EARLY "Quarter to Three" Gary U.S. Bonds Hand Signed 4X6 B&W Photo

Description

Up for auction an EARLY!
"Quarter to Three" Gary U.S. Bonds Hand Signed 4X6 B&W Photo
ES-6499
Gary U.S. Bonds
(born
Gary Levone Anderson
, June 6, 1939) is an American
rhythm and blues
and
rock and roll
singer, known for his classic hits "
New Orleans
" and "
Quarter to Three
". 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. 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 of
government bonds
and thereby garner more DJ attention. His first three singles and first album,
Dance 'Til Quarter to Three
, were released under the U.S. Bonds name, but people assumed it was 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 1970s. "Quarter To Three" sold one million records, earning a
gold disc
. Subsequent hits, under his modified name, included "
School Is Out
" (#5), "
Dear Lady Twist
" (#9), "School Is In" (#28) and "
Twist, Twist Senora
" (#9) in the early 1960s. In a 1963 tour of Europe, he headlined above
the Beatles
. His hits featured solos by the saxophonist
Gene Barge
. "Quarter to Three" appears on
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll
list. 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
".
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.
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
.
In 2009 he released a new album,
Let Them Talk
, and toured the UK as a special guest of
Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings
. Most recently, in 2010, Bonds contributed duet vocals on the song "Umbrella in My Drink" on Southside Johnny's album
Pills and Ammo
.