Ooh-wee.... Frankie Ford, the flamboyant rock ’n’ roll artist who rode “Sea Cruise” nearly to the top of the charts in 1959, died September 29 after a lengthy illness. He was 76.

Ford, whose given name was Francis Guzzo, was born in Gretna, Louisiana on August 4, 1939 and raised by adoptive parents in nearby Gretna. “I know nothing about my [birth] parents—I have not tried to inquire about anything. It was a closed adoption. I could probably find out about my parents, but why open that can...