Van Dyke Parks and Terry Gilkyson had a hand in a big group called "The Greenwood County Singers" back in the 1960's. Unfortunately for the group, they were not only too large to last, but came along just as Randy Sparks was putting together the "New Christy Minstrels." "The New Frankie & Johnny" song was possibly their only one to get a lot of air time on radio back then. Their version was the first I had heard of it. They used twelve-strings (it sounded like more than one) to drive the big sound. I later learned that Gibson and Silverstein were the composers.