He Done Her Wrong

I was reminded by Vintage St. Louis that on this day in 1899:

"Frankie Baker shot Albert Britt to death after an argument over another woman at 212 Targee Street in St. Louis. Frankie pleaded self-defense and was acquitted. Pianist Bill Dooley wrote a song about the murder called “Frankie and Albert.” Over the years, it got changed to “Frankie and Johnny.” When the story became a motion picture, Baker sued. The court found that it was considered a folk song, and ruled against her. Baker died in a Portland mental institution in 1950."

Wikipedia told me that there have been multiple songs written about the event, and at least 256 recordings have been made since the early 20th century. There have been big band, pop, country, and jazz versions, but this is one of my favorites

Five years ago today: Senior Citizen Texting Code