Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man)

"Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man)"
Single by Merle Haggard
from the album Let Me Tell You About a Song
B-side	"My Heart Would Know"
Released	September 27, 1971
Format	7"
Recorded	August 30, 1971 Buck Owens Studios Bakersfield, California
Genre	Country
Label	Capitol 3198
Songwriter(s)	Merle Haggard
Producer(s)	Ken Nelson
Merle Haggard singles chronology
"Someday We'll Look Back" (1971) "Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man)" (1971) "Carolyn" (1971)
"Someday We'll Look Back" (1971) "Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man)" (1971) "Carolyn" (1971)

"Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man)" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard. It was released in September 1971 as the first single from the album Let Me Tell You About a Song. "Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man)" was Haggard's tenth No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles. The song topped the chart for two weeks around Thanksgiving 1971, and spent 13 weeks in the chart's Top 40.^[1]

Content

The song's main characters are part of a family band, led by the blind patriarch in the title character, a guitarist who also played the French harp. While the sister played the tambourine, the mother (only referred to as "Mama") was totally deaf but, by reading lips, sang along with the band. The family lived in a highway camp, and the band was its only means of living. The song's values come from how Frank and Mama use their handicaps to "make each other strong."

Chart performance

References