Frankie Marvin

about

Frank James Marvin (Butler, Oklahoma on January 27, 1904 - January 1985) was a country musician, he played guitar, washboard and steel guitar. Early in his career he was a vaudeville performer with his brother Johnny. The Marvin brothers assisted a young Gene Autry at the start of Autry's career. Later Frankie played steel guitar in Autry's band where he became one of the most recognizable components of Autry's sound. His interest in music came early. His mother had recorded for Victor and his brother Johnny, 6 years his senior, became a successful composer and recording star. By the time Frankie was 25 years old he had become popular on radio and had signed a contract with a major record label in New York. He and his brother Johnny often worked as a duo in those early years. Frankie played guitar, washboard and steel guitar. He can be seen on screen in B-western movies playing other instruments as well, but eventually, the steel guitar was to play a key role in his long-term success in western music. Frankie composed a number of western songs, e.g. the classics "There's an Empty Cot in the Bunkhouse" & "Cowboy's Heaven," as well as "Oh, For the Wild and Wooly West" and " Oklahoma Blues," and he was the co-composer (with Joe Marvin ) of "The Two-Gun Cowboy" & "Oklahoma, Land of the Sunny West." Gene Autry, Jimmy Wakely and others recorded the best-known of these, and Marvin recorded all of them. In 1928, when young Gene Autry was planning his first trip to New York in se

top songs

albums

similar artists