Frank Noah Proffitt (June 1, 1913 – November 24, 1965)[1] was an Appalachian old time banjoist who preserved the song "Tom Dooley" in the form we know it today and was a key figure in inspiring musicians of the 1960s and 1970s to play the traditional five-string banjo.
He was born in Laurel Bloomery, Tennessee, United States,[1] and was raised in the Reese area of Watauga County, North Carolina, where he worked in a variety of jobs and lived on a farm with his wife and six children.
[1] Warner collected his songs and shared them with Alan Lomax, who included many, including the ballad "Tom Dooley" that Warner had learned from Proffitt, in his book, Folksong U.S.A.. Proffitt had learned the song from his aunt Nancy Prather, who had in turn learnt it from her mother Edy Adeline (Pardue) Proffitt, who had known both Dula (locally pronounced "Dooley") and Laura Foster.
The Kingston Trio learned "Tom Dooley" from a recording by Warner, and were eventually required by court judgement to acknowledge their debt to Proffitt and pay him royalties for the use of the song.
[4] He also performed at the 1964 New York World's Fair, and recorded several more tracks released on the compilation album High Atmosphere: Ballads and Banjo Tunes from Virginia and North Carolina.