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Frankie and Johnny

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(Gottlieb / Karger / Weisman)

Information:
There are several versions as to the origin of this classic folk song. One story says Frankie and Johnny dates back to the war of 1812. When the Tennessee and Kentucky Rifles (who served under Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans) returned home from the war, they sang the song. Supposedly they heard it in Crescent City, Louisiana, a mostly French-speaking city, under the title Françoise et Jean. 

Another story traces the origin to a hot summer night in St. Louis in 1888. Frankie (a woman) gunned down her boyfriend, Johnny, with a derringer she had hidden in her garter. She had just learned that Johnny had “done her wrong”.

In 1904 Hughie Cannon had the first published version of the song, using the title “He Done Me Wrong”. Several artists have recorded Frankie and Johnny over the years, including Ted Lewis (Columbia 1017) in 1927, Gene Autry in 1929, Johnny Cash (using the title Frankie’s Man, Johnny) in 1959 (Columbia 41371), Brook Benton (Mercury 71859) in 1961, and Sam Cooke (RCA 8215) in 1963. Cooke’s recording was the highest charted at #14.

Elvis recorded Frankie and Johnny using an arrangement by Alex Gottlieb, Fred Karger and Ben Weisman, in May 1965 at Radio Recorders. In his film, Frankie and Johnny, he was backed by a chorus that included Donna Douglas, Sue Ane Langdon and Harry Morgan. The single release of Frankie and Johnny had an eight-week stay on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, peaking at #25.

Lyrics:

Frankie and me we were lovers
Oh Lordy how we could love
Swore we'd be true to each other just as true as stars above
I was her man, until I done her wrong

My luck in poker was fading
When a new gal caught my eye
I gambled, I tried to change my luck with a chick named Nellie Bly
I was Frankie's man but I was doing her wrong

Frankie came looking to find me
She wasn't looking for fun
For in her sweet loving hand she was totin' a 44 gun
To shoot her man if he was doin' her wrong

Frankie looked into the bar room
And right there in front of her eyes
There was her loving Johnny making love to that Nellie Bly
I was her man, she caught me doing her wrong

Yeah, Frankie, I beg, please don't shoot me
Well they'll put you away in a cell
They'll put you where the cold wind blows from the hottest corner of hell
I'm your man, I know I done you wrong

Yeah, roll me real easy, I said the roll me real slow
Roll me over real gently
'Cause my wound hurts me so
I was her man, though I done her wrong

Well Frankie told Johnny
Well this is the end of my song
I was her man, well I done her wrong
Well, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
Done her wrong

Where it was released:

Released for the first time on single »

Singles:

- Frankie and Johnny / Please Don’t Stop Loving Me (RCA 47-8780) March 1966. Standard release »

- Frankie and Johnny / Please Don’t Stop Loving Me (RCA 447-0656) February 1968. Gold Standard Series reissue.

- Frankie and Johnny / Love Letters (Collectables DPE1-1016 4516) December 1986.

LPs/CDs:

- Frankie and Johnny (1966) »
- Elvis Sings Hits From His Movies, Volume 1 (1972) »

- Double Dynamite (1975) »

– Elvis in Hollywood (1976) »

- Frankie and Johnny (1976) - Pickwick »

- The Elvis Presley Collection (1976) »

- Elvis - A Collectors Edition (1976) »
– Pickwick Pack (1978) »

- The Legendary Recordings of Elvis (1979) »
- Command Performances – The Essential 60’s Masters II (1995)

- Out In Hollywood (1999) - FTD »

- Frankie and Johnny (2003) – FTD »

- HitStory (2005)

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