was also published in 1912, as the verse to the song "You're My Baby", with music is attributed to Nat. D. Ayer. The familiar "Frankie and Johnny were lovers" lyrics first appeared (as "Frankie and Albert") in On the Trail of Negro Folksongs by Dorothy Scarborough, published in 1925; a similar version with the "Frankie and Johnny" names appeared in 1927 in Carl Sandburg's The American Songbag. Several students of folk music have asserted that the song long predates the earliest published versions; according to Leonard Feather in his Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz it was sung at the Siege of Vicksburg (1863) during the American Civil War and Sandburg said it was widespread before 1888, while John Jacob Niles reported that it emerged before 1830. The fact, however, that the familiar version does not appear in print before 1925 is "strange indeed for such an allegedly old and well-known song", according to music historian James J. Fuld, who suggests that it "is not so ancient as some of the folk-song writers would have one believe." Recordings At least 256 recordings of "Frankie and Johnny" have been made since the early 20th century. The very first recording was made in London in 1912 by American singer Gene Greene. Later singers include Brook Benton, Mike Bloomfield, Big Bill Broonzy, Mississippi Joe Callicott, Johnny Cash, Sam Cooke, Frank Crumit, Sammy Davis Jr., Lonnie Donegan, Kenny Gardner singing with Guy Lombardo's Band, Bob Dylan, Roscoe Holcomb, Lena Horne, Mississippi John Hurt, Burl Ives, Jack Johnson, Lead Belly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Lindsay Lohan, Taj Mahal, Charlie Feathers, Van Morrison, New Lost City Ramblers, Charlie Patton, Les Paul, Charlie Poole, Jimmie Rodgers, Anika Noni Rose, Pete Seeger, Dinah Shore, Chris Smither, Dave Van Ronk,Gene Vincent, Fats Waller, Doc Watson, Stevie Wonder, and Josh White. A 1966 recording by Elvis Presley became a gold record as the title song of a Presley movie. The earliest country recording of a Frankie song is Ernest Thompson's 1924 Columbia recording of "Frankie Baker", which is listed in Tony Russell's Country Music Records A Discography, 1921-1942, Oxford University Press, 2004, . Thompson was a blind street singer from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. As a jazz standard it has also been recorded by numerous bands and instrumentalists including Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Count Basie, Bunny Berigan, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, Ray Brown (musician), and Benny Goodman. Champion Jack Dupree set his version in