Johnny Bond

Wry, gentle, humorous, and thoughtful, Johnny Bond left his brand on western music in a wide variety of ways: as a guitarist he lent his distinctive acoustic "runs" and backup to Gene Autry's records, radio, and television appearances; as a singer he began his career with the Jimmy Wakely Trio, then went on to record on his own for Columbia, Republic, and Starday for three decades; as an actor he appeared in scores of films; as an author and historian he wrote an autobiography and a biography of Tex Ritter, both published, and an unpublished biography of Gene Autry; as a music publisher he and Tea Ritter developed a huge, still active catalog. But he will doubtless be best remembered for his more than 500 songs, which include such classics as Cimarron, I Wonder Where You Are Tonight, Your Old Love Letters, The Fool's Paradise, Tomorrow Never Comes, and the surrealistic western classic Conversation with a Gun. Born in Enville, Oklahoma, in 1915, this gracious Western gentleman died in 1978.