Artist: Bonnie Guitar
LP: Moonlight and Shadows
Song: "Moonlight and Shadows"
[ listen ]
As I mentioned in my Carol Channing post a few days ago, country music pioneer Bonnie Guitar also died this week. After starting life in Seattle in the 1920s and living in the Puget Sound area for her first few decades, Bonnie left Washington in the 1950s to work as a session musician and record a few albums in Los Angeles. Her first LP was the lovely "Moonlight and Shadows," released in 1957. She scored a crossover hit single called "Dark Moon" that same year; the song went to #14 on the country charts, while peaking at #6 on the Billboard pop charts. Bonnie then returned to Seattle and started her own record label called Dolton Records, on which she launched the careers of The Fleetwoods and The Ventures.
Bonnie eventually settled in Soap Lake, WA, where I once had a good diner breakfast after camping overnight just north of town on an Eastern Washington State Rodeo Tour with my good friend Theresa. It was in Soap Lake that Bonnie died the other day, at the age of 95. I bet we've eaten at the same diner! I'm kicking myself for not having gone to see Bonnie perform in Soap Lake or at one of the local county fairs. It would have been divine to have seen her with my friend Ryan, who's also a fan.
One of my favorite things that I've just learned about Bonnie Guitar is that in 1969 she married a man by the name of Mario DePiano. (Made for each other!) You can read all about Bonnie's career on Wikipedia here, and here you'll find her obituary in The New York Times.
Bonnie eventually settled in Soap Lake, WA, where I once had a good diner breakfast after camping overnight just north of town on an Eastern Washington State Rodeo Tour with my good friend Theresa. It was in Soap Lake that Bonnie died the other day, at the age of 95. I bet we've eaten at the same diner! I'm kicking myself for not having gone to see Bonnie perform in Soap Lake or at one of the local county fairs. It would have been divine to have seen her with my friend Ryan, who's also a fan.
One of my favorite things that I've just learned about Bonnie Guitar is that in 1969 she married a man by the name of Mario DePiano. (Made for each other!) You can read all about Bonnie's career on Wikipedia here, and here you'll find her obituary in The New York Times.
Bonnie Guitar on YouTube:
Bonnie Guitar
[ March 25, 1923 — January 12, 2019 ]
We will miss you, Bonnie.
1 comment:
I tweeted a version of this very post myself! Let's go to Soap Lake together anyhow, as a tribute! :)
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