Harlan Howard
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Harlan Howard | |
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Birth name | Harlan Perry Howard |
Born | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | September 8, 1927
Died | March 3, 2002 Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. | (aged 74)
Genres | Country |
Occupation(s) | Songwriter |
Years active | 1958–1997 |
Labels | Capitol, RCA, Monument, Nugget |
Harlan Perry Howard (September 8, 1927 – March 3, 2002) was an American songwriter, principally in country music. In a career spanning six decades, Howard wrote many popular and enduring songs, recorded by a variety of different artists.[1]
Career
Howard was born on September 8, 1927, in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up on a farm in Michigan. As a child, he listened to the Grand Ole Opry radio show. In later years, Howard recalled the personal formative influence of country music:
I was captured by the songs as much as the singer. They grabbed my heart. The reality of country music moved me. Even when I was a kid, I liked the sad songs… songs that talked about true life. I recognized this music as a simple plea. It beckoned me.[2]
Howard completed only nine years of formal education, though he was an avid reader.[3] When he was 12 years of age, he began writing songs, "an enthusiasm fueled by an appetite for books and an ear for a telling phrase."[2]
After serving as a paratrooper with the United States Army, he went to Los Angeles, California, hoping to sell his music.[1]
Howard did manual labor while writing songs and pushing his finished material. Eventually, he sold some of his compositions and, after a few minor successes, his song, "
Though not often thought of as a writer of rhythm and blues songs, Howard wrote Joe Simon's No. 1 R&B chart hit "The Chokin' Kind", a million-selling record in 1969.
Howard also wrote the classic
Howard coined the oft-quoted phrase defining a great country song as Three Chords and the Truth.[4][5]
Howard was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1973, the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1997, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame also in 1997.[6] He died in Nashville in 2002, at the age of 74, and was buried in Nashville City Cemetery.
On March 3, 2023,
Discography
- 1961: Harlan Howard Sings Harlan Howard
- 1965: All Time Favorite Country Songwriter
- 1967: Mr. Songwriter
- 1967: Down to Earth
- 1971: To the Silent Majority with Love
- 1981: Singer and Songwriter
Song list
Songs written or co-written by Harlan Howard.[7]
- "Above and Beyond (the Call of Love)"
- "Kostas)
- "The Blizzard"
- "Busted"
- "Chokin' Kind"
- "Call Me Mr. In-Between"
- "Don't Call Me From a Honky Tonk Bar"
- "Don't Tell Me What To Do (I'll Love You Forever If I Want To)" (co-written with Max D. Barnes)
- "Everglades"
- "Evil off My Mind"
- "Evil on Your Mind"
- "Excuse Me (I Think I've Got a Heartache)" (co-written with Buck Owens)
- "Foolin' Round" (co-written with Buck Owens)
- "He/She Called Me Baby"
- "She's Gone, Gone, Gone"
- "Heartaches by the Number"
- "Heartbreak U.S.A."
- "Hurtin's All Over"
- "I Don't Believe I'll Fall in Love Today"
- "I Don't Know a Thing About Love (The Moon Song)"
- "I Don't Remember Loving You" (co-written with Robert Braddock)
- "I Fall to Pieces"
- "I Wish I Could Fall in Love Today"
- "I Won't Forget You"
- "It's All Over" (co-written with Jan Howard)
- "I've Got a Tiger By the Tail" (co-written with Buck Owens)
- "The Key's in the Mailbox"
- "Life Turned Her That Way"
- "Mommy For a Day" (co-written with Buck Owens)
- "No Charge"
- "Odds And Ends"
- "Pick Me Up on Your Way Down"
- "Sally Was a Good Old Girl"
- "Second Hand Rose" (co-written with Grant Clarke and James Hanley)
- "She's a Little Bit Country"
- "Somebody Should Leave" (co-written with Chick Rains)
- "Somewhere Tonight" (co-written with Rodney Crowell)
- "Streets of Baltimore" (co-written with Tompall Glaser)
- "These Lips Don't Know How to Say Goodbye"
- "Three Steps to the Phone (Millions Of Miles)"
- "Time Won't Tell" (co-written with Beth Nielsen Chapman)
- "Too Many Rivers"
- "Under The Influence Of Love" (co-written with Buck Owens)
- "What A Merry Christmas This Could Be"
- "Why Not Me" (co-written with Brent Maher and Sonny Throckmorton)
- "You Comb Her Hair" (co-written with Hank Cochran)
- "You Took Him Off My Hands (Now Please Take Him Off My Mind)" (co-written with Skeets McDonald and Wynn Stewart)
- "Your Heart Turned Left and I Went Right"
- "Yours Love"
Personal life
Howard was married numerous times, including to country singer Jan Howard.[6]
See also
- Waylon Sings Ol' Harlan
- Buck Owens Sings Harlan Howard
- I Don't Know A Thing About Love: The Songs of Harlan Howard
References
- ^ a b Boucher, Geoff (March 5, 2002). "Harlan Howard, 74; Prolific Songwriter". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
- ^ a b Wadey, Paul (March 5, 2002). "Obituary: Harlan Howard". independent.co.uk. London: The Independent. Archived from the original on May 9, 2022.Retrieved 2019-03-09.
- ^ ‘Harlan Howard’ Archived December 2, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Harlan Howard web-site.
- ^ Dansby, Andrew (2002). "Obituary: Country Scribe Harlan Howard Dies". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone.
- ^ "Harlan Howard: Three Chords and the Truth" (PDF). countrymusichalloffame.org. Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b "Harlan Howard: Songwriters Hall of Fame". songhall.org. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
- ^ Oermann, Robert K. (March 4, 2002). "BMI Legend Harlan Howard Dies". BMI. Retrieved March 9, 2019.