Frank Hovington

Franklin "Frank" Hovington (born January 9, 1919 in Reading , Pennsylvania , † June 21, 1982 in Felton , Delaware ) was an American blues singer , guitarist , banjo and ukulele player.

Hovington began playing the ukulele and banjo as a child. He later teamed up with William Walker, with whom he played at house parties and dances in Frederica , Delaware in the late 1930s and 1940s . In the late 1940s he moved to Washington, DC , where he accompanied gospel groups such as Stewart Dixon's Golden Stars and Ernest Ewin's Jubilee Four. He also worked with Billy Stewart's band. In 1967 Hovington moved to Felton, Delaware, and was there in 1975 by Bruce Bastin of Flyright Records (together with Dick Spottswood), who was so enthusiastic about his guitar playing and singing that he immediately made recordings for his record label.

His long-playing record from 1975 was a masterpiece that not only convinced many critics of his abilities during his lifetime, but was also released years later on the Rounder Label as an LP and by Flyright in 2000 in an extended CD version, and that up to today - almost 25 years after his death - is still available.

In addition to his album for Flyright, two songs from the resulting recordings were also released on two record samplers at the Library of Congress in 1977/78 . In 1980 Siegfried Christmann and Axel Küstner made further recordings of him for the Lippmann & Rau series "Living Country Blues" made, which were released on no less than four albums in this series and partly re-released on CD in 1999.

On a fishing trip in 1952, John Fahey met Frank Hovington by chance, whose fingerstyle guitar playing impressed him so much that shortly afterwards he bought a (cheap Sears & Roebuck ) guitar himself and then taught himself to play the guitar himself.

Web links

• Discography by Frank Hovington at wirz.de.
• Frank Hovington at Allmusic (English)
• Frank Hovington at Discogs (English)