Gary & Ramona Tollett

Gary Tollett - 13 Dec 1932 Lamb County, Texas - 26 Dec 2018 Arizona

Gary & Ramona (husband & wife), were singers, Gary also a songwriter, sang backing vocals on The Crickets classic song "That'll Be The Day" and it's B-side "I'm Looking For Someone To Love", along with Crickets rhythm guitarist Niki Sullivan.

Gary & Ramona traded off with Buddy and the boys, they sang backing vocals for them and in return, Buddy, JI and Joe B would play backing on Gary's (Gary Dale) demos, recorded at Norman Petty's studio in Clovis.

Jimmy Bowen & The Rhythm Orchids and Buddy Knox recorded their hits at Norman Petty Studio, and Buddy Knox's guitarist was Donnie Lanier. Donnie's sister worked for Roulette Records, which signed them. Donnie's other sister lived in Lubbock, her name was June Clark and she wanted to cut some demos with their cousin, Gary Tollett and called up Sonny Curtis to ask if he knew any good drummers. Sonny suggested he call Jerry Allison. Sue wanted to have Gary record demos so she could send them to New York. Jerry (JI) suggested she also use Buddy as the guitar player on the demos.

So they all agreed to help each other out. Gary & Ramona (along with Niki Sullivan) would sing backing vocals on "That'll Be The Day/I'm Looking For Someone To Love" and Buddy, JI (and possibly Joe B Mauldin) would play guitar, drums and bass, respectively. Then June could send Buddy's/JI's demos to New York also, to try and get them a record deal.

In March 1957, they recorded "Go Boy Go/Gone", which would later secure a deal for Gary with Gone Records (an associate of Roulette Records). Before recording their respective demos, they would rehearse at June Clark's house in Lubbock. June was actually supposed to attend the recording session in Clovis, to sing backing vocals with Gary, Ramona & Niki, but backed out at the last minute.

In July 1957, Gary would record "Honey, Honey" and "Look To The Future", the former of which demonstrates how adept a guitar player Buddy Holly really was. It possibly features Buddy Holly's best guitar solo on "Honey, Honey". It's also a fantastic song. It could have been a hit, had it landed in the right hands. "Look To The Future" also features an interesting musical nuance. Buddy played his Stratocaster guitar through Norman Petty's Hammond Organ amp, a Leslie Speaker. Bear in mind, this was mid 1957 and Buddy was experimenting with guitar FX. Hendrix didn't do that until nearly 10 years later. The effect of him playing through the Lesley Speaker, was similar to what the Chorus guitar FX pedal can do nowadays.

Take a listen to the track below, you'll hear the effect in the guitar intro.

Gary & Ramona Tollett

Listen to Gary's "Honey, Honey" below. A superb track indeed and it features Buddy's best guitar and solo work. He isn't singing, so he is in full guitar mode.

Gary was born in Amherst, Texas, and grew up on a cotton farm, son of George and step-mother Mary Lee Tollett. He loved music from an early age and was a talented singer and musician. He served in the Air Force during the Korean War and took part in many missions over enemy territory. While stationed at Castle Air Force Base near Merced, California, he met the love of his life, Ramona Haynes.

Gary & Ramona married in 1955 and moved to Lubbock, Texas, where he graduated from Texas Tech University.

Gary died on Dec. 26, 2018