#hank garland

Hank Garland (second from left) and others at a recording session for Elvis

Guitarist Hank Garland, best known for his work with Elvis, also provided the round, warm guitar sound for countless classic country tunes (for non-country fans, his work might be most familiar via Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” and Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock”). But he led something of a double life jamming with jazz musicians (including, apocryphally, Charlie Parker) in New York, and eventually released a few jazz albums before a 1961 car accident left him unable to play. Garland’s group, which included a 17-year-old Gary Burton, was even booked at the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival; when their set was cancelled due to riots (don’t make WASPs angry), they recorded an album in the house they had rented.

All that is to say that on May 9, 1959, Garland recorded his first solo LP Velvet Guitar; its gentle schmaltz anticipates decades of what would become known as smooth jazz (George Benson was a fan).