Gary U.S. Bonds (born Gary Levone Anderson, June 6, 1939, Jacksonville, Florida)[1] is an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer. He is also a prolific songwriter.
Contents[]
Career[edit][]
Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Bonds lived in Norfolk, Virginia, in the 1950s when he began singing publicly in church and with a group called the Turks.[1] He joined record producer Frank Guida's small Legrand Records label where Guida chose Anderson's stage name, "U.S. Bonds", in hopes that it would be confused with a public service announcement advertising the sale ofgovernment bonds and thereby garner more radio airplay.[2] His first three singles and first album, Dance 'Til Quarter to Three, were released under the "U.S. Bonds" name, but people mistook it for the name of a group. To avoid confusion, subsequent releases, including his second album Twist Up Calypso, were made under the name "Gary (U.S.) Bonds". The parentheses were discarded in the 1980s.[3]
Bonds' first hit was the song "New Orleans" (US No.6), which was followed by "Not Me", a flop for Bonds but later a hit for the Orlons, and then by his only number one hit, "Quarter to Three" in June 1961. "Quarter To Three" sold one million records, earning a gold disc.[1] Subsequent hits, under his modified name, included "School Is Out" (#5), "Dear Lady Twist" (#9), "School Is In" (#28) and "Twist, Twist, Señora" (#10) in the early 1960s. In a 1963 tour of Europe, he headlined above the Beatles. His hits featured solos by the saxophonist Gene Barge.[3]
"Quarter to Three" appears on The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list.[4]
In the early 1980s, Bonds had a career resurgence with two albums Dedication and On the Line, collaborations with Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt, and the E Street Band, and had hits including "This Little Girl" (his comeback hit in 1981, which reached #11 on the pop chart in Billboard and #5 on the mainstream rock chart), "Jolé Blon" and "Out of Work".[3] Bonds continues to release albums sporadically, and today is a mainstay of the nostalgia concert circuit.[citation needed]
While Bonds is mostly known for achievements within rhythm and blues and rock and roll, he often transcends these genres, e.g., his song "She's All I Got", co-written by Jerry Williams, Jr.(better known as Swamp Dogg), was nominated for the Country Music Association's "Song of the Year" in 1972 when it was a big hit for Johnny Paycheck (Freddie North also charted his only pop hit with a soul cover of the same song). He is also a 1997 honoree of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation. Bonds is an accomplished golfer and often plays celebrity PGA Tour events.[3]
Bonds released an album in 2004 called Back in 20, the title referencing his repeated sporadic pop-ups of popularity (his first hits were in the 1960s, then again in the 1980s, and now another significant album in the early 2000s, each 20-odd years apart). The album features guest appearances by Springsteen and Southside Johnny.[3] Bonds was also inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame on October 15, 2006.
In 2009 he released a new album Let Them Talk and toured the UK as a special guest of Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings.[5] Most recently, in 2010, Bonds contributed duet vocals on the song "Umbrella In My Drink" on Southside Johnny's album Pills and Ammo.[6]
Discography[edit][]
Studio albums[edit][]
- Dance 'til Quarter to Three (1961)
- Twist Up Calypso (1962)
- Dedication (1981)
- On the Line (1982)
- Standing in the Line of Fire (1984)
- Nothing Left to Lose (1996)
- Back in 20 (2004)
- Let Them Talk (2009)
Live albums[edit][]
- King Biscuit Flower Hour (Live) (2001)
- Live! (2002)
- From the Front Row... Live! (2003)
- In Concert (2005)
Compilation albums[edit][]
- The Best of Gary U.S. Bonds (1960s material) (1990)
- Take Me Back to New Orleans (1960s singles compilation) (1994)
- The Best of Gary U.S. Bonds (1980s material) (1996)
- The Very Best of Gary U.S. Bonds: The Original Legrand Masters (1960s material) (1998)
- Certified Soul (Singles from 1968 to 1970) (2008)
Singles[edit][]
| Year | Title | Chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | Mainstream Rock | UK | ||
| 1960
|
"New Orleans" | 6 | 5 | — | 16 |
| 1961
|
"Not Me" | 116 | — | — | — |
| "Quarter to Three" | 1 | 3 | — | 7 | |
| "School Is Out" | 5 | 12 | — | — | |
| "School Is In" | 28 | — | — | — | |
| "Dear Lady Twist" | 9 | 5 | — | — | |
| 1962
|
"Twist Twist Señora" | 9 | — | — | — |
| "Seven Day Weekend" | 27 | — | — | — | |
| "Copy Cat" | 92 | — | — | — | |
| "I Dig This Station" | 101 | — | — | — | |
| 1966
|
"Take Me Back to New Orleans" | 121 | — | — | — |
| 1981 | "This Little Girl" | 11 | — | 5 | 43 |
| "Jolé Blon" | 65 | — | 29 | 51 | |
| "It's Only Love" | — | — | — | 43 | |
| 1982 | "Out of Work" | 21 | 82 | 10 | — |
| "Soul Deep" | — | — | — | 59 | |
- Produced by Frank Guida[7]