Buck Griffin
"Buck" Griffin (February 23, 1923 – February 14, 2009) was an American singer and songwriter. He was a popular performer live and on radio, though he never scored a hit on record, and was compared to Hank Williams and Conway Twitty. Griffin was born in Corsicana, Texas, and was raised in Oklahoma and Missouri.
Buck Griffin
- Name
- Buck Griffin
- Born
- February 23, 1923
- Died
- 14 February 2009
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- musician · singer · songwriter · bandleader
- Fields
- country music
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Documentary evidence
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Authority files
wikidata · Q999310 · wikipedia · Buck Griffin
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The documentary record
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Institutions cited
Bibliothèque nationale de France · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
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Biography
Biography
He began playing guitar at age 12 and sang lead in a high school dance band. After school Griffin took jobs as a ditch digger and oil driller in Kansas, where he played in local clubs. In the late 1940s he was offered a slot on Oklahoma City radio station WKY under the name Chuck Wyman. Joe Leonard, owner of a Gainesville, Texas, radio station, offered Griffin a contract on Lin Records in 1954, and had him record his first single at the studios of Dallas's WFAA. "It Don't Make No Nevermind" b/w "Meadowlark Boogie" was his first release, but it went nowhere, and several more releases later in 1954 (some of which featured members of Bob Wills's band) also failed to attract attention. Despite this, Griffin was a popular live performer, performing with Red Foley and Marty Robbins among others. Additionally, he did well as a songwriter; his "Goin' Home All Alone" was recorded by Wade Ray, and Janis Martin did a version of his failed single "Let's Elope, Baby". He appeared on ABC-TV's Talent Varieties on August 2, 1955, singing "Next to Mine". In 1956, Griffin contracted with the Dallas radio show Big D Jamboree, and MGM Records picked up his previous Lin Records releases for national distribution. Though MGM released 45s from Griffin into the early 1960s, he never scored a hit; later releases on Holiday Inn Records fared no better. In 1963 Griffin started Rotary Records and recorded several singles on that label as well as having a local television show on KCKT in Hoisington, Kansas. From 1965 Griffin sold Bibles and worked as a Driller in the Kansas and Oklahoma oilfields as well as becoming a licensed pilot, owning several airplanes. He was a major force behind the building of an airstrip south of Hoisington, Kansas. He still wrote and published songs and occasionally recorded. In the 1970s his chronic asthma became a barrier to performing. He died of complications to emphysema on February 14, 2009, in Sayre, Oklahoma.
Key facts
Key facts
• Background — person • Name — Buck Griffin • Born — February 23, 1923 • Died — 14 February 2009 • Genre — * Hillbilly • rockabilly • honky tonk • country • Years Active — 1954–1965 • Label — * Foundation • Rotary • Holiday Inn • MGM • Lin
Documentary record
Buck Griffin appears in the authority records of the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek as a musician and bandleader (23 February 1923 – 4 February 2009). Buck Griffin was born on 23 February 1923 in Corsicana, Texas and died on 4 February 2009.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Buck Griffin, revision 1269048624 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Sachs, Bill "Folk Talent & Tunes" (August 27, 1955), The Billboard, p. 107
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 21 August 2026.
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