BOND, JOHNNY
(1915–1978)
BOND, JOHNNY (b. Cyrus Whitfield B., Enville, Okla., June 1, 1915–June 22, 1978) Author of over 500 songs, many of them country and COWBOY standards, Bond was a sidekick to singing cowboys GENE AUTRY and TEX RITTER in hundreds of horse operas on the big and small screens. Raised on a number of small Oklahoma farms, Bond could remember listening to his parents' Victrola, and was particularly fond of The Prisoner's Song and The Death of Floyd Collins, both tremendously popular recordings by urban…