Albert C. "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 Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...

and

Conway Twitty Harold Lloyd Jenkins (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American singer and songwriter. Initially a part of the 1950s rockabilly scene, Twitty was best known as a country music performer. ...

. Griffin was born in Corsicana, Texas, and was raised in

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

and Missouri. 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 WKY (930 AM) is a commercial radio station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, owned by Cumulus Media. It is the oldest radio station in Oklahoma and among the oldest in the nation. WKY airs a sports format which is simulcast with its sister station ...

under the name Chuck Wyman. Joe Leonard, owner of a

Gainesville, Texas Gainesville is a city in and the county seat of Cooke County, Texas, United States. Its population was 16,002 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Texoma region and is an important Agri-business center. History Founded in 1850, the city of Gain ...

, 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 WFAA (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Decatur-licensed Estrella TV affiliate KMPX (channel 29), ...

. "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 Wade Ray (April 13, 1913 in Evansville, Indiana – November 11, 1998 in Sparta, IL) was an American Western Swing fiddler and vocalist. His bands, the Wade Ray Five, Wade Ray And His Ozark Mountain Boys, etc., included musicians such as Kenn ...

, and Janis Martin did a version of his failed single "Let's Elope, Baby". He appeared on ABC-TV's ''

Talent Varieties ''Talent Varieties'' is a country music talent show on United States, American television network, network television and radio network, radio in 1955 that featured performers hoping to achieve fame in the entertainment business. The weekly Ameri ...

'' on August 2, 1955, singing "Next to Mine".Sachs, Bill "Folk Talent & Tunes" (August 27, 1955), '' The Billboard'', p. 107 In 1956, Griffin contracted with the Dallas radio show '' Big D Jamboree'', and

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

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 Hoisington is a city in Barton County, Kansas, Barton County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,699. History In 1886, a group of Barton County businessmen formed the Centr ...

. From 1965 Griffin sold Bibles and worked as a Driller in the Kansas and

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 Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...

on February 14, 2009, in Sayre, Oklahoma.

Notes

References

Buck Griffin Albert C. "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. G ...

at Allmusic * Foster, D. Wayne. retrieved from 2008 audio interview recording; https://web.archive.org/web/20100715152543/http://www.holidayinnrecords.com/. * Obituary http://www.memorialsolutions.com/sitemaker/sites/whiner1/obit.cgi?user=albertgriffin {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin, Buck 1923 births 2009 deaths American country singer-songwriters American rockabilly musicians Singer-songwriters from Texas 20th-century American singer-songwriters People from Barton County, Kansas People from Corsicana, Texas Country musicians from Texas Singer-songwriters from Kansas