Snuff Garrett | |
|---|---|
| Born | Thomas Lesslie Garrett (1938-07-05)July 5, 1938 Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | December 16, 2015(2015-12-16) (aged 77) Tucson, Arizona, U.S. |
| Occupations |
|
| Labels |
|
Thomas Lesslie Garrett (July 5, 1938 – December 16, 2015), known asSnuff Garrett orTommy Garrett, was an Americanrecord producer whose most notable work was during the 1960s and 1970s.
Garrett was born inDallas,Texas, United States,[1] and attendedSouth Oak Cliff High School, dropping out in the 10th grade.[2] In 1976, he returned to Dallas to receive a special high school diploma that conferred an "honorary music degree."[3]
At seventeen, Garrett was a disc jockey inLubbock, Texas, where he metBuddy Holly. He is often still mentioned on the Lubbockoldies stationKDAV on a program hosted by his friendJerry "Bo" Coleman. Garrett also worked in radio inWichita Falls, Texas, where he performed on-air stunts. On February 3, 1959, Garrett broadcast his own tribute show to Holly after he was killed (along withRitchie Valens andthe Big Bopper) in a plane crash in Iowa.[4]
In 1959, Garrett became a staff producer atLiberty Records in Hollywood, after having joined the label to work in the promotions department. Although not a musician, Garrett showed he had a knack for finding hit songs, going on to produce a string of hits and becoming the label's head of A&R until he left Liberty in 1966. His first job as producer for the label was on Johnny Burnette's "Settin' the Woods on Fire" on July 9, 1959. Among Garrett's roster of artists wereBobby Vee,Johnny Burnette,Gene McDaniels,Buddy Knox,Walter Brennan,Gary Lewis & the Playboys, andDel Shannon.[5]
Garrett was invited early on to producethe Monkees before they had become a major selling act, but a test session did not go well, with the Monkees preferring to work withBoyce and Hart, writers of "Last Train to Clarksville" and the Monkees'theme song.
He was also responsible for hiringPhil Spector for a short period as an assistant producer. Many of Garrett's hit singles came from songs by theBrill Building songwriters in New York City. Others who worked closely with Garrett include future recording starLeon Russell, who often arranged his productions,[5] andLenny Waronker, Liberty co-founderSimon Waronker's son who became a producer in his own right and eventually president ofWarner Bros. Records. Later, after leaving Liberty, Garrett worked withCher andSonny & Cher and had his own record labels, Snuff Garrett Records and Viva Records, which the catalog was licensed to Warner Bros during the 1980s.[5]
Between 1961 and 1969, Garrett producedThe 50 Guitars of Tommy Garrett, a series of over 25 instrumental albums onLiberty Records featuring solo guitar work byTommy Tedesco, six of which appeared on theBillboard Top LPs chart.[6]
In 1966, Garrett produced an album by singer-songwriterSonny Curtis on the Viva label,The 1st of Sonny Curtis, which contains some of Curtis' most popular tunes, including "Walk Right Back" (an Everly Brothers hit). Other tracks that came out of this session are "My Way of Life", "Hung Up in Your Eyes", and "I Fought the Law and the Law Won".[citation needed] In 1966–67, Garrett andJ. J. Cale co-producedA Trip Down the Sunset Strip (attributed to theLeathercoated Minds), a compilation of psychedelic covers, together with four instrumentals of Cale's own composition.[5]
In addition to his hits withSonny & Cher forKapp Records andMCA Records in the 1970s, Garrett also producedVicki Lawrence's "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" forBell Records (a song written by Lawrence's then-husbandBobby Russell), andTanya Tucker's "Lizzie and the Rainman" forMCA. Both of these songs had been intended for Cher; but her husband and manager at the time, Sonny Bono, thought it might offend Cher's Southern fans.[7] Other artists produced by Garrett in the 1970s includedBrenda Lee and "singing cowboy"Roy Rogers. These recordings and others marked a shift by Garrett away from pop-rock toward the easy-listening "countrypolitan" sound.[citation needed]
Garrett worked regularly with theJohnny Mann Singers and theRon Hicklin Singers on many projects, and was responsible for the new sound of theRay Conniff Singers in the early 1970s (which employed the Hicklin Singers), producing two albums with Conniff. Garrett also produced several tracks byNancy Sinatra in the mid-1970s that were issued by Private Stock Records. In 1976, Garrett set up a sublabel ofCasablanca Records, Casablanca West.[citation needed] The label released just one album and two singles before folding. In 1978, Garrett produced thecountry-orientedsoundtrack ofClint Eastwood'sEvery Which Way but Loose, which appeared on Garrett's latter-day label, Viva Records.
In 1976, when home video was in its infancy, Garrett bought cassette rights to the oldRKO,Republic andHal Roach (Laurel and Hardy) films for whatUnited Press International termed "a pittance." By 1980, the 800-title library of his company, The Nostalgia Merchant, was earning $2.3 million a year. "Nobody wanted cassettes four years ago...It wasn't the first time people called me crazy. It was a hobby with me which became big business", Garrett toldUPI.[8]
Garrett lived inBell Canyon, California, in a ranch built for himself.[9]
Garrett died of cancer inTucson, Arizona, at the age of 77.[10]
Garrett was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame on November 14, 2015 in Austin, Texas.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
