Clifford Thomas (thank goodness he dropped the Thomas) Ward was a most unusual singer songwriter.  In a rock band that never made it in the sixties by 1968 he gave up the music business and became a teacher.  But in his spare time he continued writing songs and had his first solo record in 1972.  The album flopped as the record company went bust.  He re-signed to Charisma and had a massive hit with “Gaye”.  It was only then that he gave up teaching to concentrate on music.   As far as I know he never performed live, preferring the obscurity of the recording studio.  This inevitably affected what was never really a career at all.   He hated being in the public eye, giving interviews and any aspects of being successful.

In 1984 he was diagnosed with MS which he struggled with for almost two decades.  The records became more ragged, and with longer gaps between releases.  He also lost a lot of his originality, the songs becoming simpler, less sophisticated, and poorer as a result.  In a rare interview in 1994 he said

“ I have not and will not come to terms with this illness. There are times — usually quite late at night — when I’m almost normal again. But unless they find a cure for this dreadful MS, then I don’t see a future “.

He died in 2001.

But those early songs, in fact the first four or five albums are so full of love and warmth and gentle wisdom, singing about relationships, the death of a miner, a whimsy of falling in love with an air-hostess, and even children’s songs like “Mr. Bilbo Baggins”, he displayed a quietness amid all the bluster of big rock music around.  A small voice for sanity in an increasingly chaotic world.   He was and remains one of my very favourite artists, almost because he refused to be a part of it all.  He simply wanted to write and sing his gentle songs.  And in that way he was so successful too.  He is loved and cherished by his many fans to this day.