Frankie and Johnny

The folk ballad “Frankie and Johnny” was based on a murder that took place in St. Louis in 1899. Frankie Baker shot Allen Britt while he was with another woman, Alyce Pryor. The sensational killing provided the inspiration for “Frankie and Albert” (later retitled). Albert's love interest evolved into Nelly Bly, but the elements of the ballad remained fairly constant—Frankie and Johnny were lovers. Johnny was untrue. Frankie shot him in a jealous rage. In Frankie and Johnny Stacy I. Morgan demonstrates that the many cultural uses to which this ballad was put in the 1930s helps us see how African American folk materials circulated widely in the mass media. The book contradicts the view of folklorists who believe that folk culture arises from people isolated from the mainstream. Morgan analyzes seven representations of the “Frankie and Johnny” story: a 1938 one-act ballet by Ruth Page and Bentley Stone; Huddie Ledbetter's various renditions of the ballad; Thomas Hart Benton's depiction of the story in a 1936 mural; John Huston's 1929 stage play for marionettes; Mae West's film She Done Him Wrong (1933); Sterling Brown's reworking of the story for a 1932 poem; and Ethel Waters's performance of the song in the late 1930s. In each chapter, Morgan explores the interplay of folk material, mass media, and efforts to represent aspects of gender and/or racial identity for contemporaneous consumers of the cultural product

Art · Art history · Ballad · Depiction · Folklore · Legend · Literature · Narrative · Novella · Plot (graphics · Poetry · White (mutation · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies · History · Media, Gender, and Advertising · Music History and Culture

• A Story in Sound

  Open Access•Jessica E Teague•MELUS Multi-Ethnic Literature of…•2023

  Add to list