Born in
Cowpens, South Carolina, Garland began playing guitar at the age of six, and began to appear on local radio shows at 12. At 14 he moved to
Spartanburg, South Carolina where he met
Don Reno who gave him lessons, and worked with him on the
WSPA-FM station in Spartanburg, both playing lead guitar. He moved to Nashville at age 16, staying in Ma Upchurch's boarding house, where he roomed with
Bob Moore and Dale Potter. At age 18, he recorded his million-selling hit "
Sugarfoot Rag". He appeared on the
Jubilee program with
Grady Martin's band and on
The Eddy Arnold Show. Garland is perhaps best known for his Nashville studio work with
Elvis Presley from 1958 to 1961 which produced such rock hits as: "
I Need Your Love Tonight", "
A Big Hunk O' Love", "
A Fool Such As I", "
I Got Stung", "
Stuck on You", "I'm Comin' Home", "
I Feel So Bad", "
Little Sister" and "
(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame". He worked with many country music and rock and roll musicians of the late 1950s and early 1960s, such as
Patsy Cline,
Brenda Lee,
Mel Tillis,
Marty Robbins,
The Everly Brothers,
Boots Randolph,
Roy Orbison,
Conway Twitty, and
Moon Mullican. Garland's guitar drove such classic recordings as
Little Jimmy Dickens' "I Got a Hole in My Pocket";
Benny Joy's "Bundle of Love" and "I'm Gonna Move"; Jimmy Lloyd's (recorded under pseudonym of (
Jimmie Logsdon) "You're Gone Baby" and "I've Got a Rocket in My Pocket";
Lefty Frizzell's "You're Humbuggin' Me";
Simon Crum's "Stand Up, Sit Down, Shut Your Mouth"; and
Johnnie Strickland's (1935-1994) "She's Mine"; plus, seasonal staples "
Jingle Bell Rock" with
Bobby Helms, and
Brenda Lee's "
Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree".
Don Gibson's "Sweet Sweet Girl" and "Don't Tell Me Your Troubles";
Patsy Cline's "Let the Teardrops Fall";
Ronnie Hawkins' "
Jambalaya"; and
Faron Young's "Alone with You" spotlighted Garland's guitar work. He played with
George Shearing and
Charlie Parker in New York and went on to record
Jazz Winds from a New Direction with
Gary Burton on vibraphone,
Joe Benjamin on double bass, and
Joe Morello on drums. In September 1961, a car crash left Garland in a coma. He regained consciousness and recovered with the help of his wife, Evelyn, and two daughters, but due to a brain injury sustained in the car accident, he was unable to return to the studios. After Evelyn died at the age of 38 in a car crash in
Milwaukee,
Wisconsin on December 2, 1965, Garland's parents took care of him until their deaths. He then went to live with his brother, Billy and wife Amy. Garland suffered from constant ill health in his later years and died in
Orange Park, Florida on December 27, 2004, of complications from a staph infection. He was 74 years old. He is interred in Jacksonville Memory Gardens in Orange Park. ==Discography==