Frank Stokes, born on January 1, 1877 or 1888 in Shelby County, Tennessee, was an American blues musician. He learned to play guitar as a youth and began performing with Dan Sane around the turn of the century. In the mid-1910s, Stokes joined Garfield Akers in the Doc Watts Medicine Show, touring the South. Around 1920, he settled in Oakville, Tennessee, working as a blacksmith while continuing to perform with Sane. The duo recorded under the name Beale Street Sheiks for Paramount Records in August 1927 and Victor Records. Stokes cut 38 sides in total for both labels, including notable songs like "Nehi Mama" (1928) and "Tain't Nobody's Business" (1929). In the 1940s, he moved to Clarksdale, Mississippi. Illness forced him to retire by 1952. Frank Stokes died of a stroke on September 12, 1955, and was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2017.
