TAR HEEL HISTORY
By Tom Parramore
Old Frank Johnson —
And The Day the Music Died
When ihe cotton and slave society were gone, there was no place
fora 1 9th century music master.
Nobody between Richmond
and Charleston could make
music the way Old Frank
Johnson did.
For 40 years — from around 1830 to
1870 — Frank Johnson’s brass band
was the best-known and most popular
musical group in North Carolina. A
fan of his who heard the great John
Philip Sousa Band many years later
commented that he much preferred
Frank Johnson's. A tune called “Clear
the Track” was one of the most popu¬
lar in Old Franks repertoire, and his
band, recalled an admirer, could play
it "better. I verily believe, than any¬
body in the world. The effect was elec¬
trical.”
During the middle decades of the
19th century. Frank Johnson’s Band
was a main attraction at the biggest
public events and private celebra¬
tions. They often played for such gath¬
erings as the State Fair crowds in
Raleigh and the commencement exer¬
cises at Chapel Hill. The band was
much in demand for the parties, pic¬
nics and tournaments of the wealthy
Roanoke River planters. They per¬
formed for the weddings and dances of
the Cape Fear Valley and played all
summer for the mineral resort set at
Shocco Springs and KittreU’s Springs.
They played in South Carolina and
Virginia and even whipped up patri¬
otic enthusiasm for Confederate re¬
cruiting officers in the 1860s.
Old Frank Johnson was a self-
taught musical genius. He was said to
have been born a slave on a Roanoke
River plantation in Northampton
County around 1774. He first gained
popularity as a fiddler, though no
doubt in the shadow of the unrivalled
“Cabin Point” Fagan ofhis early years
(see the September 1988 issue of The
Stair). Like Fagan. Johnson used his
fiddle to “buy himself on credit” and
As a musician for
the slave-owning
class . it was in
Johnson's interest to
identify himself
closely with the
planters' culture.
then purchase the freedom ofhis wife
and children. By about 1830 or before,
he had assembled the band that was
to spread his fame.
By this time Johnson was at least in
his late 40s and he was said to have
had 10 sons, all of whom had musical
talent. He also added several musi¬
cally inclined nephews — all named
Johnson — to make up a band of 15 or
16 members. John, his eldest son.
played cornet; Cephas played tenor
horn; Edward the “big brass horn";
and Frank Jr. the snare drum. At
times Old Frank, who could play any
instrument, would switch to the cor¬
net or clarinet. There were also a bass
drum, cymbals, a trombone and so on.
Old Frank, like most ofhis company.
was almost coal black and very digni¬
fied in appearance. He worked in a
spike-tailed coal with brass buttons
and a stove-pipe hat. He was charac¬
teristically polite and gentlemanly in
deportment, but he could break into
enthusiastic demonstrations at the
sight of really good dancers. He was a
very graceful and acrobatic dancer
himself and was often called on to
show his ability during a ball or party.
Frank's band was mainly seen at
square dances. Johnson always took
charge at these affairs and “called the
numbers" for the dancers. At his com¬
mand of "Get your partners." the cou¬
ples would line up in square-dance
formation. When the music began, his
“Balance all." “Swing your partner."
“Ladies change," “Back again" and
“Docee-do" could be heard from one
end of town to the other. If he spied an
especially skillful couple, he would
often leap up and break into some
such encouragement as “Dat’s de
thing! Please God. it 'minds me o’
when I was young."
In winter, “Old Man Monk" of Mag¬
nolia. in Duplin County, would host
two or three dances, and Johnsons
band was always the main attraction.
A Duplin admirer said of Johnson:
"How that old Negro could keep
time so perfectly and call the most in¬
tricate cotillion figures is still a mys¬
tery to me. I readily recall some of the
pieces he played — ’Monday-Mus.’
‘Mississippi Sawyer.’ ‘Arkansas Trav¬
eler,’ ‘Bill Evans.' ‘Forked Ease,”Billy
in the Low Grounds,’ and ‘Old Molly
Hare.' One of the most popular pieces
in that section today he composed,
and if my recollection is not at fault,
the Lamb boys gave it the name of
‘Pacific.’.. .Well do I remember that it
was on the piazza of the Monk house,
just after breakfast that Old Frank
was playing one of his most in¬
vigorating jigs, and Dick Newkirk
and. I believe. Owen Herring of
Sampson County were knocking off
steps that are unknown to the mod¬
erns. In the very midst of this enter¬
tainment. Rev. Dr. (William 1 Closs...
stopped his horse and looked on in
rapturous delight. When the jig was
over the good old Doctor remarked: ‘If
I hr Stile/April *•>
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