Park Foundation Music App

Home > Artists

Ken Griffin (2)

American organist and songwriter. Born: December 28, 1909, Columbia, Missouri, USA Died: March 11, 1956, Chicago, Illinois, USA (age 46) Griffin grew up in Pueblo, Colorado. At age 16, he briefly worked as an electrician helper for the Colorado Fuel and Iron Co., Minnequa Works; in 1930, he worked at a dentist's in Pueblo. Originally studying the violin at the Scott School of Music in Pueblo, CO, Griffin later taught himself to play the pipe organ and became a theater organist. In 1935, he became an early adopter of the electric Hammond organ. By October 1940, when he registered for the draft, he played at the Midway Café in Chicago. Griffin served in the U.S. Army between mid-1942 and early 1944, mostly at Camp Barclay in Texas. After his discharge, he landed a job playing at a restaurant in Naperville, Illinois, then at the Rivoli Café in Aurora, Illinois. The Rivoli sessions were broadcast on radio WMRO in Aurora, and the program became popular, leading to more gigs in Chicago. On August 20, 1947, Griffin recorded 8 titles, with [l=Chicago Recording Studios, Inc.], owners of the [l=Broadcast Recordings] label. One of these, "You Cant Be True," was released in October 1947 on [url=https://www.discogs.com/release/3011958]Broadcast Recordings 460[/url]. In September or October 1947, he cut another eight tunes with [l=Rondo (2)], including titles he had earlier recorded for Broadcast. One of them, the instrumental "You Can't Be True, Dear," was released in February 1948 on [url=https://www.discogs.com/release/7306331]Rondo R-128[/url], followed in March 1948 by a version with dubbed-over vocals by [a=Jerry Wayne] on [url=https://www.discogs.com/release/3220984]Rondo (2) R-228[/url]. The vocal version immediately became a huge hit, reaching #1 on the Billboard charts on April 2, 1948 and staying there for seven weeks. The instrumental version reached Billboard's Bestseller charts on July 2, 1948 and peaked at #2. Both records sold 3,5 million copies and put Griffin and the [l=Rondo (2)] label on the map. The sightly earlier Broadcast version of the same title, in contrast, sold only 4,000 copies until March 1948, but once the Rondo versions took off, it also experienced a boost, selling another 203,000 copies (until March 1952). In 1950, Griffin switched to [l=Columbia] and Wurlitzer organs. For [l=Columbia] he recorded so many titles that they were able to issue LPs with new Griffin material on the [l=Columbia] and [l=Harmony (4)] labels for many years after his early death of a heart attack on March 11, 1956. Posthumously, Griffin charted again as a songwriter with his arrangement of "You Can't Be True Dear" as released by [a=The Mary Kaye Trio] in 1959, peaking at #75 on the U.S. charts.