Frank Noah Proffitt (June 1, 1913 – November 24, 1965) was an Appalachian old time

banjoist This article comprises two separate lists. The first consists of primary banjo players and the second of celebrities that also play the banjo. Primary banjo players A listing of notable musicians who play the banjo as a major part of thei ...

who preserved the song " Tom Dooley" in the form we know it today and was a key figure in inspiring musicians of the 1960s and 1970s to play the traditional five-string banjo. He was born in Laurel Bloomery, Tennessee, United States, and was raised in the Reese area of Watauga County, North Carolina, where he worked in a variety of jobs and lived on a farm with his wife and six children. He grew tobacco, worked as a carpenter, and in a spark plug factory.Folk Legacy, Frank Proffitt bio
Folk Legacy, Retrieved May 5, 2008 He was known for his skills as a carpenter and luthier; Proffitt's fretless banjos and dulcimers were homemade. In 1937, Frank Proffitt met folksong collectors Anne and Frank Warner. Frank Warner was searching for a dulcimer builder and thus began a 30-year friendship and song swapping. Warner collected his songs and shared them with Alan Lomax, who included many, including the ballad "Tom Dooley" that Warner had learned from Proffitt, in his book, ''Folksong U.S.A.''. Proffitt had learned the song from his aunt Nancy Prather, who had in turn learnt it from her mother Edy Adeline (Pardue) Proffitt, who had known both Dula (locally pronounced "Dooley") and Laura Foster.

The Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, ...

learned "Tom Dooley" from a recording by Warner, and were eventually required by court judgement to acknowledge their debt to Proffitt and pay him royalties for the use of the song. Proffitt recorded "Tom Dooley" and other ballad songs in 1961, on the album ''Frank Proffitt Sings Folk Songs'', edited by Warner and issued by Folkways Records. A second set of Proffitt's recordings, ''Frank Proffitt of Reece NC: Traditional Songs and Ballads of Appalachia'', was released in 1962, and Proffitt performed at the 1963

Newport Folk Festival Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. It was one of the first modern music festivals in America, and remains a foca ...

. He also performed at the 1964 New York World's Fair, and recorded several more tracks released on the compilation album '' High Atmosphere: Ballads and Banjo Tunes from Virginia and North Carolina''. Proffitt died in 1965, aged 52. The ''Frank Proffitt Memorial Album'' was released by Folk Legacy Records in 1969, followed by a tribute album, ''Nothing Seems Better To Me: The Music of Frank Proffitt and North Carolina'', was issued in 2000.

Discography

*''Frank Proffitt Sings Folk Songs'', Folkways Records *''Frank Proffitt of Reese NC'',

Folk-Legacy Records Folk-Legacy Records was an independent record label specializing in traditional and contemporary folk music of the English-speaking world. It was founded in 1961 by Sandy and Caroline Paton and Lee Baker Haggerty. The label recorded Frank Prof ...

*''Frank Proffitt Memorial Album'', Folk LegacyFrank Proffitt – Memorial Album :American Folk Music, Music CD, Traditional Folk Music, Folklore, Sea Shanties, Folk Hymns, Folk Song, Folk Ballads Folk Legacy
/ref> *''High Atmosphere: Ballads and Banjo Tunes from Virginia and North Carolina'', Rounder Records

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Proffitt, Frank 1913 births 1965 deaths People from Johnson County, Tennessee American folk musicians American folk singers American banjoists American folk-song collectors Old-time musicians Music of East Tennessee Music of Johnson County, Tennessee Musicians from Appalachia 20th-century American singers Singer-songwriters from Tennessee People from Beech Mountain, North Carolina