#132: Hot Rod Lincoln by Johnny Bond
Peak Month: August 1960
10 weeks on Vancouver’s CKWX Chart
Peak Position #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #26
YouTube.com: “Hot Rod Lincoln”
Lyrics: “Hot Rod Lincoln”
Cyrus Whitfield Bond was born in 1915 in southern Oklahoma. Prior to 1907, Pickens County had been part of the Chickasaw Nation in the “Indian Territory.” His parents were farmers. In school, Bond played in a brass band. While in high school “Johnny” bought a ukulele, and subsequently learned the guitar. 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 on radio station WKY in Oklahoma City. With Decca Records the trio recorded as the Jimmy Wakely Trio. And with Columbia Records they recorded under the name Johnny Bond & the Cimarron Boys. In 1940, Bond went on to join Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch. He also performed with his own band the Red River Valley Boys.