Frank Wakefield
Best known for
Mandolin
Frank Wakefield was a Tennessee-born mandolinist widely credited with expanding bluegrass mandolin vocabulary beyond Bill Monroe — an idiosyncratic innovator whose long partnership with Red Allen, membership in the Greenbriar Boys, and Carnegie Hall and Boston Pops appearances bridged bluegrass and the urban folk revival.
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- Born June 26, 1934 in Emory Gap, Tennessee; died April 26, 2024 in Saratoga Springs, New York at age 89.
- Idiosyncratic mandolin innovator widely credited (including by David Grisman) with expanding bluegrass mandolin vocabulary beyond Bill Monroe; built his style around hard down-strokes, chromatic runs, and dissonant double-stops.
- Long musical partnership with singer/guitarist Red Allen — first as Red Allen & Frank Wakefield with the Kentuckians (early 1960s) and on the influential 1964 Folkways LP "Bluegrass."
- Composer of the bluegrass mandolin standard "New Camptown Races," first cut in his teens with Marvin Cobb's band; also wrote "Catnip" and "Jesus Loves His Mandolin Player."
- Member of The Greenbriar Boys in the late 1960s alongside Eric Weissberg and John Herald, helping carry bluegrass into the urban folk-revival scene.
- Performed at Carnegie Hall with the Kentuckians (1963), with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic (1967), and with the Boston Pops (1968); toured with Jerry Garcia in the 1970s and opened shows for the Grateful Dead.
- Nominated for a Grammy in 1999 for "Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza," a duet/ensemble album he organized with David Grisman, Sam Bush, Ronnie McCoury, Jesse McReynolds, Buck White, and others.
- Famous for his eccentric stage patter, deliberately scrambled speech, and a self-styled mythology that endeared him to multiple generations of fans.
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Red AllenPlayed on recordings with Red Allen
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Red Allen and Frank WakefieldPlayed on recordings with Red Allen and Frank Wakefield
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Frank WakefieldPlayed on recording with Frank Wakefield
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Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain BoysPlayed on recording with Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys
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Red Allen and the KentuckiansPlayed on recording with Red Allen and the Kentuckians