Gary U.S. Bonds

Havin’ a Good Time with
Gary U.S. Bonds

Not actually a native Virginian, Gary U.S. Bonds was nonetheless a fundamental part of what is Virginia’s best-recognized music, the party-inspired “Norfolk sound.”

Born Gary Anderson on June 6, 1939, he moved to Norfolk when he was 2 and formed his own singing group, The Turks, when he was 13. His mother was a piano teacher and helped him write songs. During the Turks’ three-year existence, the band performed regularly, winning several local talent contests. Ironically, while singing outside of Frankie’s Birdland record shop, they made extra money by running in to buy R&B records for white guys who wanted the “forbidden music,” which, unlike today, was available in only a few select outlets.

The store’s owner was the same Frank Guida who started Legrand Records. He co-wrote Bonds’ earliest national hit, “New Orleans,” with sidekick Joe Royster. As a promotional gimmick (“he wanted the DJs to think it was a commercial,” remembers Bonds), he sent out the record with “Buy U.S. Bonds” inscribed on the sleeve. This strange song, recorded in a Princess Anne Road studio that Bonds describes as “just a little square boxy building” with “acoustic ceiling tiles throughout,” was raw and dominated by the heavy drumbeat provided by Nabs Shields, formerly of the Griffin Brothers Band. It became a major national hit.

Next up: a vocal that Bonds added to the raucous “A Night With Daddy G,” co-written by his neighbor Gene Barge and performed by the Church Street Five. The track was inspired by the flamboyant preacher, Daddy Grace, who would “come down Church Street in this long limo with his white hair and long nails, with a flatbed truck behind him with a band on it playing Gospel music.” This evolved into “Quarter To Three.” Gene Barge (who took the moniker Daddy G) played lead sax on the recording and contributed to the next several hits. He also took the younger Bonds under his wing, inviting him into his house when Bonds needed a new place to live.

Sam Cooke was another who helped. “I remember my first professional job was at the Howard Theatre in D.C., scared out of my boots. The first show I was on was Sam Cooke, B.B. King, Lavern Baker, Ruth Brown and Jackie Wilson, and me. You could see us five times a day. Thank god I [went on] first.” He endured a rookie’s helpful hazing. “Sam and B.B King shared a limo and drove behind the bus. After one of the shows they said, ‘you are riding with us tonight.’” They chewed the 19-year-old out for backstage unprofessionalism and, worst of all, a “Mummy”-like stage presence. Cooke hounded him until he shaped up.

“That was my learning ground,” he says. The early ‘60s were a whirlwind lesson. He appeared on American Bandstand and traveled as part of Dick Clark’s star-studded Rock & Roll Revue packages; U.K. tours were wild successes. Later singles reflected the raucous party sound of “New Orleans,” but by 1968, hits became elusive. Bonds severed his ties with Legrand and Norfolk and began a songwriting partnership with Jerry Williams in New York. Most of their co-compositions were written for others, like “She’s All I Got,” a major hit in 1971. “It’s been #1 three times,” Bonds reminds. “Freddie North, R&B, Johnny Paycheck, and Tracy Byrd a year-and-a-half ago.”

Bonds was on the “oldies” circuit when approached by two ardent fans, Bruce Springsteen and Steve Van Zandt, who arranged for him to record again after an impromptu club show that saw Springsteen and Bonds performing together. “[Bruce] called me … and said, ‘I’ve got this song I wrote and I want to put it on an album but every time I start playing it, it sounds like you. I think we should do this. Do you want to come in the studio and cut it with us?’ And that was [the song] ‘Dedication.’” Resulting sessions yielded four singles and two LPs recorded with Springsteen’s E-Street Band, including 1981’s popular “This Little Girl.” Bonds was once again topping the charts.

In 1997, the New Jersey resident was honored with the Rhythm and Blues Foundation’s “Pioneer Award.” He recently performed “New Orleans” in Blues Brothers 2000, and he continues to write with his daughter Laurie, who tours with him and has written many of his new songs. They’ve cut a blues album together, and his wife joins them on the road. “It’s the greatest thing in the world,” he says with a smile. “I’ve got my family with me.”

— Dave Rogers & Don Harrison

Recommended on CD:
The Very Best of Gary U.S. Bonds (Varese Sarabande)
U.S. Bonds Meets Daddy G & The Church Street Five (Finnbarr U.K.)
Quarter to Three / Twist Up Calypso (Ace U.K.)
Take Me Back to New Orleans (Ace U.K.)

— Originally published in 64 Magazine, Jan.-Feb. 2001.