From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Mon Dec 16, 2002  6:17 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Gene Garf
 
GENE GARF

Born 16 December 1918, New York City, New York

Gene Garf was a session pianist on many Imperial recordings in
the late fifties, best known for his work with Ricky Nelson.
By the time Garf became involved with rock 'n' roll, he was already
a veteran musician, who'd played in Catskill Mountain resorts, served
in an Army Special Services entertainment unit, and was a chorus
boy in the original production of Irving Berlin's "This Is The Army".
Moving West, Garf worked in "nightclubs and dives", according to
his daughter, Nancy, and eventually joined the ranks of local studio
musicians in L.A. Ricky Nelson was among his first credits and he
plays on all Ricky's sessions between "Believe What You Say"
(February 1958) and "Mighty Good" (October 1959). When Nelson
took a pianist on the road, it was Don Ferris, however. Garf's cachet
rapidly rose, and when not working with Nelson, he amassed credits
including television series like "Bonanza", "Green Acres" and "My
Three Sons". He also wrote the theme for the family comedy "Father
Knows Best".
Garf also plays on the Imperial recordings of Bob Luman, the Burnette
Brothers (Warm Love / Do Baby Do / Boppin' Rosalie / My Honey),
Johnny Garner (Didi Didi, Kiss Me Sweet), Al Jones (Loretta) and
Nick Venet (Love In Be Bop Time), among others. He had a unique
fluent style, instantly recognizable on tracks like "Sweet Baby Doll"
by Johnny Burnette and the instrumental "Bumbershoot" by Phil Harvey
(= Phil Spector). In 1958 he was approached by Marshall Lytle, who
asked him to join the Jodimars. Though Garf turned the offer down,
he does play on the four tracks that Lytle recorded at Imperial in 1958
(Hip Shakin' Baby, etc.) and which remained unissued until the release
of the Jodimars Rockstar CD in 1994.