Frankie Lee Sims

A devoted adherent to the Texas country blues scene that flourished during the closing years of the 1940s and the opening years of the 1950s, guitarist Frankie Lee Sims stood alongside his cousin Lightnin' Hopkins, Lil' Son Jackson, and Smokey Hogg as one of its steadfast practitioners. He forged a sharply twangy and resonant electric guitar approach that proved captivating on up-tempo selections while delivering forceful impact on slower material.

Having relocated from his birthplace of New Orleans to Marshall, TX, Sims first took up the guitar at age twelve. Once World War II concluded, he began performing at dances and clubs throughout the Dallas area and encountered T-Bone Walker. In 1948 he waxed his debut 78s for Herb Rippa's Blue Bonnet Records in Dallas, yet genuine regional traction arrived only in 1953 with the lively "Lucy Mae Blues," which found favor across the South.

He maintained a steady recording pace for the Los Angeles-based Specialty label through 1954 before moving in 1957 to Johnny Vincent's Ace imprint and its Vin offshoot, where he produced the driving rockers "Walking with Frankie" and "She Likes to Boogie Real Low," both striking with greater force than a ballpeen hammer.

Although Sims asserted that he supplied guitar on King Curtis's 1962 instrumental hit "Soul Twist" issued by Bobby Robinson's Enjoy label, the claim appears improbable. Evidence suggests he cut sides for Robinson toward the end of 1960, three battered acetates of which later surfaced in 1985 on the British Krazy Kat label.

Sims largely bypassed the early-'60s folk-blues revival that proved lucrative for his cousin Lightnin' Hopkins. He died of pneumonia at age 53 in Dallas while reportedly facing legal difficulties stemming from a shooting incident and long hampered by drinking troubles.