From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Fri Jul 5, 2002  1:13 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Snuff Garrett
 
SNUFF GARRETT

Born Thomas Garrett, 5 July 1938, Dallas, Texas.

Producer / arranger. Tommy "Snuff" Garrett was largely responsible
for the rise of the Los Angeles-based Liberty label. In 1960 he astutely
transformed Johnny Burnette from rockabilly singer to pop crooner and
while purists baulked at this new direction, both "Dreamin'" and "You're
Sixteen" enjoyed sales in excess of one million. Among the other artists
that Garrett produced at Liberty in the early sixties were Buddy Knox,
Bobby Vee and Gene McDaniels. Polished, highly commercial productions,
with lots of strings.
He also embarked on a concurrent recording career and was responsible
for several MOR albums, credited to the "50 Guitars of Tommy Garrett".
Six of these albums (with guitar solos by Tommy Tedesco) made the
Billboard LP Top 200, 1961-69.
From 1965, he supervised many hits by Gary Lewis And The Playboys,
many of which were arranged by the prolific session player Leon Russell.
At the height of his powers Garrett left Liberty to form his own production/
publishing company and then turned around and sold it to Warner for $2.5
million, cashing out of the industry temporarily. In 1971 he was back on the
scene, working with Sonny and Cher, also producing Cher's solo releases,
including the # 1 "Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves" on the Kapp label. Another
number one that he produced was "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia"
by Vicki Lawrence (1973). As the '80s rolled around, though, Garrett finally
left the music business for good, retiring to an Arizona ranch.