OKLAHOMA WALTZ

OKLAHOMA WALTZ by Johnny Bond.

Johnny Bond, just like Jack Guthrie, was from south Oklahoma around Lake Texoma (Enville, to be exact, which isn't too far from Ardmore). He had a string of hits after the war that were mostly light and frothy: Divorce Me C.O.D., So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed, and Sick Sober and Sorry. Oklahoma Waltz, by contrast, is earnestness embodied. (I've oversimplified here, because actually he wrote many great country standards over the years, my favorite being I Wonder Where You Are Tonight.)

Just like seemingly every Oklahoman that recorded music during this era, he first went to the big city (that's Oklahoma City), then almost immediately went out to California, where he appeared on TV and in the movies with Gene Autry & Tex Ritter. And then would occasionally cast wistful glances back home like Oklahoma Waltz.

LISTEN.

Photo: My old window.