As a producer, keyboard player and vocalist, he began his career performing in a local Buffalo band called The Movement.

The album featured his band: brother Tim Franklin on bass, Barry Sperti on sax, and Paul Parker on drums.

Later that year, he formed an original music group "Lost Weekend" which had regional success and recorded a self-titled album.

Working from his own studio, he produced CDs for Tommy Roe, Gloria Gaynor, Spencer Davis, Edgar Winter, Toto's Bobby Kimball and others.

After Wolfman's death in 1995, he became music director of Hard Rock Live in Orlando from 1998 to 2001,[4] performing with classic artists as band leader.

Franklin performed alongside Joe Walsh, Bruce Hornsby, Leslie West, Edgar Winter, Melanie Safka, Don Mclean, Rick Derringer, Bobby Kimball and others.

[5] He would also appear on events as keyboard player for Chuck Berry's birthday dates, and the opening of the musical Buddy with Paul McCartney.

The first large scale American carnival company to play to millions of people in Tianjin, Nanning, Taiyuan and Shenyang.

Pat Travers, Randi Paul, Little Anthony, Terry Sylvester of The Hollies, Heather Rice, Fei Peng, Mike Pinera, Blues Image, Larry Coryell and most recently Jon Anderson of Yes and Robby Stienhardt, the original violinist and vocalist of the band Kansas.

Chick Corea, Ian Anderson, Billy Cobham, Tower of Power, Jean Luc Ponty, Larry Coryell, and many other.