'' - John Ford Coley, 2009 *''Eclectic'' - John Ford Coley, 2016 *''Long Way Home (Live in Israel & L.A.'' - John Ford Coley, 2020

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coley, John Ford 1948 births American country guitarists American country pianists American male pianists American folk guitarists American male guitarists American male singer-songwriters American soft rock musicians England Dan & John Ford Coley members Former Bahá'ís Converts to Christianity American Christians Guitarists from Texas Musicians from Dallas Singer-songwriters from Texas Living people 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers Big Tree Records artists