Bonnie Guitar

Bonnie Buckingham (March 25, 1923 – January 12, 2019), better known as Bonnie Guitar, was an American singer, musician, producer, and businesswoman. She was best known for her 1957 song, "Dark Moon", which was a country-pop crossover hit. She became one of the first female country music singers to have hit songs cross over from the country charts to the pop charts.

She co-founded the record company Dolton Records in the late 1950s, that launched the careers of The Fleetwoods and The Ventures. In 1960, she left Dolton and became part owner of Jerden Records.

Early life and rise to fame Born in 1923 in Seattle, Washington, United States, to John and Doris Buckingham, Bonnie was initially raised in Redondo Beach along Puget Sound. Later, the family (including her five siblings) moved inland to a farm just outside the rural town of Auburn. She began performing at age 16, having taken up playing the guitar as a teenager, which led to her stage name, Bonnie Guitar. She later started songwriting.

In 1944 she married her former guitar teacher Paul Tutmarc; the couple had one daughter, Paula (born 1950), but split up in 1955, and Bonnie moved to Los Angeles. Through much of the 1950s, she worked as a session guitarist at quite a few small labels, like Abbot, Fabor, and Radio Recorders.

"Dark Moon" was originally issued by Fabor Records in February 1957. In a matter of days or weeks the song was reissued on Dot Records, Not only was she one of a handful of female country singers at that time, but also one of the few in the country field to manage a crossover hit.

The only other female country singer achieving a crossover success was Patsy Cline. Her single "Walkin' After Midnight" was a No. 2 country hit and a No. 12 pop hit. "Dark Moon" earned Bonnie national attention, and she made TV appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" (June 30) and Dick Clark's American Bandstand (October 29).

Like Patsy Cline, Bonnie was unable to replicate her crossover appeal. Follow-ups on Dot Records, "If You See My Love Dancing" and another song after called "Mister Fire Eyes" failed to have an impact on the pop chart, the latter only making it to No. 71. On the country chart though, the second became a Top 15 hit. However, due to her lack of pop success, her contract eventually ended with Dot Records.

Running a record label and re-entering country music in the 1960s

Guitar however decided she would form her own record label called Dolphin Records which she co-founded with refrigerator salesman Bob Reisdorff. When the pair decided to rename the label Dolton Records (they were forced to, due an already-existing Dolphin label name), many of Guitar's singles including "Candy Apple Red" and "Born to Be With You" were released. In 1959, her own recording career was superseded by that of a high school trio called The Fleetwoods. The trio was signed to the Dolton label and soon had major pop hits in 1959, with two No. 1 hits, "Come Softly to Me" and "Mr. Blue".

Discography