FRANKIE AND HER MAN
FRANKIE AND ALBERT (Music arr. Edward Collins)
FRANKIE AND JOHNNY (Music arr. Edward Collins)
FRANKIE BLUES (Music arr. Edward Collins)
JOSIE (Music arr. Alfred G. Wathall)
SADIE
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FRANKIE AND ALBERT
A Frankie song is like a grand opera role; interpretations vary. The Leighton brothers run a gamut of emotions; John Lomax delivers a quizzically mournful monotone; Sig Spaeth vocalizes it like a gnome riding a gnu with gnats mellifluously. The maxim, "Life is a tragedy to those who feel, a comedy to those who think," may go for viewpoints on this ballad. It is stark and fierce, it is serio-comic, or it is blah-blah as you like it.
If America has a classical gutter song, it is the one that tells of Frankie and her man. Josie, Sadie, Lillie, Annie, are a few of her aliases; she has many. Prof. L. M. Belden of the University of Missouri showed me sixteen Frankie songs, all having the same story though a few are located in the back country and in bayous instead of the big city. Then I met up with R. W. Gordon; he has 110 Frankie songs, and is still picking up new ones. R. Emmett Kennedy in his remarkably thorough and valuable book, "Mellows" has a song, "My Baby in a Guinea Blue Gown," which belongs in the Frankie discussion because its tune may have been the grandfather of the most widely known Frankie melodies. The Frankie and Albert song, as partly given here, was common along the Mississippi river and among railroad men of the middle west as early as 1888. It is a simple and mournful air, of the short and simple annals of the poor. The Frankie and Johnny song is of later development, with notes of violence and flashes of exasperation. The Frankie Blues came still later, and with its "blue" notes is, of course, "meaner" as a song. In many colleges are groups who sing Frankie songs in ragtime manner, with lackadaisical verses. As our American culture advances, it may be that classes will take up the Frankie songs as seriously as a play by Molicre or a Restoration comedy or the Provencal ballads of France. It may be said that the Frankie songs, at best, are an American parallel of certain European ballads of low life, that are rendered by important musical artists from the Continent for enthusiastic audiences in Carnegie Hall, New York, or Orchestra Hall, Chicago. Some day, perhaps, we may arrive at a better common understanding of our own art resources and how to use them. While the Frankie story deals with crime, violence, murder, adultery, its percentage in these respects is a good deal less than in the average grand opera.
Lastly, for those about to sing this piece, we should note that in several places, in San Francisco, Omaha, Fort Worth, Fort Smith, Fort Scott and Dubuque the verse about the man under the doctor's care crying, "Roll me over easy," or "Turn me over, doctor," has no tune; all present joining in a wide, wild, disconnected wailing. Also, we note, by alternating the names of Albert and Johnny, or Frankie, Josie, Sadie, any verse of any song goes for all. The air of version II of Frankie and Johnny, carries all the verses of version I, except that the repeat, " so wrong " isn't used. While it may seem a discrepancy that Frankie, threatened with the electric chair, ends her days on the gallows, it should also be understood that several versions of the song picture her starting to join a county chain gang, wearing a ball and chain attached to one of her ankles.
FRANKIE AND ALBERT
1. Frankie and Albert were sweethearts, everybody knows,
Frankie spent a hundred dollars just to get her man some clothes;
He was her man, but he done her wrong.
2 Frankie went down to the corner, took along a can,
Says to the lovin' bartender, "Has you seen my lovin' man?
He is my man, but he's doin' me wrong."
3. "Well, I ain't gonna tell you no story, ain't gonna tell you no lie,
Albert went by 'bout an hour ago, with a girl called Alice Fry;
He was your man, but he's doin' you wrong."
4. Frankie's gone from the corner, Frankie ain't gone for fun,
Underneath her apron she's got Albert's gatlin' gun;
He was her man, but he done her wrong.
5. Albert sees Frankie comin', out the back door he did scoot,
Frankie pulled out the pistol, went roota-de-toot-toot-toot.
He was her man, but she shot him down.
6. Frankie shot him once, Frankie shot him twice,
Third time that she shot him the bullet took his life;
He was her man, but he done her wrong.
7. When Frankie shot Albert, he fell down on his knees,
Looked up at her and said, "Oh, Frankie, please,
Don't shoot me no ino', don't shoot me no mo'."
8. "Oh, turn me over, doctor; turn me over slow,
Turn me over on my right side, 'cause the bullet am hurtin' me so
I was her man, but I done her wrong."
9. Now it's rubber-tired carriages, decorated hack,
Eleven men went to the graveyard, and only ten come back:
He was her man, but he's dead and gone.
10 Frankie was a-standin' on the corner, watchin' de hearse go by,
Throwed her arms into the air, "Oh, let me lie
By the side of my man, what done me wrong."
11 Frankie went to the graveyard, bowed down on her knees,
"Speak one word to me, Albert, an' give my heart some ease.
You was my man, but I done you wrong."
12 Sheriff arrested Frankie, took her to the county jail,
Locked her up in a dungeon cell, and throwcd the keys away.
She shot her man, said he done her wrong.
13 Judge tried li'l Frankie, under an electric fan;
Judge says, "Yo' free woman now, go kill yourself anothah man.
He was yo* man, now he's dead an' gone."
FRANK1E AND JOHNNY
FRANKIE AND JOHNNY
1. Frankie and Johnny were lovers, O lordy how they could love.
Swore to be true to each other, true as the stars above;
He was her man but he done her wrong, so wrong.
2 Johnny's mother told him, and she was mighty wise,
Don't spend Frankie's money on that parlor Ann Eliz;
You're Frankie's man, and you're doin' her wrong, so wrong.
3 Frankie and Johnny went walking, Johnny in his bran' new suit,
"0 good Lawd," says Frankie, "Don't my Johnny look cute?"
He was her man but he done her wrong, so wrong.
4 Frankie went down to the corner, to buy a glass of beer;
She says to the fat bartender, "Has niy lovinest man been here?
He was my man but he's done me wrong, so wrong."
5 Frankie went down to the pawn shop, she bought herself a little forty-four
She aimed it at the ceiling, shot a big hole in the floor;
"Where is my man, he's doin' me wrong, so wrong?"
6 Frankie went back to the hotel, she didn't go there for fun,
'Cause under her long red kimono she toted a forty -four gun.
He was her man but he done her wrong, so wrong.
7. Frankie went down to the hotel, looked in the window so high,
There she saw her lovin' Johnny a-lovin' up Alice Bly;
He was her man but he done her wrong, so wrong.
8. Frankie went down to the hotel, she rang that hotel bell,
"Stand back all of you floozies or I'll blow you all to hell,
I want my man, he's doin' me wrong, so wrong."
9. Frankie threw back her kimono, she took out her forty-four,
Root-a-toot-toot, three times she shot, right through that hardwood floor,
She shot her man, 'cause he done her wrong, so wrong.
10. Johnny grabbed off his Stetson, "O good Lawd, Frankie, don't shoot,"
But Frankie put her finger on the trigger, and the gun went roota-toot-toot,
He was her man but she shot him down.
11. Johnny saw Frankie a comin', down the backstairs he did scoot;
Frankie had the little gun out, let him have it rooty -de-toot;
For he was her man, but she shot him down.
12. Johnny he mounted the staircase, cried, "O Frankie don't shoot!"
Three times she pulled the forty-four gun a rooty-toot-toot-toot-toot,
She nailed the man what threw her down.
13. "Roll me over easy, roll me over slow,
Roll me over easy, boys, 'cause my wounds they hurt me so,
But I was her man, and I done her wrong, so wrong."
14. "Oh my baby, kiss me once before I go,
Turn me over on my right side, doctor, where de bullet hurt me so.
I was her man but I done her wrong, so wrong."
15. Johnny he was a gambler, he gambled for the gain,
The very last words he ever said were, "High-low Jack and the game."
He was her man but he done her wrong, so wrong.
16. Bring out your long black coffin, bring out your funeral clo'es;
Bring back Johnny's mother; to the churchyard Johnny goes.
He was her man but he done her wrong, so wrong.
17. Frankie went to his coffin, she looked down on his face,
She said, "O Lawd, have mercy on me, I wish I could take his place,
He was my man, and I done him wrong, so wrong."
18. Oh bring on your rubber-tired hearses, bring on your rubber-tired hacks,
They're takin' Johnny to the buryin* groun* an' they won't bring a bit of him back;
He was her man but he done her wrong, so wrong.
19. Frankie stood on the corner to watch the funeral go by;
"Bring back my poor dead Johnny to me," to the undertaker she did say,
"He was my man, but he done me wrong, so wrong."
20. Frankie heard a rumbling away down in the ground,
Maybe it was little Johnny where she had shot him down.
He was her man and she done him wrong, so wrong.
21. Frankie went to Mrs. Halcomb, she fell down on her knees,
She said, "Mrs. Halcomb, forgive me, forgive me, if you please,
For I've killed my man what done me wrong, so wrong."
22. "Forgive you, Frankie darling, forgive you I never can.
Forgive you, Frankie darling, for killing your only man,
Oh he was your man tho' he done you wrong, so wrong."
23. Frankie said to the warden, "What are they goin' to do?"
The warden he said to Frankie, "It's the electric chair for you,
You shot your man tho' he done you wrong, so wrong."
24. The sheriff came around in the morning, said it was all for the best,
He said her lover Johnny was nothin* but a doggone pest.
He was her man but he done her wrong, so wrong.
25. The judge said to the jury, "It's as plain as plain can be;
This woman shot her lover, it's murder in the second degree,
He was her man tho' he done her wrong, so wrong."
26. Now it was not murder in the second degree, and was not murder in the third,
The woman simply dropped her man, like a hunter drops a bird.
He was her man but he done her wrong, so wrong.
27. "Oh bring a thousand policemen, bring 'em around today,
Oh lock me in. that dungeon, and throw the keys away,
I shot my man, 'cause he done me wrong, so wrong."
28. "Yes, put me in that dungeon, oh put me in that cell,
Put me where the northeast wind blows from the southeast corner of hell.
I shot my man, 'cause he done me wrong, so wrong."
29. Frankie mounted to the scaffold as calm as a girl can be,
And turning her eyes to heaven, she said, "Good Lord, I am coming to Thee.
He was my man, but he done me wrong, so wrong."
FRANKIE BLUES
FRANKIE BLUES
1. Frankie was a good woman,
Everybody knows,
Gave forty-one dollars to buy Albert
A suit of clothes:
"Yes, he's my man, but lie done me wrong."
2. Frankie went to the corner,
Took a forty-four gun,
Shot her Albert a-rooty-ti-toot,
And away he tried to run:
"He was my man, but he done me wrong."
3. "Roll me over easy,
Roll me over slow,
Roll rue over on my right side,
'Cause the bullet hurt me so;
I was your man, but I done you wrong."
4. Frankie sit in a parlor,
Cool herself with a fan,
Tell all the other women and girls,
"Don't trust any doggone man,
He'll do you wrong, he'll do you wrong."
JOSIE
The restless sons of Man in tfie mountains of Kentucky sometimes descend to the plains and live in the big cities, in the centers of wickedness, in the tents of the ungodly, where night is turned into day by the bright lights. When they go back to the mountains sometimes they have songs their lips have learned in strange places. Perhaps one of the children of the mountains learned a Frankie song in one of the cities and brought it back to the mountains where the name of the heroine was changed to Josie. Or, perhaps, it was in the mountains that the first Frankie song was born and the name of the leading character was Josie and it was in the city that her name was changed. When the song history of America is definitively written, we shall know about these things.
JOSIE
1. Josie she's a good girl, as everybody knows,
She gave one hundred dollars for an ivory suit of clothes;
"He is iny man, but he won't come home/'
2 She went down the street as far as I could see,
And every band that she passed by played "Nearer My God to Thee,"
"Oh, he's my man, but he won't come home."
3 She went down the street, a revolver in her hand,
Saying, "Stand back, gents and ladies; I'm searching for my man,
Oh, he's my man, but he won't come home."
4. She stepped into the barroom, and there her husband stood,
She drew her revolver from her side and shot him thru and thru;
"He's my man, but he wouldn't come home."
5. She went down to the jail-house, keys all in her hand,
Saying, "Here, Mr. Jailer, lock me up, for I've shot my man;
He's my man, but he wouldn't come home."
6. One thing hurt Mrs. Josie, one thing made her cry,
Standing there in the courthouse door when the hurst (hearse) came rolling by;
""Oh, he's my man, but he wouldn't come home."
7. "I'm not going to wear no mourning, not going to wear no black,
But I'll go down to the graveyard and bring my Iva back;
Oh, he's my man, but he done me wrong."
8. She went down to the graveyard and fell down on her knees,
And prayed to the Lord in heaven to send her heart some ease;
"Oh, he's my man, but he wouldn't come home."
9. Sitting in the parlor by an electric fan,
Pleading with the youngest girl never to marry a gambling man;
"Hell be your man, but he'll not conic home."
SADIE
This is a woman's version of the old story of Frankie and her man. Six young women from six old cities sang it at White Lake, Michigan. They wrap Sadie in a "sky-blue kimono." They have Sadie kill her man, he is hauled to the graveyard, and that's all. No arrest, no murder trial, neither acquittal nor execution. Text and tune here are from Julia Peterson of Ann Arbor.
SADIE
1. Sadie went into the bar-room, and she ordered up a big glass of beer.
She said, "Tell mo the truth, Mister Bartender, has my Henry Brown been here?
'Cause he's my man, and he's doin' me wrong, he won't come home."
"Well I ain't goin' to toll you no secrets, and I ain't goin' to toll you no lies,
But 1 saw Henry Brown just a moment ago, and I could hardly b'lieve my eyes,
'Cause he's your man, what's been doin' you wrong, he won't come home."
3 Sadie drank up all her beer, and she ordered up a big glass of gin,
She said, "Ain't it a shame. Mister Bartender, that I've a-takin' to drinkin* again,
On account of my man, what's a-doin' me wrong, he wouldn't come home."
4 Sadie went up a dark alloy, and she didn't go up there for fun,
For under her sky-blue kimono, she had a great big forty-four gun,
On account of her man, what was doin' her wrong, he wouldn't come home.
5 "Roll me over easy, now roll me over slow,
Oh, roll me over on my right side because my left side hurts me so,
A Cause Fin Sadie's man, what's a done her wrong, 1 wouldn't come home."
6. They hauled out the rubber-tired carriage, and they hauled out the rubber-tired hack,
They were haulin* a guy to the grave-yard, and they weren't gonna haul him back,
He was Sadie's man, that had done her wrong, he wouldn't come home.