Vincent Ford (10 November 1940 – 28 December 2008), known as "Tata" or "Tartar", was a Jamaican songwriter best known for receiving writing credit for "No Woman, No Cry", the reggae song made famous by Bob Marley & The Wailers, as well as three other Bob Marley songs.
[2] Ford was given writing credit for "No Woman, No Cry" on the 1974 album Natty Dread, as well the songs "Crazy Baldhead" (with Marley's wife Rita), "Positive Vibration" and "Roots Rock Reggae" from the 1976 album Rastaman Vibration, along with "Inna de Red" and "Jah Bless" with Marley's son, Stephen.
[1][2] Marley had not wanted his new songs to be associated with Cayman and it had been speculated, including in his obituary in The Independent, that he had put them in the names of his close friends and family members as a means of avoiding the contractual restrictions and as a way to "provide lasting help to family and close friends".
[2] Marley's widow was sued by his former manager Danny Sims in a claim for royalty and ownership rights to these songs.
Goldman described Ford as "an unbroken link to a generation, many of whom are now gone", reminiscing that "The last time I saw him he was going into a Marley family gig in Kingston, and he was just borne along on a wave of youth, all admiring him and understanding what he’d come to represent."