Biography

J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers Texas has a long history of great singers. One singer, overlooked for years and sometimes relegated to "one hit wonder" status, was J. Frank Wilson. J. Frank Wilson was born in Lufkin, Texas, on December 11, 1941. He graduated from Lufkin High School in the Class of 1960. When J. Frank was growing up in the fifties, the sounds of Buddy Holly and Elvis were reverberating over the airwaves and would influence his style of singing. 1962 found J. Frank in the U.S. Air Force and stationed at Goodfellow AFB in San Angelo, Texas. A popular local band, the Cavaliers, and J. Frank joined forces. For two years, J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers were among the top bands in the area. Sonley Roush, an area record producer, heard a song written and recorded by Wayne Cochran. He had J. Frank and the Cavaliers record "Last Kiss." With the master recording in hand, Sonley headed for Ft. Worth, Texas, to see producer/promoter 'Major' Bill Smith. Through his efforts, "Last Kiss" was released in June of 1964 on the Josie record label. By October, among the madness and excitement of Beatlemania and the British Invasion, "Last Kiss" cracked the top ten charts of both Cashbox and Billboard. It's highest ranking was #2 on the Billboard charts and #1 on the Cashbox charts. The popularity of "Last Kiss" earned J. Frank many accolades, including a gold record for selling one million records. One of his favorite memories was singing "Last Kiss" on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. J. Frank stayed with singing for several more years before finally giving up on having another successful record. He spent his last years in his hometown where he sadly passed away on October 4, 1991.