251. Frankie and Albert

 


251
Frankie and Albert

"The dramatic power of its bare narrative and the force of its
refrain" have made 'Frankie and Albert' "the most widely known
and sung of native American ballads." Belden, who describes it
thus (BSM 330), gives the most complete summary of the numer-
ous and varied accounts of its origin, and the fullest account of its
diffusion.

In The Mauve Decade, p. 120, Thomas Beer states that the song
was based on a murder at Natchez in the 1840s and was sung by
Federal troops before Vicksburg in 1863. This account Belden
says he has not been able to document. Sandburg's ASb assertion
that the song "was common along the Mississippi River and among
railroad men of the middle west as early as 1888" the editor of BSM

 

590 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE

quotes without comment. So with the history appearing in Frankic
and Johnny (New York, 1930), John Huston's play based on the
song: that it sprang "from the kilHng of Allen Britt by Frankie
Baker, figures in the negro underworld of St. Louis, in 1899," and
that (quoting Huston) " 'the song has not been traced to any
Frankie before her.' " There is some inherent probability, Belden
thinks, in the suggestion made by Phillips Barry (BFSSNE x 24)
that 'Frankie and Johnny' "was based on the killing of Charles
Silver by his wife Frankie at Toe River, North Carolina, in 1831,
on the same provocation that led to the shooting of Albert (or
Johnnie) in the song as we now have it; and that the original
ballad has been 'readapted, probably more than once, to modern
instances of underworld life.' " In the opinion of the other editor
of the folk songs in the Frank C. Brown Collection, the style of
'Frankie Silver,' the lack of any evidence that it had wide diffusion,
and the absence of any but the most trifling variations in the re-
covered texts, all discount Barry's suggestion. All that the two
ballads have in common is that a woman kills her man and is
executed for the murder. The ballad 'Frankie Silver' itself has
nothing to say about the motive, which is quite clear in 'Frankie
and Albert.'

Belden BSM 330-1 notes reports of 'Frankie and Albert' as a
folk song from Connecticut, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee,
North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas,
Arkansas, Illinois, and a few other unspecified locations. He prints
a very full composite text given him by H. A. Chapman, of the
School of Mines at Rolla, Missouri. Add: Eddy BSO 245-52
(Ohio) ; John Huston's Frankic and Albert (thirteen versions
appended to the play — the whole illustrated by Covarrubias) ; The
Saga, of Frankie & Johnny Beautifidly Engraved by John Held,
Jr. (n.p., 1930); Randolph OFS 11 125; Davis FSV 265 (listed);
Morris FSF 126-8.

No two of the ten versions in our collection are alike, but there
are enough similarities among most of them to justify collation and
comparison of some without printing all of them. Where this de-
vice is resorted to, it is to be understood that there are some unnoted
verbal differences between stanzas that are indicated as correspond-
ing to each other.

A

'Frankie Baker.' Contributed by Miss Bonnie Ethel Dickson, of Helton,
Ashe county; MS undated. (Miss Dickson took degrees from Duke
University in 1931 and 1938.)

1 Frankie was a good girl,
As everybody knows ;

She paid a htmdred-dollar bill

For a suit of Albert's clothes,

Because she loved him so, because she loved him so.

2 Frankie went down the Broadway
With a razor in her hand,

Saying, 'Stand back, you loving girls,

 

NATIVE AMERICAN BALLADS 59I

I'm looking for my gambling man!

Oh, he's my man, won't treat me right.'

Frankie went to the gin house

And called for a glass of gin,

Calling out to the gin keeper,

'I'm going to get drunk again.

Oh, he's my man, won't treat me right.'

Frankie went to the barroom

And called for a glass of beer.

Calling out to the barroom tender,

'Have you seen Albert here ?

Oh, he's my man, won't treat me right.'

The barroom tender said to Frankie,
'Oh, girl, I'll tell no lie :
Albert left here a moment ago
With a girl called Alice Frye;
So he's your man, won't treat you right.'

Frankie went to the pool-room,

Started in at the pool-room door.

There she spied her gambling man

Standing in the. middle of the floor.

'Oh, there's my man, won't treat me right.

'Oh, come to me, little Albert,

I'm not calling you in fun.

If you don't come to the one you love

I'll shoot you with your own gun.

For you're my man, won't treat me right.'

Little Albert ran around the table

And fell down on his knees,

Calling out to his loving wife,

'Don't shoot me, Frankie, please.

For I'm your man, won't treat you right.'

It was on last Thursday morning

At half-past nine o'clock,

^Frankie grabbed a forty-four gun,

She fired two fatal shots.

She killed her man, wouldn't treat her right.

'Oh, turn me over, Frankie,

Oh, turn me over slow ;

Turn me over on my left side

So the bullets won't hurt me so ;

You've killed your man, wouldn't treat you right.'

 

592 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE

1 1 The people all said to Frankie,
'Oh, girl, why don't you run?
Yonder comes a chief police
With a forty-four smoking gun,

For killing your man wouldn't treat you right.'

12 Frankie went down the Broadway
As far as she could see.

All she could hear was a twofold band
Playing 'Nearer My God to Thee.'
It seemed so sad, little Albert's dead.

13 Frankie went to the river

And looked from bank to bank,

Saying, 'I've done all I can for my gambling man,

And still I get no thanks.

Oh, he's my man, wouldn't treat me right.'

14 They took her to the prison

An' cooled her with an electric fan.
She whispered low in her sister's ear,
'Never love a gambling man. whatever you do.
He won't treat you right.'

15 They took her to the courthouse
And sat her in a big armchair.

She waited there to hear the judge say,

'Just give her ninety-nine year.

For killing her man, wouldn't treat her right.'

16 The judge said to the jury,
'Oh, gentlemen, I can't see ;
Frankie killed the man she loved.
And I think she ought to go free.

For killing her man wouldn't treat her right.'

17 Little Frankie walked out on the scaffold
As brave as she could be.

Calling out to the judge and jury,

'I've murdered Albert in the first degree ;

Oh, he's my man, wouldn't treat me right.'

18 Little Frankie's dead and buried
In a tomb by Albert's side.
They've erected a marble square
And on it these words inscribed :

'He's a gambling man, and she's his bride.'

B
'Frankie and Albert.' From Julian P. Boyd, of Alliance, Pamlico county,
as collected from a pupil, Graham Wayne, c. 1927-28. Eleven stanzas.

 

NATIVE AMERICAN BALLADS 593

Stanzas B i, 2, 3, 4, 5 correspond, respectively, to stanzas A i, 4, 5, 6, 7;
stanza B 6 ("Albert got up from behind the counter"), to A 8; stanza
B 7 ("On one Sunday morning"), to A 9 ; stanzas B 8- 11, to A 10, ^ I,
15, 12. Frankie's rival is "Alice Bright."

 

'Frankie Baker.' From Miss Lura Wagoner, Vox, Alleghany county,
in a MS dated October 30, 191 1, and loaned Dr. Brown in August 1936.
Fourteen stanzas. Stanzas C 1-2 correspond, respectively, to A 1-2;
stanza C 3, to A 5 ; stanza C 4, to A 13 ; stanzas C 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, to
A 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; stanza C 11, to A 17; stanza C 12, to A 12; stanza
C 13, to A 14; stanza C 14, to A 18. "Alice Frye" and "Thursday
morning" as in A.

 

'Frankie and Johnnie.' From Miss Fanny Grogan, Silverstone, Watauga
county, September 12, 1920. Seventeen stanzas : Stanza D i corresponds
to A I ; stanza D 2 (as copied below) ; stanzas D 3 and 4, to stanzas A 4
and 5; stanza D 5 (as copied); stanzas D 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, to
stanzas A 2, 6, 7, 13, 9, 10, 11, respectively; stanza D 15 (as copied) ;
stanza D 16, to stanza A 17; stanza D 17 (as copied). "Alice Fry" and
"Friday morning."

2 She took them to Httle Albert,
And Httle Albert put them on,
Started off down the broad way
Saying, 'By by, I am gone,
For I am your man, won't treat you right.'

5 Frankie turned round to the gin-well
And called for a glass of gin,
Calling out to the gin-well keeper,
'I am a-goin' to get drunk again.
I'll kill that man won't treat me right.'

13 Now Frankie is in the jailhouse
With her back turned to the wall.
Writing a letter to the boys and girls,
Saying, 'You're the cause of it all.
I killed my man wouldn't treat me right.'

15 The judge charged the jury,
And the jury run away.
They found her guilty in the first degree
For killing little Albert Bay
It was her man, wouldn't treat her right.

17 Now Frankie is dead and buried
By the side of little Albert Bay.
Albert was a gambling man.
And Frankie was a bride.

 

594 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE

E
Trankie.' Contributed by Julian P. Boyd, then of Alliance, Pamlico
county, who obtained it from an anonymous student, c. 1927-28. Eleven
stanzas: E i corresponds to A i ; E 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (as copied) ; E 7, 8,
9, ID, II, respectively, like A 12, D 13, A 15, 14, 18.

2 Frankie went to the ballroom,
She looked inside the door,
She asked the ballroom keeper
Was little Albert there.

'He is my man, my gambling man.'

3 'Yes, ma'am. Misses Frankie,
You'rb a girl I've never denied.
He just then left a minute ago
With a girl named Nellie Spy.

He is your man, your gambling man.'

4 Frankie went to the barroom ;
She did not go for fun.

For under her calico apron
She 'cealed a forty-five gun,
To kill her man, her gambling man.

5 Frankie went to the barroom;
She stepped inside the door ;
There she killed her Albert
Standing in the middle of the floor.
'He is my man, my gambling man.'

6 'Turn me over, Frankie,
Turn me over slow ;

Pray don't touch my wounded side.

Do, my heart will overflow.

You've killed your man, your gambling man.'

F
'Aggie and Alfred.' From Julian P. Boyd, then of Alliance, Pamlico
county, who obtained it from an anonymous student, c. 1927-28.

1 Aggie was a good old woman,
As everybody knows ;

She did the work around the house

And washed old Alfred's clothes.

He was her man, but he done her wrong,

2 Aggie went down to the barroom
To get her a bottle of beer ;

She said, 'Oh, Mister Bartender,

Have you seen my Alfred here ?

He was my man, but he done me wrong.*

 

NATIVE AMERICAN BALLADS 595

3 'I ain't gonna tell no story,
I ain't gonna tell no lie ;

I saw your Alfred drunk last night,

Lying in the mire.

He was your man, but he done you wrong.'

4 Aggie went up them stair steps
Intending to have some fun,
For in the folds of her petticoat
She had a nasty forty-one.

He was her man, but he done her wrong.

5 Aggie pulled aside them curtains
And saw a scene of strife.

The second time she fired that gun

She took old Alfred's life.

He was her man, but she done him wrong.

6 Aggie got a double-seated buggy
And a rubber-tired hack ;

She took him to the cemetery

And refused to bring him back.

He was her man, but she done him wrong.

7 Aggie went to Alfred's mother
And fell upon her knees.

She said, 'Oh, Alfred's mother.

Forgive me if you please.

He was my man, but I done him wrong.'

8 The judge he said to Aggie,
'Now, Aggie, you come to me.'
He sent her to the 'lectric chair
Way down in Santa Fe.

He was her man, but she done him wrong.

9 Now I've told my story,
And I hope I've told it well.
Aggie went to Heaven,
And Alfred went to — well,

He was her man, but he done her wrong.

G
'Frankie Baker.' From Mrs. Minnie Church, Heaton, Avery county,
1930. Twelve stanzas : G i corresponds to A i ; G 2, to D 2 ; G 3, 4,
5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, to A 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, II, respectively; G 11, to A 15;
G 12, to A 12. Frankie's rival is "Alice Fly," and her lover is "Albert."

H
'Frankie Baker.' From Mamie Mansfield, Durham, 1922-23. On the text
there is a note, "Recorded by F. Coleman 1922." Seven stanzas, cor-

 

596 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE

responding: H 1-2 to A i and 4; H 3 (". . . girl name Sallie Dry")
to A 5; H 4, 5, 6, 7 to A 6, 7, 8, 9, respectively. H 7 has "Thursday
morning / About half past ten o'clock" and "forty-four gun."

I
'Frankie.' From a typescript marked "Mrs. Pridgen" by Dr. Brown —
probably Mrs. W. L. Pridgen, Durham, who received an A.B. degree
from Duke University in 1925. This version is a wire-drawn reduction
of the story to its lyric and narrative elements.

1 Frankie was a good woman,
As everybody knows.

She spent three hundred dollars

Just to buy her Albert clothes,

'Cause he was her man, till he done her wrong.

Chorus:

I ain't gonna tell you no .stories,

I ain't gonna tell you no lies ;

I seed your Albert with a yellow girl,

Yes, I seed him with my eyes.

And he was your man, but he done you wrong.

2 Frankie went down to the corner,
She didn't go there for fun,

For under her kimono

Was a great big forty-four gun.

She was looking for that man who done her wrong.

3 Bring on your rubber-tired hearses,
Bring on your rubber-tired hacks ;
Your Albert's gone to Heaven,
And he ain't never coming back.

And he was your man, but he done you wrong.

4 Frankie was sitting in the parlor,
Cooling by the electric fan.
Telling to her daughter,

'Don't you marry no drinking man ;

He'll be your man, but he'll do you wrong.'

J
'He Done Her Wrong.' With music. Phonograph recording February
II, 1921. The first three stanzas are from MS of Blake B. Harrison.
Durham, 1919, and were printed by White in ANFS 214; the fourth,
remembered later, from MS given to Dr. Brown.

I Amy was a good woman, everybody knows.

She spent ten thousand dollars to buy her Albert clothes.

Rejrain:

He was her man, but he done her wrong.

 

NATIVE AMERICAN BALLADS 597

Amy went to de barroom, to git a bottle ob beer.
Amy said to de bartender, 'You seen my Albert here?'

Bartender said to Amy, 'I ain't gwine tell you no lie,
I seen your Albert down here wid a woman what had
blue eyes.'

Frankie went to de pool-room, started in at de pool-room

door;
There she spied her gambling man standing in de middle

ob de floor.
----------------------------
 

 

 

Frankie and Albert

 

'Frankie and Johnnie.' Sung by Miss Fannie Grogan and Miss Lura Weaver.
Recorded as ms score at Vox, Alleghany county, in 1936. In the long headnotc,
various details brought out by II 589-90, there is no mention of R. W. Gordon,
who, according to Mary O. Eddy (BSO 246) is "undoubtedly the worlds
authority on Frankie and Johnnie." Mr. Gordon, she says, "is reputed to have
collected at least three hundred texts" and in 1936 said that "the woman of the
story was still living." She cites another source in the New York Times.
October 21, 1934, by Sigmund Spaeth. The last line of stanza i of version A
is the potential refrain of this ballad. 434

 

Scale: Mode III. Tonal Center: f. Structure: aaibb^b^cci (2,2,1,1,2,1,1) =
abc (4,4,2).

 

'He Done Her Wrong.' Sung by Blake B. Harrison. Recorded as ms score at
Durham, in 1919. The name of the woman as well as the amount spent differs
from all the other versions.
 

For melodic relationship cf. *FSUSA 312, No. 88, measures 5-8; OFS 11
127, No. 159A.

Scale: Irrational. Tonal Center: d. Structure: aa^bb^a-a'' (2,2,2,2,2,2) = aba'
(4.4.4)-

 

'Frankie and Johnnie.' Sung by Beaker. Recorded probably at Boone,

Watauga county, in 1939, 1940, or 1941.

 


For melodic relationship cf. ***TNFS 84, FSRA 189, No. in, and AMS 38,
first eight measures : ASb 79, first four measures ; BSO 245, No. 108A ; *OFS
II 135, version F.

 


Scale: Heptachordal. Tonal Center: c. Structure: aaibbkci (2,2,2,2,2,2) =
abc (4,4.4)-