Frank Evans with the Western Hayriders "I'm Different" (1956) and with The Topnotchers "Gotta Get Some Money" (1959).
 

Frank Evans was a child singer on WHBO in Tampa by the time he was 13.  According to Frank, the radio station was so small, the signal  'just barely made it over the tree tops”. Born in 1940 in Tampa, he was a hillbilly music star in the Tampa area in the early 1950s.  By 1953 or so, he had already performed 78 consecutive weeks of shows on two Tampa radio stations - WHBO and WALT. He had his own show sponsored by the Velda Ice Cream Company.
 

When he was 15 years old he cut this his first recording, "I'm Different" (Starday 540), at the Burdette Sound Studios in Tampa, backed by the Western Hayriders (who were already an established band by this time & included Pete Howell on lead guitar & Dusty Robbins on steel guitar).  The A side, "I’m Different" is a nice uptempo number with Frank also soloing on the banjo with nice support from both lead & steel guitar. The flipside is a hillbilly weeper. It’s a great debut from an underrated artist.  

 

 

Soon after, Frank formed his Top Notchers and cut "What That Is (That I’m Too Young To Know)" (Starday 567) in the spring of 1956: it’s an uptempo ditty with a bluegrass feel (banjo and fiddle upfront), recorded at the tiny WHBO radio station in Tampa. A brief write-up in the June ’56 issue of Country Song Roundup mentions that "Frank Evans and his B-Bar-B Ranch Hands (the name they used when they appeared on TV in St. Petersburg) have recently returned from Nashville where they appeared on the Grand Ole Opry..." It was actually the Junior Opry they appeared on.

 

 

 

The Top Notchers’ next release, "Barrel of Heartaches (Bucket Of Tears)" (Starday 602), from late ’56, is their most primitive. Colin Thomas’ steel can be heard for the first time, and Arnold Newman’s lead gets in a few licks, but neither the song nor the performance show much inspiration.

The guys got things together for their next record, however. "Pull The Shades Down Ma" (Starday 645), released around June 1957, is Fifties country music of the sheerest excellence. "Now this city’s dwellin’ just ain’t cut out for me" sings Frank in his most exuberant vocal on record and the band lays down an infectious rhythm that complements the lyrics perfectly. The song is reminiscent of the cool stuff Little Jimmy Dickens was cutting at the time: fun, full-blooded country that was uncompromisingly rural sounding.
 

Frank’s next release came only three or four months later. "I’ve Got A Patent (On My Kind Of Love)" (Starday 674) is an uptempo swinger built around a fine twin guitar riff from lead and steel (which also gets in a good solo). Like all their records, "I’ve Got A Patent" got little notice except on WHBO. One of the deejays in Tampa who regularly played Frank’s records was Bill Floyd, who recorded the excellent "Hey Boy" for Starday. Local Mack King recorded for Starday as well, and Dixie records Benny Joy was also from the area.
 

Up to this time, the Top Notchers had pretty much side-stepped rock’n'roll. But in late ’57 or early ’58, Colin Thomas left the band and the guys added a drummer, moving closer to a rockabilly sound. Their final Starday single, "The Ain’t Got Blues" (Starday 719), recorded in the spring of ’58, could be described as low-key rockabilly. Frank’s vocal is not as strong as the previous two releases; nonetheless it’s a good effort. As with Frank’s previous five records, it’s highly probable that only 300 copies were pressed, the standard quantity for Starday customs.

 

 

In early ’59, Frank and a guy named Byron Clark set up a small recording studio and label in Tampa called Nugget (Lonzo & Oscar handling the song publishing). The label issued local rock’n'roll bands. The second Nugget release was the Top Notchers’ last, but they went out blazin’ with "Gotta Get Some Money" (Nugget 1001), a solid rocker with guitar and drums to the fore – you wouldn’t know by listening to it that these guys were purely country just a year or so earlier. Alas, it was the poorest seller of their releases: in 1960, it had sold 132 copies. Disillusioned, Frank sold his rights to Byron Clark. He later appeared weekly on Ernie Lee’s TV show.
 

 

As television came into the light of day, Frank also worked television appearances into his busy schedule. In 1956, Frank and his group were seen and heard over WSUN-TV in St. Petersburg, Florida.

 

Frank moved on to Nashville in the early 1960's, establishing himself in session recording and tour bands. He toured with a number of backup groups including Skeeter Davis, Hawkshaw Hawkins, and Jett Williams. After 30 years in Nashville, Frank returned to Tampa where he passed away in 2000. Vern Stokes lives in Tampa after a 32 year career with IBM. Roland Newman lives in Thonotosassa after a 30 year career with Tampa Electric. Arnold Newman worked in the Tampa area and passed away in 2008.  (Info from Tedd Webb's "Garage Bands")
 

One of the highlights of his early career was appearing on the same bill with the legendary Red Foley when his show came to Tampa. 

The above information comes from two YouTube videos of Frank's music, heard here, and this website, where you can hear more of Frank's recordings.  http://www.bopping.org/frank-evans-his-top-notchers-tampa-fl-hillbillyrockabillyrocknroll-1955-1959/