Frankie Lee Sims (April 30, 1917,

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, Louisiana – May 10, 1970,

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, Texas) was an American singer-songwriter and

electric blues Electric blues refers to any type of blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplifier, amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the ...

guitarist. He released nine singles during his career, one of which, "Lucy Mae Blues" (1953), was a regional hit. Two compilation albums of his work were released posthumously. Sims was the cousin of another

Texas blues Texas blues is blues music from Texas. As a regional style, its original form was characterized by jazz and swing influences. Later examples are often closer to blues rock and Southern rock. History Texas blues began to appear in the early 1900s ...

musician,

Lightnin' Hopkins Samuel John "Lightnin" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its list o ...

, and he worked with several other prominent blues musicians, including

Texas Alexander Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by bo ...

T-Bone Walker Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker (May 28, 1910 – March 16, 1975) was an American blues musician, composer, songwriter and bandleader, who was a pioneer and innovator of the jump blues, West Coast blues, and electric blues sounds. In 2018 ''Roll ...

King Curtis Curtis Ousley (born Curtis Montgomery; February 7, 1934 – August 13, 1971), known professionally as King Curtis, was an American saxophonist who played rhythm and blues, jazz, and rock and roll. A bandleader, band member, and session musicia ...

and

Albert Collins Albert Gene Drewery, known as Albert Collins and the Ice Man (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993),Skeely, Richard. "Albert Collins: Biography" Allmusic.com. was an American electric blues guitarist and singer with a distinctive guitar style. ...

. Sims is regarded as an important figure in

postwar In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period ...

Texas country blues.

Biography

Sims was born on April 30, 1917, in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, Louisiana, to Henry Sims and Virginia Summuel.Harris, S. (1981). ''Blues Who's Who''. New York: Da Capo Press. p. 461. He claimed he was born on February 29, 1906, but 1906 was not a

leap year A leap year (also known as an intercalary year or bissextile year) is a calendar year that contains an additional day (or, in the case of a lunisolar calendar, a month) added to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical year or s ...

, and April 30, 1917, is generally accepted as his birth date. He was the nephew of the Texas blues singer

and the cousin of the guitarist

. Both Sims's parents were "accomplished guitarists". His family moved to

Marshall, Texas Marshall is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Harrison County, Texas, Harrison County and a cultural and educational center of the Ark-La-Tex region. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the population of M ...

, in the late 1920s. At the age of 12 he learned to play the guitar from the blues musician

Little Hat Jones George "Little Hat" Jones (October 5, 1899 – March 7, 1981) was an American Texas blues musician. Biography Jones, the grandson of a former slave, was born in Bowie County, Texas, the only child of Felix Jones and his wife. At the time, ma ...

and ran away from home to work as a musician. In the late 1930s Sims had a dual career as a teacher in

Palestine, Texas Palestine ( ) is a city in and the seat of Anderson County in the U.S. state of Texas. It was named for Palestine, Illinois, by preacher Daniel Parker, who had migrated from that town. The city had a 2020 U.S. census population of 18,544, mak ...

, on weekdays and a guitarist at local dances and parties on weekends. When the United States entered the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

at the end of 1941, he enlisted and served in the Marine Corps for three years. After the war Sims made

his home, where he pursued a full-time career in music. In Dallas, Sims performed in clubs with the blues guitarists

and

Smokey Hogg Andrew "Smokey" Hogg (January 27, 1914 – May 1, 1960) was an American post-war Texas blues and country blues musician. Life and career Hogg was born near Westconnie, Texas, and grew up on a farm. He was taught to play the guitar by his fath ...

. In 1948 he recorded two singles for Blue Bonnet Records, but his first success came in 1953 when he recorded his song "Lucy Mae Blues" for

Art Rupe Arthur Newton Rupe (born Arthur Goldberg; September 5, 1917 – April 15, 2022) was an American music executive and record producer. He founded Specialty Records, known for its rhythm and blues, blues, gospel and early rock and roll music reco ...

Specialty Records Specialty Records was an American record label founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by Art Rupe. It was known for rhythm and blues, gospel, and early rock and roll, and recorded artists such as Little Richard, Guitar Slim, Percy Mayfield, and Lloyd P ...

, which was a regional hit. The ''Encyclopedia of the Blues'' called "Lucy Mae Blues" a "masterpiece of rhythm and good humor". Sims continued recording songs for Specialty through the mid-1950s, many of them not released at the time. In 1957 he moved to

Johnny Vincent John Vincent Imbragulio (October 3, 1927 – February 4, 2000), known as Johnny Vincent, was an American record producer for Art Rupe at Specialty Records. He founded Ace Records in 1955 in Jackson, Mississippi, 165 miles away from New Orlea ...

's Ace Records and recorded several songs, including "Walking with Frankie" and "She Likes to Boogie Real Low", which

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

called "mighty rockers". Members of his band in 1957 were Willie Taylor (piano), Jack White (tenor saxophone), Ralph Morgan (bass), and Jimmy "Mercy Baby" Mullins (drums).Marion, J. C. (2007)
"Some Texas Blues: Frankie Lee Sims and Mercy Baby"
Retrieved May 18, 2014. Sims also recorded with other blues musicians, including his cousin Hopkins, and performed on several of their records. In the early 1960s Hopkins took advantage of the folk blues revival, but Sims faded into obscurity. In 1969 the blues historian

Chris Strachwitz Chris Strachwitz (born July 1, 1931) is a German-born American record label executive and record producer. He is the founder and president of Arhoolie Records, which he established in 1960 and which became one of the leading labels recording a ...

located Sims to record him for his Arhoolie label. Sims died soon after, on May 10, 1970, in Dallas at the age of 53. The cause of death was pneumonia brought on by poor health. At the time of his death he was reported to have had a drinking problem and was under investigation regarding a "shooting incident". Soon after his death, Specialty Records released ''Lucy Mae Blues'', a compilation album of his recordings with the label. In 1985 Krazy Kat released ''Walkin' with Frankie'', an album of unreleased tracks recorded for Bobby Robinson in 1960.

Style and influence

Along with Lightnin' Hopkins and Lil' Son Jackson, Sims is regarded as "one of the great names in

post-war In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...

Texas country blues". According to the ''Encyclopedia of the Blues'', he had a "considerable" influence on other musicians in Dallas. T-Bone Walker acknowledged Sims's influence on his style of playing, and Hopkins got some ideas from him. Sims also guided several musicians at the start of their careers, including

and

. Sims's style of guitar playing was to produce rhythmical patterns over and over, but with a slight change in each repetition, giving his music an "irresistible dance beat". He produced a "twangy, ringing" sound on his electric guitar, which was "irresistible on fast numbers and stung hard on the downbeat stuff".

Discography

Source: Frankie Lee Sims Discography

Singles (7-inch)

*"Home Again Blues"/"Cross Country Blues" (1948, Blue Bonnet 147) *"Don't Forget Me Baby"/"Single Man Blues" (1948, Blue Bonnet 148) *"Lucy Mae Blues"/"Don't Take It Out on Me" (1953, Specialty 459) *"I'm Long Long Gone"/"Yeh Baby" (1953, Specialty 478) *"Rhumba My Boogie"/"I'll Get Along Somehow" (1954, Specialty 487) *"What Will Lucy Do?"/"Misery Blues" (1957,

Ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

524) *"Hey Little Girl"/"Walkin' with Frankie" (1957, Ace 527) *"She Likes to Boogie Real Low"/"Well Goodbye Baby" (1958, Vin 1006) *"I Warned You Baby"/"My Talk Didn't Do No Good" (1958, Ace 539) *"Married Woman"/"Lucy Mae" (1971, Specialty 478-45)

Compilation albums (LP)

*''Lucy Mae Blues'' (1970, Specialty SP/SPS 2124) *''Walkin' with Frankie'' (1985, Krazy Kat KK7428) With

*'' Early Recordings Vol. 2'' (Arhoolie, 1966)

References