30 Years on the Road with Gene Autry: Recollections

In 1940, when Johnny Bond went to work for Gene Autry as a member of the Jimmy Wakely Trio, Autry was arguably the most popular entertainer in the country. He was Number Four on the list of Hollywood’s Top Ten Box Office Stars; he had sold millions of records as one of the most popular recording artists of the 1930s; and his Melody Ranch Show, heard weekly over the CBS Radio Network, sold billions of sticks of Doublemint Chewing Gum for its sponsor during a 17-year run. He also performed before sellout crowds, two shows a day for 21 straight days, in New York’s Madison Square Garden. Johnny Bond was one of only a few members of the Autry troupe to participate in every phase of Gene’s incredibly successful entertainment career. And he has a story to tell—lots of them, actually. Stories about a time before super highways when most roads were two lanes and went through the middle of all the towns, large and small, and when busses were not air conditioned. At a time when there were only half a dozen cities in this country with populations in excess of one million, Gene Autry took his show to America's heartland doing the "one nighters," those engagements booked just far enough apart to enable performers to drive from one venue to the next in a single day. Johnny Bond was along for the ride, and he tells what it was like when Gene Autry was at his peak in the late 1940s, having to push through crowds going from bus to auditorium before the show, and later to fight the same crowds back out to the bus after the show. He also describes those last "one nighters" in the late 1950s when even with a small group of musicians there were more people on the stage than in the audience. So buckle up and go along for the ride! You will become part of a unique experience that has become what we refer to today as "Americana."