Frankie Miller (country musician)

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Frankie Miller (born December 17, 1931 in Victoria , Texas ) is an American country musician . Miller's best known title is Black Land Farmer .

Life

Childhood and youth

Frankie Miller was born in Victoria in 1931 (according to some sources as early as 1930). Although Miller sang as a young child, it wasn't until his youth that he became interested in country music through Hank Williams . As a teenager, he got a football - scholarship at a college. During this time Miller also founded his first band, the Drifting Texans , who presented their own radio show on KNAL.

Career

While Miller was working in Houston , Texas, Gilt-Edge Records became aware of Miller and signed him in 1951. After Miller had recorded a total of twelve titles, however, he was called to the US Army to fight in the Korean War.

Miller returned to the USA two years later, honored with the "Bronze Star". In 1954 he signed with Columbia Records . Nevertheless, none of his singles recorded in 1955 reached the charts and Columbia did not have the contract renewed in 1956, probably also due to the triumph of rock 'n' roll . Miller then began touring Texas and appearing on the radio, including at the Cowtown Hoedown in Fort Worth , Texas. He also made some insignificant records for small local labels.

Family Man , 1959

Don Pierce, owner of Starday Records , had been one of the few who noticed Miller's early recordings with Gilt-Edge and so signed him in 1959. Miller immediately put his talent to the test with Black Land Farmer , when the song reached the top five on the Billboard Country Charts in 1959 . The single became one of Starday's most popular titles over the years. Miller was able to record a follow-up success with Family Man and the magazine Cashbox named him “Most Promising Country Artist” in 1960. He joined the ensemble of the Louisiana Hayride and appeared several times on America's most popular radio show, the Grand Ole Opry .

In 1960 Miller reached the top 15 of the charts with Baby Rocked Her Dolly and a new recording by Blackland Farmer reached number 16 a year later, but Miller had already reached the peak of his career. He didn't get any more hits in the next two years. In 1964, he returned to the charts with A Little South of Memphis .

In 1965 Miller switched to United Artists Records , but he continued to enjoy hits. Shortly thereafter, he decided to turn his back on music and work at Chrysler from now on. Bear Family Records re- released three of its albums in the 1980s. In 1999 Miller made the decision to perform again and released the album Comeback . In 2003 he traveled to the UK for the first time for a concert. In August 2015 Frankie Miller performed at a country festival in Sweden, and in 2015 a CD with new recordings in the traditional country sound was released on Heart of Texas Records.

Discography

Singles

year title Label # Chart positions
Billboard Hot Country Songs
Columbia Records
1955 Hey Where Ya Goin '/ It's No Big Thing To Me 21314
You Don't Show Me Much / You're Crying On My Shoulder Again 21378
Paid In Full / My Wedding Song for You 21420
Paint, Powder and Perfume / What You Do From Now On 21472
I Don't Know Why I Love You / Day by Day 21519
Starday Records
1959 Black Land Farmer / True Blue 45-424 Top 5
1959 Poppin 'Johnny / Family Man 45-457 - / 7
1960 The Money Side of Life / Reunion (With Dinner on the Ground) 45-481
1960 Baby Rocked Her Dolly / Rain Rain 45-496 Top 15
1960 Strictly Nothin '/ Young Widow Brown 45-513
1961 I'll Write To You / Richest Poor Boy 45-537
1961 Lookin 'Around Downtown / A Little Bit Later 45-550
1961 The Cat and the Mouse / It's Not Easy 45-566
1962 Gotta Win My Baby Back Again / Picture at St. Helene 45-577
1963 A Little South of Memphis / Too Hot To Handle 45-655 34
1964 Fifteen Acres of Peanut Land / Out of This World 45-673
1964 It Took a Lot of Love / Mean Old Greyhound 45-691
1965 Big Talk of the Town / I Can Almost Forget 45-709
1965 Bringing Mary Home / Country Music Who's Who 45-739
1966 Charlie's Got a Good Thing Going / Tough Road To Hoe 45-777
1967 Fickle Hand of Fate / She's My Antibiotic 45-793

Albums

  • 1961: Country Music's New Star
  • 1962: The True Country Style of Frankie Miller
  • 1963: The Fine Country Singing of Frankie Miller
  • 1965: Blackland Farmer
  • 1999: comeback
  • 2006: Family Man
  • 2008: Live at the Louisiana Hayride
  • 2008: Blackland Farmer: The Complete Starday Recordings ( Bear Family work edition)

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ In other sources, the year of birth 1930 is also given.
personal data
SURNAME Miller, Frankie
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American country musician
DATE OF BIRTH December 17, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Victoria (Texas)