Snuff Garrett
| Snuff Garrett | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Thomas Lesslie Garrett |
| Born |
July 5, 1938 Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | December 16, 2015 (aged 77) Tucson, Arizona, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | |
| Labels |
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Thomas Lesslie "Snuff" Garrett (July 5, 1938 – December 16, 2015) was an American record producer whose most famous work was during the 1960s and 1970s. His nickname is a derivation of Levi Garrett, a brand of snuff.
Garrett was born in Dallas, Texas, and attended South Oak Cliff High School, dropping out in the 10th grade. In 1976, he returned to Dallas to receive a special high school diploma that conferred an "honorary music degree."
At seventeen, Garrett was a disc jockey in Lubbock, Texas, where he met Buddy Holly. He is often still mentioned on the Lubbock oldies station KDAV on a program hosted by his friend Jerry "Bo" Coleman. Garrett also worked in radio in Wichita 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 with Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper) in a plane crash in Iowa.
In 1959, Garrett became a staff producer at Liberty Records in Hollywood at the age of 19, 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 were Bobby Vee, Johnny Burnette, Gene McDaniels, Buddy Knox, Walter Brennan, Gary Lewis & the Playboys and Del Shannon.
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