The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #3463   Message #887836
Posted By: GUEST,Q
11-Feb-03 - 01:47 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: older/raunchier 'Frankie and Johnny'
Subject: Lyr Add: ANNIE AND JOHNNY (version of FRANKIE &...
Legman, rather than Randolph, should be credited with the comments in my post of 10 Feb 03, 9:00 pm. Here is another version:

Lyr. Add: ANNIE AND JOHNNY

Annie went down to the corner,
To get a bottle of beer,
She said to the dammed old bartender,
Has my ever-loving Johnny been here?
He is my man, but I think he's doing me wrong.

I ain't going to tell you no stories,
I ain't going to tell you no lies,
Johnny was seting under the counter
Finger-fucking Nellie Blythe.
He was her man, but he was doing her wrong.

Annie looked over the counter,
And seen to her alarm,
Johnny wasn't using his finger,
He was using his whole damn arm.
He was her man, but he was doing her wrong.

Annie stepped away from the counter,
And drew both her forty-fours,
She shot once, twice, and three times,
She had Johnny on the floor.
He was her man, but he had done her wrong.

First shot Johnny staggered,
Second shot Johnny fell,
Third shot hit Johnny in the left nut
And blew it all to hell.
He was her man, but he had done her wrong.

Collected from a Bentonville, Arkansas student by Mary Celeste Parler (later Randolph's wife) in ca. 1957. From Vance Randolph, ed. G. Legman, 1992, "Roll Me in Your Arms, 'Unprintable' Ozark Folksongs and Folklore," vol. 1, p. 481.
No indication of where the student got this version (was it his?). In court, Frankie testified that she fired only once, in self-defense. This one reads like an "improved" text to me.
Legman says all the texts agree that she shot three times. It would be interesting to get the testimony from the trial for a more accurate (?) story of the event.