Born Don Roscoe Joseph III in Saint Louis, Missouri on July 26, 1937, Rocky Frisco is the pianist with the J. J. Cale Band.
Frisco and Cale both attended Tulsa Central High School

Central High School (Tulsa, Oklahoma)

Central High School is the oldest high school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was founded in 1906 as Tulsa High School, and located in downtown Tulsa until 1976. The school now has a campus in northwest Tulsa. Tulsa Central is part of the Tulsa Public Schools, Oklahoma's largest school district, and is a...

 in the 1950s, with Frisco graduating in 1955 and Cale in 1956. They played together in Gene Crose's band starting in 1957. In the Fall of 1958, Rocky moved to Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 to form a band for Clyde Stacy. When Stacy retired in 1959, Rocky became lead singer for the band, The Four Flames, recording a Columbia Harmony album in New York entitled, "The Big Ten," as "Rocky Curtiss and the Harmony Flames." Frisco rejoined the Cale Band in 1994 and toured the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Europe that Summer and Fall, with TV broadcasts from France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, and the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The Cale band's 1996 tour included a concert on March 29 at Carnegie Hall on a double-bill with Levon and The Band. Rocky can be heard on the J. J. Cale CDs, "JJ Cale Live," "To Tulsa And Back" and "Roll On" as well as "Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...

's Crossroads Guitar Festival

Crossroads Guitar Festival

The Crossroads Guitar Festival is a music festival and benefit concert first held in 2004 and again in 2007 and 2010. The festivals benefit the Crossroads Centre founded by Eric Clapton, a drug treatment center located in Antigua. The concerts are also intended to be a showcase for a variety of...

" DVD set and the JJ Cale Band's DVD tour video, "To Tulsa and Back

To Tulsa and Back

To Tulsa and Back is the thirteenth studio album by J. J. Cale. Released in 2004.-Track listing:# "My Gal" 4:23# "Chains of Love" 3:37# "New Lover" 3:12# "I Step" 3:20# "Stone River" 3:42# "The Problem" 4:31# "Homeless" 3:25# "Fancy Dancer" 4:50...

" From Time/Life . In late May 2008, Rocky was inducted into the Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame with a Lifetime Achievement Award. On September 17, 2009, Rocky was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame as a winner of the Eldon Shamblin Session Musician Award.

Bands and artists Rocky has played and recorded with recently:

• Steve Pryor
• Empty Pockets
• Brad Absher
• Tom Skinner's Science Project
• Larry Spears
• Susan Herndon
  Susan Herndon
  Susan Herndon is an American singer-songwriter from Tulsa, Oklahoma, labelled by Tulsa World as being among a group of the "region's most talented musicians." In 2000, Herndon released Quiet Cave and had her song "The Drum" featured on NPR's All Songs Considered...
  
  
• Lata Gouveia
• Dustin Pittsley
• Jesse Aycock
• JJ Cale
• Dustin and Jesse's Higher Education
• The Kevin Phariss Band
• Rodney Lay
• Widespread Panic
  Widespread Panic
  Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Todd Nance, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guitarist Jimmy Herring...
  
  
• Dennis Crouch

Rocky also sometimes acts in films and videos and can be seen in the Short Film, "Melvin, A Midwestern Tale," and the 2003 Disney remake of "Where The Red Fern Grows."

During the mid-1960s, Rocky, disgusted with the music business after having thousands of dollars in royalties embezzled by an A & R man he trusted, quit playing and moved to Ontario Canada and worked for IBM and raced MG's and Mini Coopers at Harewood Acres and Mosport. He drove a Morris Mini in the preliminary races for the 1967 Canadian Grand Prix, reverting to the name, Don Joseph.

In his spare time, Rocky writes novels and restores English Austin and Morris Mini Coopers and MG (car)

MG (car)

The MG Car Company is a former British sports car manufacturer founded in the 1920s by Cecil Kimber. Best known for its two-seat open sports cars, MG also produced saloons and coupés....

s and sometimes runs for political office in his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

External links

• Rocky Frisco's Homepage
• IMDB Page for Rocky Frisco
• "The Legendary Rocky Frisco: Our Exclusive Interview with The Roxter" (Interview with Rocky Frisco) at Culturespill, July 9, 2008.