Bo Cody Band: Once The Soundtrack of Mount Hood’s Nightlife

When the Music Filled the Mountain

Bo Cody Band – In October of 1980, a writer for The Mountain made a bold comparison: “The Beatles were to Liverpool what Bo Cody is to Mount Hood.” It might sound like a stretch—but for those who remember those nights along Highway 26, it wasn’t far off.

By the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Mount Hood corridor had its own rhythm. Weekends weren’t quiet. They were loud, crowded, and alive with music. And more often than not, that music came from the Bo Cody Band.

A Band Built by Accident

The band was originally named Bo Cody and the Oregon Swing Rangers. Like a lot of things on the mountain, Bo Cody didn’t start with a grand plan. Rusty O’Regan was sitting in the Whistle Stop, picking through a handful of songs—mostly John Prine—when the owner asked him to come back the next night and play. “I told him I knew 15 songs,” he later recalled. “He told me to play them and then repeat them—and he’d pay me 20 bucks.”

Not long after, O’Regan met Joe D. Lake at the Zigzag Store—“a scrawny little kid from Colorado,” as he put it—and convinced him to join in. That chance meeting became the foundation of the band.

The Sound of “Off-the-Wall Country”

Bo Cody didn’t fit neatly into any one category. “We play good-hearted music—fifties rock, country swing, roll,” Lake said. Tim McCarthy, the band’s Welches School music teacher, called it something else: “Off-the-wall country.”

It was a blend of styles—rock-and-roll, country standards, swing, and a growing catalog of original music. McCarthy alone had written more than 100 songs. The early lineup included Lake, O’Regan, McCarthy, and Rick Johnston. But like many working bands, Bo Cody evolved over time. Later members included names still remembered today: Tony Glassman, Jesse Rogers, Neal Granstaff, and Jeff Minnick, among others.

The Inn Between and the Heart of the Scene

If there was one place that defined Bo Cody’s presence on the mountain, it was the Inn Between. A local steak house, tavern and music venue. Over and over again, people remember the same thing: Packed dance floors. Crowded rooms. Music that kept people there all night.

“The Inn Between was always crowded when they played,” one local recalled. Another remembered, “Back in the day, Bo Cody was the band to see at the Inn Between.” And from behind the bar: “I was swamped bartending many a night when they took the stage.”

Weddings, Cassette Tapes, and Mountain Life

Bo Cody wasn’t just a bar band. They played weddings, private events, and community gatherings. For many, they weren’t just entertainment—they were part of life’s milestones. Many remember the band playing at weddings on the mountain.

Even those who were too young for the bar scene remember them. “I loved listening to their cassette tapes… I was too young for the bars but a huge fan.”

It shows how far their reach extended beyond the taverns and into homes and cars throughout the mountain communities.

A Shot at the Big Time

By the early 1980s, Bo Cody had grown into something bigger than a local act. In 1984, members of the band traveled to Nashville to compete in a national country-western competition at Opryland. The stakes were high—a $50,000 prize and a recording contract.

The group at that time included Tony Glassman, Jesse Rogers, Rusty O’Regan, and Neal Granstaff. Whether they won or not mattered less than what it represented: A band from Zigzag, built in bars and small venues in the south side communities of Mount Hood, taking a shot at the national stage.

The Music—and the Memories—Remain

What stands out most today isn’t just the music. It’s the memories. “Great times and memories.” “So many fun nights.” “Dancing the night away.” “What fun those days we had.”

One person summed it up perfectly: “So many hours spent listening, dancing, having fun in the early ’80s with Bo Cody playing various spots along Hwy 26… an amazing mecca for nightlife and really great music.”

That’s something easy to forget now—at that time, the Mount Hood corridor wasn’t just a quiet mountain escape. It was alive at night. And Bo Cody was at the center of it.

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Sources

• The Mountain, October 1980, Page 12 — “Bo Cody — off-the-wall country.”
• The Oregonian, November 13, 1984 — “Zigzag cowboy band tries for big time,” by Malcolm Boyd.
• Firsthand accounts and community recollections from Mount Hood area residents, shared via Mount Hood History Facebook discussion (January 21, 2025), including memories of performances at the Inn Between and other Highway 26 venues.