REX GRIFFIN
Rex Griffin (1912–1958) was an Alabama singer, guitarist, and songwriter whose deeply personal compositions helped shape the emerging honky-tonk style. Best remembered as the author of classics such as The Last Letter and Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby, he was also a gifted solo performer. His recordings feature a steady alternating-bass guitar style, tasteful bass runs, and an unhurried vocal delivery that gave equal weight to melody and storytelling. Griffin's songwriting would later influence generations of country artists, from Ernest Tubb to Hank Williams.
AN OLD FADED PHOTOGRAPH
Recorded March 2, 1936 — New Orleans, Louisiana
Matrix: NO-60607-A - Decca 5318
"An Old Faded Photograph" is a sentimental ballad built around one of country music's enduring themes: the memories preserved in a single photograph. Griffin's understated guitar accompaniment, played in standard tuning, provides a steady alternating bass with restrained melodic movement between vocal phrases. The simplicity of the performance allows the emotional weight of both the lyric and melody to remain at the forefront.
ANSWER TO THE LAST LETTER
Recorded September 25, 1939 — New York, New York
Matrix: 66650-B - Decca 5678
"Answer To The Last Letter" was written by Rex Griffin as a sequel to his immensely popular "The Last Letter." Rather than retelling the original tragedy, the song gives voice to those left behind, extending the story with the same emotional restraint that made the first song so successful. Griffin's understated guitar accompaniment, built on a steady alternating bass and smooth chord transitions, perfectly supports the narrative while allowing the lyric to remain the emotional focus.
IF YOU CALL THAT GONE' GOOD BYE
Recorded March 2, 1936 — New Orleans, Louisiana
Matrix: NO-60601-A - Decca 5288
“If You Call That Gone, Goodbye” is a fine example of Rex Griffin’s early songwriting, built around a simple but memorable idea and delivered with his characteristic directness. The sparse guitar accompaniment keeps the focus on the vocal and gives the performance the intimate quality found in many of his earliest recordings.
THE LOVESICK BLUES
Recorded September 25, 1939 — New York, New York
Matrix: 66655-A - Decca 5770
“The Lovesick Blues” occupies an important place in country music history. Originally a Tin Pan Alley song from the early 1920s and later recorded by Emmett Miller, it was Rex Griffin who reshaped it into a hillbilly performance in 1939, rearranging its sections and adding yodels. His version became the model for Hank Williams’ famous recording nearly a decade later.
I'M READY TO REFORM
Recorded March 2, 1936 — Roosevelt Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana
Matrix: NO-60605-A - Decca 5294
“I’m Ready to Reform” is an original Rex Griffin composition and one of the clearest examples of the blues influence in his early recordings. Recorded during his 1936 New Orleans session, with Griffin accompanying himself on guitar, the song shows a side of his music that reaches well beyond the Jimmie Rodgers influence usually associated with his early work.
My HILLBILLY BABY
Recorded September 25, 1939 — New York, New York
Matrix: 66651-A — Decca 5770
“My Hillbilly Baby” is an original Rex Griffin composition, recorded during his final Decca session in New York in September 1939. A lighthearted country love song, it was issued as the flip side of Griffin’s influential recording of “Lovesick Blues.” Ernest Tubb later revived the song in the 1950s.
BEYOND THE LAST MILES
Recorded September 25, 1939 — New York, New York
Matrix: 66653-A — Decca 5764
“Beyond the Last Mile” is an original Rex Griffin composition, a dark prison ballad told from the perspective of a man awaiting execution for the death of his sweetheart. Maintaining his innocence, he faces the gallows without fear, believing that death will reunite them. Recorded during Griffin’s final Decca session in 1939, the song was later revived by Ray Price and Ernest Tubb.
