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work-in-progress...
He was born Rex Elvie Allen in an area about 40 miles north of Wilcox, Arizona
known as Mud Springs Canyon. His parents were Horace Allen and Faye Clark Allen.
He said to have started his musical journey doing vaudeville on the east coast.
And later moved on to fame with the WLS National Barn Dance in Chicago and
in Hollywood where he was the last of the singing cowboys of the old
western movie genre.
Married his wife, Bonnie, at the WLS studios it seems. Before coming
to WLS, he was a chief inspector at a large plant that assembled
war planes. Bonnie, was formerly Bonnie Linder, of the Linder Sisters or
Connie and Bonnie as they were known, from Nebraska.
Marriages
Doing research one finds that it is often not easy to piece together some aspects
of a person's life. It appears that Rex was married four times.
Rex appears to have gone to the east coast at an early age. When he was 19 years
old, he had married one Doris Windsor who was 18. It appears that they had one
daughter, Rexie Faye. We do not know when they were divorced. Our research indicates
she later moved to Florida, remarried and passed away in November 2010. The daughter
was born December 30, 1940 which would explain why she doesn't show up on the 1940
census rolls for New Jersey as did Rex Elvie and Doris at her parents address. Further
research indicates Rexie Faye died in April 2007.
Rex's career took him to Chicago and WLS. In 1946, things were happening for him.
He married Bonnie Linder, who was also working at WLS, on August 25, 1946. Rex and Bonnie
had three children:
- Rex, Jr., born August 23, 1947
- Curtis, born January 24, 1950; died
- Mark Wayne, born June 1, 1954; died January 22, 2007
- Bonita Kay, born December 28, 1963
Their marriage ended in divorce around 1979.
Rex's third marriage was on April 9, 1983 to Jeannine Heldnbrand in Santa Barbara, California.
Other online records of that marriage show her name as Jeannine Oliver. This marriage appears
to have lasted less than two years.
His fourth and last marriage was to
Credits & Sources
- Hillbilly Hit Parade of 1941; Southern Music Pub. Co. Inc.;
New York, NY
- Portions of Discography Listing courtesy of Hillbilly
Reasearcher Team; Tricker, Turner and Sax
| Sound Sample—(RealAudio Format) |
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Appearance History This Month
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Recordings
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| Rec. No. |
Side |
Song Title |
| 27876 |
A | Ragtime Melody |
| 27876 |
B | Tuck Me To Sleep In My Old 'Tucky Home |
| 28146 |
A | Rack Up The Balls,Boys |
| 28146 |
B | Till The Well Runs Dry |
| 28341 |
A | Two-Faced Clock |
| 28341 |
B | Jambalaya (On The Bayou) |
| 28446 |
A | No One Will Ever Know |
| 28446 |
B | Hootin' And Howlin' |
| 28556 |
A | Knocking On The Door |
| 28556 |
B | Why,My Darlin',Why |
| 28758 |
A | Crying In The Chapel |
| 28758 |
B | I Thank The Lord |
| 28897 |
A | To Be Alone |
| 28897 |
B | If God Can Forgive You,So Can I |
| 28933 |
A | Why,Daddy? |
| 28933 |
B | Where Did My Snow Man Go? |
| 28998 |
A | He Played The Steel Guitar |
| 28998 |
B | Somewhere |
| 29111 |
A | Bringing Home The Bacon |
| 29111 |
B | I Could Cry My Heart Out |
| 29168 |
A | In The Chapel In The Moonlight |
| 29168 |
B | Chapel Of Memories |
| 29254 |
A | This Ole House |
| 29254 |
B | Two Texas Boys (w/Tex Williams) |
| 29297 |
A | You Took My Name |
| 29297 |
B | I'm Learning To Live |
| 29397 |
A | Tomorrow's Another Day To Cry |
| 29397 |
B | L-O-N-E-S-O-M-E Letter Blues |
| 29586 |
A | That's What Makes The Juke Box Play |
| 29586 |
B | Pedro Gonzales Tennessee Lopez |
| 29610 |
A | Daddy, You Know What |
| 29610 |
B | The Albino Stallion |
| 29729 |
A | The Last Roundup (w/The Victor Strings) |
| 29871 |
B | The Last Frontier (w/The Victor Strings) |
| 30364 |
A | Flower Of San Antone |
| 30364 |
B | Money, Marbles And Chalk |
| 30511 |
A | Blue Dream |
| 30511 |
B | The Blue Light Waltz |
| 32072 |
A | A Woman |
| 32072 |
B | The Waltz That Never Ends |
| 32401 |
A | Bummin' Around |
| 32401 |
B | When I Leave This world Behind |
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| Rec. No. |
Side |
Song Title |
| 6008 |
A | Atomic Power |
| 6008 |
B | You Started Honky Tonkin' |
| 6015 |
A | Don't Turn Your Back On Me |
| 6015 |
B | Texas Tornado |
| 6017 |
A | Driftwood On The River |
| 6017 |
B | Look At Me Now |
| 6021 |
A | After Your Sunshine Turns To Rain |
| 6021 |
B | Queen Of The Rodeo |
| 6034 |
A | A Broken Promise Means A Broken Heart |
| 6034 |
B | Foggy River |
| 6049 |
A | Feudin' And Fightin' |
| 6049 |
B | Take It Back And Change It For A Boy |
| 6060 |
A | Border Serenade |
| 6060 |
B | Lord Protect My Darlin' |
| 6061 |
A | I Went Out And Got A Bucket For My Tears |
| 6061 |
B | Queen Of The Rodeo |
| 6063 |
A | Clarinet Polka |
| 6063 |
B | Flip Side By Polka Chips |
| 6078 |
A | Loaded Pistol |
| 6078 |
B | That Little Boy Of Mine |
| 6091 |
A | Hawaiian Cowboy |
| 6091 |
B | Take It Back And Change It For A Boy |
| 6095 |
A | Slap Her Down Again, Paw |
| 6095 |
B | Teardrops In My Heart |
| 6122 |
A | Chime Bells |
| 6122 |
B | Miranda Doakes |
| 6136 |
A | Empty Christmas Stocking |
| 6136 |
B | Tears On My Old Guitar |
| 6140 |
A | Happy Mary Polka |
| 6140 |
B | Who Shot The Hole In My Sombrero |
| 6171 |
A | Tennessee Tears |
| 6171 |
B | Song Of The Hills |
| 6192 |
A | Afraid |
| 6192 |
B | Cottage In The Clouds |
| 6203 |
A | Arizona Waltz |
| 6203 |
B | Tell Me Little Darlin' |
| 6214 |
A | Over Three Hills |
| 6214 |
B | I'm So Alone With The Crowd |
| 6221 |
A | Blues In My Mind |
| 6221 |
B | Little Brown Shoes |
| 6228 |
A | A Petal From A Faded Rose |
| 6228 |
B | I Gotta Have My Baby Back |
| 6231 |
A | Broken Down Merry Go Round |
| 6231 |
B | Tag Along |
| 6252 |
A | Dixie Boogie |
| 6252 |
B | Put Your Arms Around Me |
| 6258 |
A | Farther Along |
| 6258 |
B | Softly And Tenderly |
| 6269 |
A | Don't Cha |
| 6269 |
B | Yodelin' Crazy |
| 6271 |
B | Afraid |
| 6278 |
A | Driftwood On The River |
| 6278 |
B | That Little Boy Of Mine |
| 6285 |
A | Teardrops In My Heart |
| 6285 |
B | There's Only One Kind Of Red, White And Blue |
| 6286 |
A | Honolulu Boogie |
| 6286 |
B | Too Lee Rollup |
| 6297 |
A | I Ain't Gonna Cry No More |
| 6297 |
B | You Drifted Away |
| 6349 |
A | Albuquerque Polka |
| 6349 |
B | Naggin' |
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| Rec. No. |
Side |
Song Title |
| 781 |
A | Say One For Me |
| 781 |
B | Lazy River |
| 798 |
A | The Little Old Church In The Valley |
| 798 |
B | Morgen (One More Sunrise) |
| 825 |
A | Swamp Fox |
| 825 |
B | Bronco Boogie |
| 826 |
A | Forever And Ever |
| 826 |
B | Staying Young |
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