Johnny Bond
Musician · 1915–1978 · Enville, Oklahoma
Best known for
Songwriter
Johnny Bond was a country songwriter, recording artist, and longtime Gene Autry sideman whose catalog ran from the Western-swing standard "Cimarron" to the No. 2 novelty hit "Ten Little Bottles." His distinctive acoustic-guitar runs anchored Autry's Melody Ranch broadcasts for sixteen years, and his publishing partnership with Tex Ritter made him a central figure in Hollywood's postwar country scene.
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- Born Cyrus Whitfield Bond in Enville, Oklahoma, and raised in Marietta; taught himself ukulele and guitar before high school.
- Formed the Bell Boys trio in Oklahoma City in 1937 with Jimmy Wakely and Scotty Harrell; the group moved to Hollywood in 1939 and appeared in the Roy Rogers film Saga of Death Valley.
- Joined Gene Autry's CBS Melody Ranch radio show in 1940 and remained a fixture until the program ended in 1956.
- Wrote "Cimarron" in Oklahoma City as a theme song for the Bell Boys; it became a Western-swing standard recorded by dozens of country and bluegrass acts.
- Wrote and recorded the comic recitation "Ten Little Bottles," which spent four weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard country chart in 1965 — the biggest chart placement of his career, at age 50.
- Co-founded Vidor Publications with Tex Ritter and hosted the Los Angeles television show Town Hall Party for nearly a decade.
- Inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and received the Academy of Country Music's Pioneer Award in 1974.
- Elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999.
- Died of a stroke at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California on June 12, 1978, at age 63.