For those of you who might want to hear a very special song I wrote called She's Mama  just click on the link below. The song is very special to me because I actually wrote it as a tribute to Johnny Cash's mama shortly after she passed away. In all my years that I knew and performed on Johnny Cash's shows I never once asked him to record any song I wrote, mainly because I never thought I wrote anything good enough for him and his "one-of-a-kind" amazing voice.

However, when I wrote She's Mama  I had every intention to have him hear this song because I knew how much he loved his mama and I wanted to try and give him something that might have been as special to him as all of the WONDERFUL memories he had given me. Unfortunately right after I recorded the song I was hospitalized and the master recording was placed away in my closet. The years continued to go by as I kept fighting numerous health problems and the master tape had slipped from my memory, thinking it was lost forever.

Then Johnny Cash's wife, June Carter Cash passed away, and only months later John also passed away. I was devastated, while also just coming out of a nursing home, physically not able to do much of anything but being given the opportunity to live once again because of a WONDERFUL 69 year old personal caregiver by the name of Wanda, who has been with me now for eight years and allows me to live a normal life with dignity. she has actually saved my life on more than one occasion and I have no doubt that she is an angel that was sent to me by God.
To make a long story short, one day Wanda was looking through and cleaning out my closet when she came across the old demo cassette tape of and asked me what it was? I told her it was a song that I had written many years ago in the memory of Johnny Cash's mother and actually thought it was lost. When Wanda listened to the cassette tape tears came to her eyes as she said just knowing how much I loved Johnny Cash it was truly sad that he never heard my song.

But I am a person that believes all things happen for a reason, and today my own mother is in the last stages of Alzheimer's disease, and so for everyone who has a Mama that they love with all their heart that may no longer be with them, this is my song.
 

 

 

In 1978 a woman that was actually in the audience snuck a cassette recorder into the concert and privately  recorded the show where Johnny Cash told the audience "You got the suit Frankie, you got the suit!"

 

 

  The true story behind this    beautiful suit given to me by Johnny Cash.

 It was 1976 and I was only 20 years old when Johnny Cash came to perform at the Minnesota State fair grandstand in St. Paul, Minnesota.  I'll never forget that morning sitting in my apartment when my telephone rang and on the other end was the deep voice of Johnny Cash!  At first I thought someone was just playing a joke on me, but it was really him.  Somehow he had heard that I had always wanted to meet him, so he simply gave me a call from his hotel inviting me to meet him while he was in town.  After we met and talked for a little while at the hotel he said that he would listen to me sing that same night during the break between his two shows and I was ecstatic with excitement!  That night I was supposed to wait backstage by his motorhome until he came off the stage after his first show was over and we could go into a dressing room are some area backstage. 

 

CLICK ON the icon above to read the first 30 pages of a screenplay based on my life "FRANKIE'S DREAM!"
 

 

 

    

 

.

 

      

                                                                                                                                

  Scroll Arrow for more photographs then CLICK ON THUMBNAIL.

The first show ended and John came quickly walking down the backstage steps as a mob of people and reporters trailed behind him.  With long strides he walked directly towards me, as if I were like family he had not seen in years.  But when he reached me he said with a somber soft tone in his voice "Frankie, I'm real sorry son but I'm just not going to have time to listen to you sing tonight, my first show ran a little long and you can see it's pretty hectic back here."  Suddenly my heart fell to my feet as I just looked up at him towering above me and replied "that's okay Mr. Cash at least I got a chance to meet you, if I ever get to Nashville do you think that you might have time to listen to me sing one song?"  John graciously said "sure I would Frankie."  Then I shook his hand and turned to walk away.  Totally unexpected I felt his big hand on my shoulder turning me back around towards him asking me curiously "wait a minute Frankie, have you ever sang in front of an audience before?"  "Yes sir I sure have I said trying to be confident.  John replied "well Frankie then why don't you just go ahead and sing a song on my next show here tonight, I will call you out on the stage right after I sing THE RAGGED OLD FLAG.  There were about 18,000 people in the audience that night and Johnny Cash had never before heard me sing and he had absolutely no idea whether or not I was going to hurt his show.  But he was still willing to give me an opportunity to prove myself, to give me something that only a few years before I could only dream about from a hospital bed. 

I sat on some equipment cases watching from the backstage wings John and his band the Tennessee Three, waiting for him to call me out on stage.  With every song he sang there were thunderous roars of applause from the audience that would literally shake the stage.  I was terrified!  I only weighed 120 pounds and walked with a hunched posture and stiff right leg that would go into spasms.  I was so afraid that I was going to trip over one of the large electrical cables amplifier cords crossing the stage.  I had never sung in front of an audience so large before and I had no idea what I was going to say if I did make it up to the microphone.

I did ask the piano player just before he went on the stage if he knew the song YOU GAVE ME A MOUNTAIN THIS TIME.  Finally John was singing the last few words of the Ragged Old Flag and then kindly introduced me to the audience.  There were scattered, polite applause throughout the grandstands as I slowly began making my way onto center stage.  John stood out front holding out his own microphone to give to me.  Johnny Cash was actually turning his show over to me. I was petrified hoping not to let him down.  As I took the microphone from his hand John gave me a reassuring smile and walked back and sat down on a stool with the band. I will never forget that look of confidence and faith in me that he had in his eyes as he sat on that stool watching me.  The spotlight tightened up only on me and I could actually feel thousands upon thousands of eyes just waiting in anticipation for me to say something.  I knew the audience did not know what to think or expect after seeing me limp on the stage, I knew I had to be good, there was no turning back now.  And I certainly did not want pity or sympathy, I just wanted Johnny Cash to tell me I could sing, I wanted to make him proud.  I took a deep breath bringing the microphone to my mouth and jokingly said "Ladies and gentlemen John said if I do a real good job on this song he will buy me a BLACK SUIT just like his!"

 The audience exploded into laughter and as I looked over I could see John laughing, with a big smile.  And I don't mean to sound boastful or anything like that, but as I left the stage the audience jumped to their feet with a roar of applause that seemed to go forever.  Johnny smiling jumped quickly from the stool to his feet taking the microphone from me and shouted out to the audience "YOU GOT THAT SUIT FRANKIE, YOU GOT THAT SUIT!!"  As I left going down the same backstage steps June Carter Cash came running up to me and gave me a big hug saying so sweetly "son you were just great! You really were just fantastic!"  So now you know the true story and legacy behind the suit, I hope whoever receives it will love and cherish it as much as I loved the man who gave it to me, my friend Johnny Cash.

 All Financial proceeds from the sale of my suit will go specifically towards paying for additional medical expenses that won't otherwise be covered by any medical insurance for scoliosis revision surgery.  There is a great deal of postoperative and aftercare needs.  Several airfares and ground transportation costs to doctors around the country, hotels, special x-rays, private nurses that I will need, physical therapist and equipment and the list goes on and on. 

From my understanding there are only about five surgeons in the entire country who can undertake a case as complex as mine, very high-risk.  And so the cost of flying back and forth with the personal assistants and special oxygen I need to help me, in itself is very expensive.  In 2002 after some very bad surgical complications I lost my home and hospital insurance ran out.  I was placed into a nursing home but after only two months was told I had to leave because there was no more financial coverage.  If it had not been for my church Cornerstone Christian Fellowship I would have been homeless.  I made a vow that I would never again allow the scoliosis to overtake my life without continuing to keep fighting. And don't count me out, you just might see me back on stage yet singing someday!

 Selling this very special suit to help me with my medical expenses for any scoliosis scoliosis revision surgery and aftercare costs is something that I know Johnny Cash himself would want me to do.  In 1980 John wrote me a letter where he'd had just finished filming a movie in Cincinnati where he played the father of a young girl who had scoliosis.  He said that while filming the movie they actually did a scene at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital in the recovery room.  He saw a real patient who just had the major operation brought into the room and that it brought my plight all back to him again." John had a big heart and it's still hard for me to believe that I'm still here after all these years and both John and June are gone.

I cannot honestly place a value on my suit to me it's actually priceless.  But the buyer should know it was custom made and designed by Manuel the designer to the stars in Nashville, Tennessee.  He has designed and made clothes for some of the biggest stars of our time, including Elvis, remember the famous gold jacket and jumpsuits with the Eagles? The list goes on and on, you can check out his website and the video links: www.manuelamericandesigns.com to get a better understanding of why it truly will be difficult to for me to part with something that has such a legacy.   Manuel tailored the suit to fit my scoliosis at that time just by using  photographs and my measurements, and it fit beautifully, he's quite amazing!  Hopefully the photographs will give you some idea.  It's in absolutely BEAUTIFUL CONDITION as I only wore it one time in my entire life on my wedding day in 1978.  If anyone has any questions whatsoever please don't hesitate to contact me, thank you, Frankie

 

 BACK TO TOP!