Whop had a warm smile for everyone and it was felt when he sang. He reworked How Blue Can You Get, singing ‘bluesy’ instead of blues and made you feel so good. And he knew how to get the dance floor filled with renditions of Mustang Sally, and other classic R&B numbers like Some Kind of Wonderful or Turn Back The Hands Of Time. Guitarists Michael Tash and Bobby Thompson were among those who developed their chops playing with Whop, while Tom Newman or Harold Flood were his featured guitarists over the final chapter of his life. 

Whop was born August 31, 1943 in Washington DC. In an interview with Felix McLairen published in the December 2008 issue of the DC Blues Society’s newsletter, Capital Blues Messenger, Whop talked about his career and life noting that he “lived and grew up around 14th & U Streets. I hung out a lot and spent time around the Howard Theater just a few blocks from where I lived.”

“I became interested in music ‘cause I was hanging around musicians all the time. I was a young teenager when I started trying to play guitar and got tips from “Skip” Pitts. He was the guitarist who did the wah-wah thing for Isaac Hayes. He said my fingers were too long for the guitar and suggestedI take up electric bass. … I was gigging by the time I was about 14. I played at the Spa Club on 14th and T Streets. I also played the Coach Lounge where Billy Stewart sometime played. In fact, I dated Billy’s cousin for a while. I also played with Bill Harris at clubs on U Street.” Billy Stewart had a number of hits for Chess Records and Bill Harris was an original member of The Clovers as well as a pioneering jazz and blues guitarist.

He first went on the road at the age of 17 with Dee Clark. Locally he “played with Jesse Yawn, Eddie Daye & the 4 Bars. When I was in my early twenties I gigged with Little Royal, Wilson Pickett, and Pookie Hudson. … I started playing Top 40, jukebox tunes. I got into the Blues mostly when I got with Bobby Parker. Bobby was in his twenties and playing with a lot of [local and national] big names, like B.B. King. Later on I also did shows with Blues musicians like Junior Wells, James Cotton, and Bobby Blue Bland.” He stayed with Bobby for ten or so years playing the chitlin’ circuit and credited Bobby for getting him to sing.

Whop explained how he got his nickname, “Well, it came about for a couple reasons. I started out using a pick on the bass that made a whopping sound. But as a teenager I also was known for exaggerating. The guys laughed and talked about me telling whoppers of tales. One of ‘em suggested they call me Whop. The name stuck.”

Frazier's wife, Dolores "Dede" Frazier, recalls meeting him in the late '60s at the now-defunct Rand's nightclub on 14th St. NW. "Actually, I was a dancer," says Dede. "[Whop] was playing behind Carl Anderson." On remembering what first stood out to her about Whop, Dede says, "When I used to get offstage and he was getting ready to go on, he used to say, 'Pineapple, if I leave a ring around the bathtub, you know I left it clean,' and I thought he was a little nuts."

Whop later joined a gospel group at Mount Zion Church in Warrenton, Va., where he first began to sing. "He wasn't really a singer," says Dede, "but they made him start singing, and that's when he went on his own." Initially, Whop joined up with Michael Tash and the Bad Influence Band, but shortly thereafter he founded the longstanding Whop Frazier & Friends by Choice, where he honed his own songwriting for years to come. Friends By Choice played throughout the region over the past couple decades. It was always a solid band that would mix in a few R&B chestnuts along with classic and original blues.

Whop also recorded several albums that gave a sense of what he was like to hear live. They may not have been innovative, but full of his solid, heartfelt and ebullient blues and soul. His first album was with Bad Influence and then three self-released studio albums, Doin’ It On My Own, Bathtub Blues and Here I Go Again. A performance at the Bluebird Blues Festival turned into an official live release. On this latter album, harmonica player Roger Edsall joins the band, along with Harold Flood on guitar. Whop could be relied on for solid performing and always entertaining music. Even when not performing, he was there to attend and support other local bluesman.