Frankie and johnny- what era?!

Frankie and johnny- what era?

I know Jimmy Rogers did it so did Hank Snow, I would have thought it was 1930s,
I have a female version worded like Hank Snows but don't know who it is?, I have listened to many different versions all with different lyrics including Elvis, Sam Clark, Van Morrison but I would like to know the original singer and era

The first published version of the music to "Frankie and Johnny" appeared in 1904, credited to and copyrighted by Hughie Cannon, the composer of "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey"; the piece, whose melody is a variant of the version sung today, was titled "He Done Me Wrong" and subtitled "Death of Bill Bailey".[1]

Another variant of the melody, with words and music credited to Frank and Bert Leighton, appeared in 1908 under the title "Bill You Done Me Wrong"; this song was republished in 1912 as "Frankie and Johnny", but its music and lyrics both differ significantly from today's version. What has come to be the traditional version of the melody was also published in 1912, as the chorus to the song "You're My Baby", whose music is attributed to Nat. D. Ayer.[2]

The familiar "Frankie and Johnny were lovers" lyrics first appeared (as "Frankie and Albert") in On the Trail of Negro Folksongs by Dorothy Scarborough, published in 1925; a similar version with the "Frankie and Johnny" names appeared in 1927 in Carl Sandburg's The American Songbag.[3]

Several students of folk music have asserted that the song long predates the earliest published versions; Sandburg said it was widespread before 1888, while John Jacob Niles reported that it emerged before 1830.[4] However, the fact that the familiar version does not appear in print before 1925 is "strange indeed for such an allegedly old and well-known song," according to music historian James J. Fuld, who suggests that it "is not so ancient as some of the folk-song writers would have one believe."[5]

It has been suggested that the song was inspired, or its details influenced, by one or more actual murders. One of these took place in St. Louis, Missouri, on October 15, 1899, when Frankie Baker, a 22-year-old dancer, stabbed (or shot) her 17-year-old lover Allen "Al" Britt, who was having a relationship with a woman named Alice Pryor. Britt died of his wounds two days later.[6] On trial, Baker claimed that Britt had attacked her with a knife and that she acted in self-defense; she was acquitted and died in a Portland mental institution in 1950.[7]

The song has also been linked to Frances Silver, convicted in 1832 of murdering her husband Charles Silver in Burke County, North Carolina. Unlike Frankie Baker, Silver was executed. [8]


[edit] Lyrics
Since "Frankie and Johnny" is a traditional song there is no single definitive version of the lyrics. The refrain common to most versions is: "He was her man, but he was doing her wrong." The name of the song's "other woman" varies, Alice or Nellie Bly being the most usual ones. The gunshot that kills Johnny is often depicted by the onomatopoeia "rooty toot toot." Many versions open with the quatrain: "Frankie and Johnny were sweethearts/Lordy, how they could love/They vowed to love one another/Underneath the stars above." A common conclusion is: "This story has no moral/This story has no end/This story only goes to show/That there ain't no good in men."


[edit] Recordings
At least 256 different recordings of "Frankie and Johnny" have been made since the early 20th century. Singers including Lead Belly, Mississippi John Hurt, Jimmie Rodgers, Charlie Poole, Charlie Patton, Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, Stevie Wonder, Taj Mahal, Jack Johnson, Lonnie Donegan, Bob Dylan, and Johnny Cash have performed it in a variety of musical idioms. As a jazz standard it has also been recorded by numerous jazz bands and instrumentalists including Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck, Louis Armstrong, Bunny Berigan, Benny Goodman, and Count Basie.