Frankie’s Gun! – The Felice Brothers

Happy Friday! A friend recently sent me this one, “Frankie’s Gun!” by The Felice Brothers. My initial impression was very Dylan-esque, but I would say that there’s some pretty heavy Beatles influence involved here, and even more so The Band.

Lyrically, I can’t get enough of this one. Every verse grabs my attention, especially the first one.

My car goes Chicago
Every weekend to pick up some cargo
I think I know the bloody way by now, Frankie
And turn the goddamn radio down, thank you
Pull over
Count the money
But don’t count the thirty in the glove box, buddy

The song tells the loose story of some fellas (old-school gangsters seems to be the consensus) driving to Chicago to make some sort of pickup, and one, Frankie, mistakenly shooting his partner. “Frankie’s Gun!” just tells a great story through lyrics that almost make you think, “Why the hell is he singing about telling Frankie to turn the radio down?” but I think the details like that are what make the song so cool.

In doing some research on this one, someone described this song as having a “controlled sloppiness” which is an almost perfect way to describe the instrumentation on this one.

Link to song – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwSdt130RTY

Link to live performance – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmFrUxKyJHg