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Skeeter Bonn
Born:  April 6, 1923
Died:  November 6, 1994
WHO Iowa Barn Dance Frolic
WLS National Barn Dance
WLW Midwestern Hayride
WWVA Original Jamboree
WHO Des Moines, IA (1951)
WLS Chicago, IL (1952)
WLW Cincinnati, OH (1953)
WWVA Wheeling, WV (1955)


About The Artist

Skeeter Bonn was a native of Sugarville, Illinois and gained some fame as a renowned yodeler. They called him the "Pickin' and Singin' Boy".

He grew up early one might say. He left the family farm when he was just 13 years old and moved to Canton, Illinois. In 1942, he joined the U. S. Navy and was honorably discharged in 1946.

In 1949, he won the Illinois championship as a singer. He played Spanish guitar, sang hymns as well as ballads and semi-pop numbers.

Around 1953 or so, we was starring on the WWVA Jamboree out of Wheeling, WV each Saturday night. But later in 1954, he was appearing on the WLS National Barn Dance.

While at WWVA in Wheeling, West Virginia in the mid-1950s, Shirley Starr joined Skeeter's troupe in 1956. Prior to joining Skeeter and the gang, she appeared on shows with Ernest Tubb and worked with Abbie Neal and her Ranch Girls, including some television films. She worked the summer of 1955 with Doc Williams and the Border Riders, doing appearances with them throughout the Unites States and Canada.

In one of his old souvenir folios, and we're surmising it was published around 1957 or 1958 judging by the dates listed, we learned that Skeeter and his group traveled over 100,000 miles a year to do their personal appearances.

He married his wife Mary Louise on New Years Eve in 1945. and the father of three sons, Ricky, Randy and Terry.

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Recordings (78rpm/45rpm)

 
RCA Victor
Rec. No. Side Song Title
  20-5814 A Honey Baby
  20-5814 B I've Been Down This Road Before
  20-5861 A Feelin' So Blue
  20-5861 B You Can Never Be My Darling
  20-5967 A My Baby Doll
  20-5967 B My Son, My Son
  20-6052 A Conscience
  20-6052 B Number One In Your Heart
  20-6115 A Second Choice
  20-6115 B Yodelin' Man
  20-6229 A Life Without You
  20-6229 B Playing A Waiting Game
  20-6352 A Rock-A-Bye Baby
  20-6352 B There's No Use Now
  20-6473 A Somebody New
  20-6473 B Yodelin' Bird
  47-6115 A Second Choice
  47-6115 B Yodelin' Man
  5861 A Feeling So Blue
  5861 B You Can Never Be My Darling
 
Sims
Rec. No. Side Song Title
  325 A Let Me Be The One
  325 B Off To Vietnam (In The Green)


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