Tex & Cliff Grimsley

The Louisiana Show Men

The Story of Tex and Cliff Grimsley

Tex Grimsley and his brother Cliff had many occupations: entertainer, fiddle maker, songwriter, recording artist. During their career, they participated in many historical music events but their legacy is buried under bright stars of their more famous companions like Webb Pierce.

Ennis Marcel "Tex" Grimsley was born on January 17, 1921, in the small town of Logansport, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, on the western border of the state. He was the older brothers - Willie Clifton "Dizzy Fingers" Grimsley followed on October 18, 1922. The brothers came from a musically talented family; her mother had a total of 10 siblings, all but one played an instrument. Tex learned to play the fiddle from his uncle Butch Spraggins at the age of seven years and began building fiddles at the age of 14. Cliff also learned different instruments but eventually settled with the steel guitar.

Tex Grimsley, prob. early 1940s
during his military service

Tex and Cliff Grimsley became members of Jimmie Davis' election campaign band around 1943-1944, when he was running for the position of Louisiana governor. In 1946-1947, Tex Grimsley was part of Jim Hall's Radio Rangers that played in Richmond, Virginia. This band played more jazz-leaning arrangements and Grimsley "cut my teeth on that stuff", as he later remembered in a newspaper article. He returned to Louisiana, and in 1947, Grimsley made his recording debut, having one release on Deb Dyer's Red Barn label out of Chicago, "Sorry for You" b/w "It's All Coming Back to You".

Around the same time, the Grimsley brothers had begun working around Shreveport (about an hour north of their birthplace) and had a band known as the "Uncle Tex and his Texas Showboys". They appeared on radio KWKH and were one of the first acts to appear on the first broadcast of the station's Louisiana Hayride in April 1948. During these years, the brothers played at the Hayride with such artists as the Bailes Brothers, Johnnie & Jack and Kitty Wells, the Mercer Brothers, and Hank Williams.

Another early star of the Louisiana Hayride was Webb Pierce, who made himself a name in the Shreveport scene as well. Pierce set up Pacemaker Records in 1950, a small label that released discs by local artists. At that time, the Texas Showmen included Tex on fiddle, Sunny Harville on fiddle, Cliff on vocals, steel and standard guitar, and Don Davis on bass. The band recorded two records for Pacemaker, including their original version of Tex and Cliff's composition "Walking the Dog".Vocals duties were taken over by Cliff on this song and its flip side, "Teardrops". In 1951, both songs were also leased to Ivin Ballen' Gotham label from Philadelphia.

Webb Pierce signed with Decca Records in 1951 and found initial success with the label. In 1953, he covered "Walking the Dog" and his version was released as the flip side of his #1 hit "There Stands the Glass". The Pierce version of "Walking the Dog" reached #3 on Billboard's C&W as well and secured Tex and Cliff Grimsley with a good batch of royalties. The song became a minor standard in country music, being covered by at least 18 different artists over the years. They also co-wrote "The Glass That Stands Beside You" with Pierce, a reference to Pierce's earlier hit. The song was recorded by Jean Shepard for Capitol Records in 1954.

Pierce invited Cliff (and possibly also Tex) to join his band and embark on a tour across the world but the Grimsleys declined. They rather stayed in Louisiana and never regretted it. Music was only a part-time adventure for both. Tex worked as a safety and claims officer, building and repairing fiddles in addition. However, both kept on performing throughout the decades and although they did not make any recordings under their own name beyond 1951, they recorded occasionally with other artists. 

Tex and Cliff Grimsley settled in Bossier City, where both continued to perform locally. Tex also continued to build and repair fiddles. He married in 1979, teaching his wife Mary how to play the fiddle and she became a talent in her own right.

Shreveport Journal November 4, 1975

Tex and his then-current band, the Red River Boys, were often featured on the Keithville Jamboree, a local stage show out of Keithville south of Shreveport. Tex became Louisiana State Fiddling Champion in 1977, 1980, and 1982, and was also inducted into the Hall of Master Folk Artists at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana, in the 1980s. He kept on performing with his wife Mary well into the 1990s. Tex had taught her how to play the instrument.

Tex Grimsley around 1975

In recent years, two acetates by Tex Grimsley have turned up in online auctions, featuring the songs "Don't Forget Your Mother", "He Set the World Free", "Every Body's Blues", and "Sweetheart Divine". In 2025, my good friend Marshal Martin unearthed another acetate by Grimsley featuring early 1950s live performances.

Tex Grimsley died in 2002 in Shreveport, Louisiana. His brother Cliff died 20 years later on December 3, 1922, at the age of 100 years.

Sources
• Find a Grave entry for Tex Grimsley and for Cliff Grimsley
• SecondHandSongs
• Hillbilly-Music.com entry
• The Intelligencer obituary
• 45cat.com/78rpm entry