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8o |
NEGRO FOLK-SONGS |
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Pauly, Lilly, Georgy, Frankie and Johnnie, Franky and Albert, Franky Baker, and so forth. The stanzas are changed in order and in wording, but the chief incidents of the tale remain the same. I have a number of versions, no two of which are identical. The popularity of the song and the extent to which it is known were illustrated recently when F. P. A. of the Tribune <cConning Tower'' played with it for some time, issuing from day to day parodies of the ballad, or different versions sent in by readers. Some stanzas and some versions are said to be unsuitable for print. I used one version in my "From a Southern Porch/' & somewhat different form from these herein included.
The first is contributed by Roberta Anderson, of Texas, and tells the tragedy succinctly and with no waste verbage.
Frankie and Albert
Frankie was a good woman, As everybody knows. She bought her po' Albert A bran' new suit o' clo'se.
Oh, he's her man,
But he done her wrong!
Barkeeper said to Frankie, "I won't tell you no lies: I saw yo' po' Albert Along with Sara Slies.
Oh, he's yo' man,
But he done you wrong!"
An' then they put po' Albert In a bran-new livery hack, Took him to the graveyard But they never brought him back,
Oh, he's her man,
But he done her wrong!
Louise Garwood, of Houston, Texas, gives the following version of the catastrophe, a little fuller in detail:
Frankie was a good woman, Everybody knows. Paid about a hundred dollars For the making of Albert's clothes.
"Oh, he was my man,
But he done me wrong!" |
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