Biography
A husband-and-wife vocal duo enjoyed wide popularity from the 1940s through the mid-1960s. Bob, born Robert Dean on 26 October 1919 in Elkton, Virginia, USA, and Cindy, born Cindy Morris on 24 December 1924, formed the act. In 1946 Bob joined guitarist Leon Baxter and fiddler Harold Dean, who was unrelated, to perform in honky-tonks and modest beer joints around Washington, DC. Their local-label release of “Maple On The Hill” received airplay from Connie B. Gay on Town And Country Time, prompting additional sessions and bookings as supporting artists for traveling headliners. Following their 1948 marriage and the passing of Bob’s father, the pair returned to Virginia; Bob assembled a fresh ensemble that featured two-time State fiddle champion Eddie Michael, and Cindy took up the bass fiddle, after which they appeared under the billing Bob And Cindy Show. Their initial steady broadcast, Sweethearts Of The Air, originated on WSVA Harrisonburg, yet they soon played countless additional halls across Virginia and West Virginia. Throughout the late 1950s they held regular engagements at the tourist destination Ed’s Park near Harrisonburg and handled bookings for the major attractions that appeared there. After the venue shuttered in 1960, the couple undertook tours while Bob also presented a well-received country-music program on Warrenton radio. They cut several titles for Starday in 1958, then completed their last recordings, among them the self-penned “Destination Moon,” in 1965. In 1966 they withdrew from performing to raise their four children and later received recognition for their musical legacy through induction into the Virginia Hall Of Fame. A 1986 anthology issued by Cattle Records of Germany gathered selected tracks and included two previously unreleased numbers.