Johnny Bond & His Red River Valley Boys - Johnny Bond & His Red River Valley Boys (CD)

All Music Guide

Although reissues of Johnny Bond's radio transcriptions and late career recordings had been available on CD for some time, his classic Columbia hits from the late '40s and early '50s remained uncollected until the appearance of this mid-priced import. Despite the omission of two of his eight Columbia hits, this is a welcome collection mastered from vintage 78s. The sound quality is better than some other country western titles from ASV, and regarding the 25 hits, misses and flips encompass a range of excellent novelties and drinking songs from Bond's peak years. Bond was never the most exciting of singers, but the dynamic and energetic vocal performances here are among his best. Listen to Bond's two tracks on Columbia's Hillbilly Boogie compilation to get an idea of how good this collection could have sounded if the original masters had been used.

- Greg Adams, All Music Guide