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Lee Garrett (born June 30, 1943, in
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
) is an American
rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
singer-songwriter, most famous for co-writing the classic song "
Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" is a soul song, by American musician Stevie Wonder, released in June 1970 as a single on Motown's Tamla label. It spent six weeks at number one on the U.S. R&B chart and peaked at number three on the U.S ...
". He recorded a handful of solo singles during the 1960s, one of which was "I Can't Break the Habit". He had a hit in 1976 with " You're My Everything". Artists that have covered his compositions include
Taka Boom Taka Boom (born Yvonne Stevens; October 8, 1954 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American R&B and dance music singer, and is the younger sister of singer Chaka Khan and Mark Stevens of Aurra. She sang background vocals for several Parliament albums ...
,
Carl Graves Carl Graves is a musician from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He has been a member of various groups in his career and had a number of hits in the 1970s. Early life and education Graves is from Alberta, Canada, and has been in bands since high school. ...
,
Peter Frampton Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950) is an English musician and songwriter who was a member of the rock bands Humble Pie and the Herd. As a solo artist, he has released several albums, including his major breakthrough album, the live ...
,
Eddie Money Edward Joseph Mahoney (March 21, 1949 – September 13, 2019), known professionally as Eddie Money, was an American singer and songwriter who, in the 1970s and 1980s, had eleven Top 40 songs, including "Baby Hold On", "Two Tickets to Parad ...
, Jackie Moore,
Marlena Shaw Marlena Shaw (born Marlina Burgess, September 22, 1942) is an American jazz, blues and soul music, soul singer. Shaw began her singing career in the 1960s and is still singing today. Her music has often been sampled in Hip hop music, hip hop mus ...
, The Spinners and many more. He has also been a radio show host.


Background

Garrett is a Mississippi born singer, composer and radio D.J., and a graduate of the Missouri School for the Blind. He wrote several songs with
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
, including the
Jermaine Jackson Jermaine La Jaune Jackson (born December 11, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and bassist. He is best known for being a member of the Jackson family. From 1964 to 1975, Jermaine was second vocalist after his brother Michael of The Jackson ...
song " Let's Get Serious" and The Spinners " It's a Shame". Garrett worked in radio during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1976, his solo track "You're My Everything" reached number 15 in the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. Without any further chart presence, he became a
one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...
. Over the years, Garrett and Wonder have mended their relationship. During his 2007 tour, during a performance on August 30, Wonder paid tribute to Garrett by singing a medley of songs they co-created, and also introduced Garrett to the audience by acknowledging his presence at the show, and thanking him for years of friendship and support. Garrett resides in the
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
area (in Beaverton, a city just west of Portland) and continues to perform throughout the United States. He is currently involved in the Ray Charles Tribute, which is a group of
Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...
based musicians along with a 1950s style
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
and 1960s style R&B group called the Boomerband.


Career


1960s to 1970s

By November 1964, his single "Linda Sue" was released on the Van Dyk label. In 1965, the August 21 issue of ''Billboard'' mentioned his single on the World Artists label, "I Need Somebody" as a Hot 100 prediction. In 1967, Garrett had a single “I can’t break the habit” released on the Harthon label, cat no. 137. The song would later find popularity on the Northern Soul scene. By August that year, Garrett who had the "9 to Midnight" show at Philadelphia's WHAT r&b station had filled position of musical director, and would still continue his show. It was reported in the December 9, 1972 issue that Garrett having worked as an all night D.J. at WHAT-AM in Philadelphia and WLOK-AM in Memphis was seeking more work in radio. ;Hit song In May, 1976, Garrett had his hit with "You're My Everything. It peaked at no. 58 in the HOT 100 chart and spending 7 weeks in the UK singles chart, it peaked at no. 15. Garrett appeared on ''
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...
'' in an episode which was broadcast on May 13th that year. He also made another appearance on the show on 10/06/76. The song also appears on the '' Top Of The Pops 1976'' compilation released on
EMI Gold This is a list of labels that were owned or distributed by EMI before its dismantling in 2013. Blue Note Label Group *Angel Records **Seraphim Records **Guardian Records * Blue Note Records **Metro Blue **Pacific Jazz/World Pacific **Narada Jazz ...
in 2007. ;Album His hit appeared on his album ''
Heat for the Feets In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is al ...
'' which also included "
It's Better than Walking Out "It's Better than Walking Out" was a single for Marlena Shaw in 1976. It became a hit for her that year. Background The song was composed by Lee Garrett and Robert Taylor. It was the first single from Shaw's '' Just a Matter of Time'' album. In ...
", "Heart Be Still", "How Can I Be A Man", "Broken Down D.J.", "Sad, Sad Story", "Stop that Wrong", " Love Enough For Two" and " Love Enough For Two". Musicians who played on the album included
Harvey Mason Harvey William Mason (born February 22, 1947) is an American jazz drummer, record producer, and member of the band Fourplay. Mason, who attended Berklee in the 1960s, received an Honorary Doctorate at Berklee's 2015 Commencement Ceremony for ...
,
Lee Ritenour Lee Mack Ritenour ( ; born January 11, 1952) is an American jazz guitarist who has been active since the late 1960s. Biography Ritenour was born on January 11, 1952, in Los Angeles, California, United States. At the age of eight he started play ...
,
June Millington June Millington (born April 14, 1948) is a Filipina-American guitarist, songwriter, producer, educator, and actress. She was the co-founder and lead guitarist of the all-female rock band Fanny, which was active from 1970 to 1974. Millington has ...
, Tom Scott and
Dave Grusin Robert David "Dave" Grusin (born June 26, 1934) is an American composer, arranger, producer, jazz pianist, and band leader. He has composed many scores for feature films and television, and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record w ...
. Also around that time,
Marlena Shaw Marlena Shaw (born Marlina Burgess, September 22, 1942) is an American jazz, blues and soul music, soul singer. Shaw began her singing career in the 1960s and is still singing today. Her music has often been sampled in Hip hop music, hip hop mus ...
had a minor hit with one of the songs, "Better than Walking Out", which Garrett had co-composed with Robert Taylor.


1980s to 1990s

In February, 1981, Garrett's single "See the Love on Your Face" was out on American First AFRC-1492. It was given a positive review with the review calling Garrett a "a first-rate R&B crooner" and the song "Top-flight B/C fare". In 1985, Garrett and Lloyd Chiate took Legal action against
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
over the song "
I Just Called to Say I Love You "I Just Called to Say I Love You" is a ballad written, produced, and performed by American R&B singer and songwriter Stevie Wonder. It was a major international hit, and remains Wonder's best-selling single to date, having topped a record 19 char ...
" claiming that Wonder stole the song from them. With attorney Jack Whitley representing Garrett, the claim was that Garrett and Chiate wrote the song in 1978 when staying with Wonder in a Hollywood hotel. Wonder heard the rehearsals and was give a demo on tape. The song Garrett and Chiate wrote was I "Just Called To Say". It was registered with BMI in 1979. On Garrett and Chiate's song, it had the chorus "I just called to say I love you, I just called to say I think you’re fine". Wonder's refrain had a quicker tempo and said, "I just called to say I love you, I just called to say how much I care". According to Jack Whitley, the chords were the same, and both songs were in four-four time. But Wonder's melody line was different. A 10 million dollar lawsuit was filed. In February 1990, the findings were in Wonder's favor with Garrett at some stage having come over to Wonder's side, leaving Chiate to peruse the matter.


Later years

Garrett was performing with The Boomer Band who had played Great Hall" New Years Eve 2003 at the Quinault Beach Resort & Casino in Washington state to over 900 guests. By 2004, with the Boomettes handling chorus behind him, Garrett was officially the feature vocalist with the Band which had been going since 1987. In 2007, Garrett formed a song writing partnership with Mir German of Miriams Well, a rock band based in Portland. German and Garrett had heard about each other from friends in Portland for some time, and were encouraged to meet to consider writing together. The partnership worked and they, along with co-writer Mark Bowden, created an album called ''Indians And Clowns'', released in 2010. Their song catalogue is well over 60 songs to date. Garrett toured in 2011 with Miriams Well, sharing the stage for a set of Garrett's Motown hits and more contemporary tunes as well. They appeared together at the
Waterfront Blues Festival The Waterfront Blues Festival is an annual event in Portland, Oregon, United States featuring four days of performances by blues musicians. The festival started in 1988 and takes place in Tom McCall Waterfront Park, along the west bank of the Will ...
in Portland in 2011. In January 2013, The Boomer Band played at the Clambake Jazz Festival.The World, Jan 10, 2013
Jazz, Clambake Jazz Festival holds preview event by Beth Burback
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Discography


Albums


Singles


References


External links

*

Living people American male singer-songwriters American rhythm and blues singers American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Blind musicians 1948 births Chrysalis Records artists {{US-RnB-singer-stub