Johnny Bond

Cyrus Whitfield Bond (June 1, 1915 – June 12, 1978), known professionally as Johnny Bond, was an American country music entertainer of the 1940s through the 1960s.

Johnny Bond
Background information
Birth nameCyrus Whitfield Bond
Born(1915-06-01)June 1, 1915
OriginEnville, Oklahoma, U.S.
DiedJune 12, 1978(1978-06-12) (aged 63)
Burbank, California, U.S.[1]
GenresCountry
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter
InstrumentsGuitar
Years active1940-1977
LabelsColumbia, Starday

Early years

Bond was born in Enville, Oklahoma, and grew up on several small farms in Oklahoma. As a youngster, he was influenced musically by records that his parents played. He learned basics of music as a member of his high school's brass band. While in high school he bought a ukulele, but soon he switched to playing the guitar.[2]

Performing

Bond first performed on radio in Oklahoma City when he was 19 years old. In 1937, he began performing with Jimmy Wakely and Scotty Harrell in the Bell Boys trio, named after the Bell Clothing Company, which sponsored the group[3] on radio station WKY in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He went on to join Gene Autry's Melody Ranch in 1940.[4]

He also performed with his own group, the Red River Valley Boys.

The Encyclopedia of Country Music says that the Bond-Wakely-Harrell trio "pulled a clever musical scam" by recording for two companies under different names: the Jimmy Wakely Trio (for Decca Records) and Johnny Bond & the Cimarron Boys (for Columbia Records).[3]

Bond also acted in more than 40 films,[4] beginning with Saga of Death Valley (1939)[5] and including Wilson and Duel in the Sun.[6]

Beginning in 1953, Bond and Tex Ritter were hosts of the syndicated country music television series Town Hall Party, which lasted seven years.[2]

Recording

Bond's first solo recordings came with Columbia Records in 1937.[2] He is best known for his 1947 hit "Divorce Me C.O.D.", one of his seven top ten hits on the Billboard country charts. In 1965 at age 50 he scored the biggest hit of his career with the comic "Ten Little Bottles", which spent four weeks at No. 2. Bond's other hits include "So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed" (1947), "Oklahoma Waltz" (1948), "Love Song in 32 Bars" (1950), "Sick Sober and Sorry" (1951), and a cover of Charlie Ryan's "Hot Rod Lincoln" (1960).

Composing and publishing

The hundreds of songs that Bond wrote include "Cimarron" and "Ten Little Bottles". He and Ritter formed Vidor Publications, a music publishing firm. He retired from performing in the 1970s to devote more time to publishing music.[2]

Death

Bond died of a stroke in 1978, at the age of 63.

Recognition

Bond was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999,[7] and to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Bond's song "Stars of the Midnight Range" was featured in the role-playing video game, Fallout: New Vegas. Another song of his; "Headin' Down the Wrong Highway" was on the radio in the game Fallout 76.

Discography

Albums
Year Album Chart Positions Label
US Country US
1961 That Wild, Wicked but Wonderful West — — Starday
1962 Live It Up and Laugh It Up — —
1963 Songs That Made Him Famous — —
1960 Hot Rod Lincoln — —
1965 Ten Little Bottles 12 142
1966 Famous Hot Rodders I Have Known — —
The Man Who Comes Around — —
Bottles Up — —
The Branded Stock of Johnny Bond — —
1967 Ten Nights in a Barroom — —
Sick, Sober and Sorry — —
Drink Up and Go Home — —
1968 Three Sheets in the Wind — —
1969 The Best of Johnny Bond — —
1970 Something Old, New, Patriotic and Blue — —
1971 Here Come the Elephants — —

Singles
Year Single Chart Positions Album
US Country US
1947 "Divorce Me C.O.D." 3 — singles only
"So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed" 5 —
"You Brought Sorrow to My Heart" 3 —
"The Daughter of Jole Blon" 4 —
1948 "Oklahoma Waltz" 9 —
1949 "Till the End of the World" 12 —
"Tennessee Saturday Night" 11 —
1950 "Love Song in 32 Beers" 8 —
1951 "Sick, Sober and Sorry" 7 —
1960 "Hot Rod Lincoln" — 26 Hot Rod Lincoln
1963 "Three Sheets in the Wind" 30 —
1965 "10 Little Bottles" 2 43 Ten Little Bottles
1971 "Here Come the Elephants" 59 — Here Come the Elephants
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References
  1. Erlewine, Michael (1997). All Music Guide to Country: The Experts' Guide to the Best Recordings in Country Music. Miller Freeman. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-87930-475-1.
  2. Carlin, Richard (2005). Country. Infobase Publishing. p. 19. ISBN 9780816069774. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  3. The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Oxford University Press. 2012. ISBN 9780199920839. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  4. Erlewine, Michael (1997). All Music Guide to Country: The Experts' Guide to the Best Recordings in Country Music. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 9780879304751. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  5. Talevski, Nick (2010). Rock Obituaries - Knocking On Heaven's Door. Omnibus Press. p. 44. ISBN 9780857121172. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  6. "Gene Autry Comic At Buck Lake Ranch". Angola Herald. Indiana, Angola. 16 September 1949. p. 13. Retrieved December 23, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Johnny Bond". Country Music Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
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