What friends, peers, and fellow country music voices are saying
Willie Nelson›
“Frankie Miller is a very close friend, and he is still sounding great.”
Bill Anderson, Country Music Hall of Fame Inductee›
“The first major tour I worked following my move to Nashville in 1959 was across western Canada with several other new country artists, among them Frankie Miller. He had a hit record with ‘Blackland Farmer,’ and I had just come out with ‘Ninety-Nine Years.’ Most of the fans had no idea who either of us was, but we formed a friendship back then that has lasted to this day. I don’t get to see him as often as I’d like, but I can’t wait to read his book. He’s been one of my favorite artists and favorite people for a long, long time.”
Elizabeth Cook, SiriusXM Outlaw Country›
“I had the good fortune to be signed as a songwriter to a company that published Frankie Miller’s catalog when I was still in my 20s. We used to have these parties and play all the old vinyl. Every single time, it was a special point in the night when the needle got dropped on ‘Blackland Farmer,’ usually followed by ‘Baby Rocked Her Dolly.’ Frankie is truly a singular voice. I’m so glad I was introduced to his work.”
Dallas Wayne, SiriusXM›
“Frankie Miller is a true storyteller, in his songs and now in this book you hold in your hands. It’s wonderful to read these stories of his life and times in country music because he was there to see and live it all. From his days at the Big D Jamboree, The Louisiana Hayride and the Grand Ole Opry, to the “lean times” of touring with Willie Nelson in the early 60’s, it’s a first-person account of the Halcyon Days of Classic Country music. I can’t wait to turn the page…and I’m sure you’ll feel the same way.”
Jeannie C. Riley, Grammy Award-winning artist›
“When it comes to country music, I grew up in the best of times when uniqueness, originality, true talent and the personal touch were at a premium. Frankie Miller is blessed with them all. By the time Frankie leaves the stage, the entire crowd knows him, and he will be their friend forever. It’s an honor to share these few thoughts about a performer so special that we’ve never questioned the fact that Frankie Miller was, is, and always will be the real deal in country music!”
Darrell McCall, Heart of Texas Records›
“Frankie gave me work singing harmony on his recordings when I first came to Nashville. In 1960, I got to sing on his hit ‘Young Widow Brown.’ Getting the chance to work a lot of shows with him during the last few years has been a big thrill for me.”
Pretty Miss Norma Jean, Grand Ole Opry Member›
“I first met Frankie Miller back around 1957 when we were both performing on the Ozark Jubilee. Frankie was not only a great performer, but always a fine gentleman. Through the years, I have always cherished his friendship and his talent. As Dolly says, ‘you can’t make old friends.’”
Nate Gibson, author of The Starday Story and Nate Gibson & the Stars of Starday›
“Frankie Miller is among the most talented and kind people I have met in the country music industry, a True Blue legend. As a Starday historian and country musician, Frankie was among my earliest and most ardent supporters and, similarly, I will forever shout Frankie’s name to the rafters every chance I get. Congrats on the book, Frankie. I love your work!”
Dottsy, Heart of Texas Records›
“Frankie Miller has been an icon in Country Music for many years. Growing up in Texas, he knows how to express his talent in so many ways. I am fortunate that I got to meet and perform with him since the late ‘90s as a label mate on Heart of Texas Records. We have become great friends, and I always love to hear his road stories and his stories of the years he was in Nashville. ‘Blackland Farmer’ will always be one of my favorite songs!”
Tony Booth, ACM Most Promising Male Vocalist (1971)›
“I’m an admirer and a big fan of Frankie Miller. His voice is so strong, and age hasn’t affected his power. The part that I admire most about Frank is that he doesn’t hesitate to let you know what he thinks about things. Frankie, you are a national treasure, my friend.”
My connection to Frankie Miller probably began the first time I heard Blackland Farmer. That's a long time ago, and the connection was totally one-sided. I was just a kid, probably a freshman in college, and Frankie didn't know I existed.
Several years later while I was enrolled at Columbia University, I had become part of their FM radio station, WKCR. This was serious business. The station blanketed New York City and the surrounding areas in New Jersey and Connecticut. I played country music, which the Board of Directors were not particularly pleased about, but I think we had the highest ratings on their weekly schedule. In fact, Tennessee Border enjoyed a very devoted audience. It was the only country music show in New York City. Scott Parker, another country music fan, helped me produce the show.
By this time, I had heard more of Frankie's music than Blackland Farmer. There was a whole string of Starday singles, and I dutifully played them on my show every week. I was excited to share records like Baby Rocked Her Dolly and Young Widow Brown with my fellow New Yorkers. But Frankie himself remained something of a mystery.
Then I graduated from Columbia and I left New York and followed my life in other directions. Frankie and his music seemed very far away.
By the 1970s I had become a professor of psychology at the University of Guelph in Canada. The music that had once been so central in my life, I had even recorded a few Elvisy singles when I was a kid living in New York, had been moved to the periphery by more adult things. But gradually I became involved in the reissue side of the record business. It was like music archaeology. Where were these artists whose music used to be so important to me? Were they still alive? Were they still making music? By the early 80s I was involved in producing albums and box sets of 50s music for European record companies. It was a terrific alt-profession, and I seemed to know what I was doing. I understood the business and, in some areas like Sun Records, the pioneering label from Memphis, I had achieved world class expertise.
In 1983 I was planning to fly down to Tennessee with Colin Escott and I suggested we stop in Nashville and try to locate Frankie Miller. Nobody seemed to know where Frankie had gone. I pitched the project to Bear Family Records in Germany and Richard Weize immediately green lighted it. We decided to focus on Frankie's Starday catalog, and we spent an afternoon talking to Don Pierce, who had owned the label. Don was a gracious host and shared stories about his own life in the business, as well as painting a picture of who Frankie Miller was. The album, BFX 15128, came out shortly after we returned to Canada. But we had still never laid eyes on Frankie.
By the early 2000s music friends were starting to greet me with “Hey, have you found Frankie yet?” It was becoming a joke. Everyone had a suggestion. Call BMI. Call the Country Music Foundation. Try Cornell Hurd, another Texas singer. Ask anybody in Texas, they all know each other.
I must have tried them all because something worked, although for the life of me I can't remember which of those overtures finally hit paydirt. But there was no doubt about it. By 2007 Frankie Miller and I were in touch. Looking through old e-mail folders today, I see that in June 2007 I was talking to Richard Weize at Bear Family about asking Frankie for something. On June 26th 2007 in an e-mail to Scott Parker, with whom I co-produced the Frankie Starday box set, I casually referred to the fact that “Frankie just called me.” Everybody, except Frankie, was on e-mail and the messages were flying back and forth across national borders and oceans asking about alternate takes, and who played steel guitar on what. “Don't worry,” I'd reply. “I'll play it for Frankie and he'll remember.” I made that promise a lot and it was almost always true. Frankie had a great memory and seemed to enjoy reliving all these experiences in detail.
On top of everything, he was fun to work with. We enjoyed each other's company and we sought it out regularly. We made each other laugh and I knew enough about the business so Frankie could refer to names or places and not have to explain himself. It felt good to me also. I had come a long way from being a skinny kid from New York with weird taste in music, whose love for this music and the people who made it had nearly gotten him expelled from Columbia.
Frankie and I were totally comfortable with each other and we both valued that. I know I did. We were from two different worlds and we knew it. We had the good sense not to discuss politics or religion. But there was lots that we could talk about, and we did, for hours on end.
Hank Davis
Author of: Ducktails, Drive-ins, and Broken Hearts: An Unsweetened Look at ‘50s Music. NY: SUNY Press (2023)