As firmly rooted, in the annals of U. S. folklore as Steamboat Bill is the mournful ballad of Frankie & Johnnie. Last week the Frankie of the song popped up larger than life and blacker than Johnnie's two-timing heart. Before she was through telling her story, fleshy, 60-year-old Frankie Baker had poked holes enough in the time-tested legend to scuttle any folksong. It was not Johnnie she shot, but a man named Albert. He was not her man but an intruder in her bedroom. There never was any manstealing Nellie Ely. Self-defense, not jealousy,...
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