Vernon Garrett is a blues singer who has released 3 compilations, 12 albums, and over 30 singles so far. He was also featured on the cover of Living Blues Magazine, headlined the Chicago Blues Festival, and sang before audiences in Switzerland, Italy, and Japan.
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Vernon Garrett was born on January 18, 1933, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. When he was young his family moved to Omaha, Nebraska. He first became interested in singing after watching the gospel acts that came to town. In Sunday school, he volunteered to sing a song to open the lesson each week.
He attended Technical High School, where he began harmonizing with other musically talented students. They eventually formed their own gospel group, getting good enough to open for professional gospel groups throughout Omaha. At 15 years old, Garrett joined the popular group the Southern Wonders after his high school group broke up.
While singing with the Southern Wonders, Claude Jeter heard Garrett sing and asked him to join his gospel group, the Swan Silvertones. Shortly after joining the Swan Silvertones, Garrett joined the U.S. Navy. He served aboard the USS Sarsfield DD 837 as they traveled across the Atlantic Ocean during the Korean War. He also worked with the USS Nautilus, the first U.S. atomic submarine in Key West, Florida, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
After leaving the Navy, Garrett learned that many of his friends like Lou Rawls and Sam Cooke were now recording records. He stayed in Omaha for three months and joined the singing group The Mixers. Garrett tried to get The Mixers to move to the West Coast to pursue bigger singing opportunities. When the group refused, he traveled to Los Angeles, California with his sister who was vacationing in Omaha.
In Los Angeles, he competed in a prominent Thursday night talent show at Club Oasis run by Johnny Otis. He won so many talent shows, that comedian Leroy Skillet told him to become a professional. Garrett was unsure of how to become a professional so Skillet helped him do guest numbers at The Brass Rail club. While singing at The Brass Rail, he met The Sliders singing group. He joined the group, becoming their new lead singer. They quickly became well-known in Los Angeles, alongside groups like the Hollywood Flames, The Penguins, and The Fortunes. They even recorded a song called Love is Like a Mountain for George Garabinia. Unfortunately, the group disbanded after Gene Mumford convinced The Slider's tenor Billy Ward to join his group, The Dominoes.
While working as a solo artist, he met his wife, a singer named Jewel. Although she wanted to sing with Garrett, he refused until she won second place in a talent competition. Shortly after, they became known as Vernon and Jewel. They were soon joined by singer King Solomon. After meeting jazz saxophonist Illinois Jacquet, they signed a recording contract with the Network, Jacquet’s record label. They recorded their first song You're Going to be Paid for the Way You Treated Me which became a hit in San Francisco.
Garrett and his group quickly moved to San Francisco, got a small trailer, added guitarist Claude High, and started performing in the city. After performing for a while, they performed at Slim Jenkins’s club in Oakland. Jenkins hired them to perform on Friday and Saturday nights, paying them $75 a night. He provided them with an organ player and a drummer. People soon started flocking to the club. Jenkins was able to book renowned road acts like Bobby Bland and Etta James for Garrett and his band to open for. Eventually, Kent Records offered them a recording opportunity because of their growing popularity. Garrett and his band recorded a male and female version of Lonely Lonely Nights, selling 80,000 copies in Chicago alone. They were so successful that they built a 32-unit apartment building.
Garrett’s wife died from breast cancer, so he stopped singing and began drinking excessively. He had a dream where his wife encouraged him not to waste his God-given gift. He was hired by Charlie Green that very weekend. When Kent Records went out of business, Garrett self-produced two albums, Love Me Right and Johnnie Walker Red with Jerry White.
Later, Stax producer Al Bell signed him to the ICA record label. In 1978, under the direction of Monk Higgins, Garrett recorded I'm at The Crossroads I Got a Choice to Make, his most well-known song. The song was written by jazz guitarist Freddie Robinson. It did well in Chicago and St Louis and made Jet Magazine’s top 20.
He signed with Ichiban Records and moved to Dallas, Texas with his wife Doris. From 1986 to 1998, he lived in Dallas, performing on the circuit in Fort Worth, Tyler, Marshall, Oklahoma City, Austin, San Antonio, and Midland. Ichiban records helped him successfully enter the European market, where he played a hotel ski chain and performed three weeks of one-nighters in Italy. He found his greatest audience was in Japan, where they were familiar with his music and sang along with his material.
Garrett considers himself a “rhythm and blues, ballad, and blues singer,” who regularly performs on the road. He has released 3 compilations, 12 albums, and over 30 singles so far. He was also featured on the cover of Living Blues Magazine and headlined at the Chicago Blues Festival, singing in front of nearly 70,000 people.
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Written by: Ninfa O. Barnard
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