Frank Fafara

Who is Frank Fafara?

Frank Fafara was a teen rocker in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Phoenix, where he achieved regional fame.

In the late 1950s, Frank and his school friend and lead guitarist Richard Meyer started out playing for high school rallies. Their popularity soon came to the attention of Arizona Republic music columnist Jack Curtis, who set up their first recording session. The original recording included Richard Meyer on lead guitar, Jim Schultz on drums, Frank on rhythm guitar, and Al Casey on bass.

Fafara had a string of successful Rock ‘n Roll releases in Arizona from 1959 to 1964. His first recording, “Only in My Dreams” went to #5 on the Phoenix Top Ten radio charts. A series of releases followed including “Miss You Dee”, “Lovemaker, Lovebreaker” and “Golden One”. F rank Fafara recorded at the same studio as Duane Eddy, Waylon Jennings, Sanford Clark, and Wayne Newton. Cashbox’s national review noted that “Fafara has something of the late Buddy Holly in his light beat delivery”. Billboard Magazine gave him their highest 3 star rating.