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Chanteur et compositeur Country US né le 8 Septembre 1927 à Detroit
(Michigan) et marié à Jan Howard.
Harlan Howard était un prolifique compositeur américain, principalement de
musique country. Au cours d'une carrière qui s'est échelonnée sur six décennies,
il a écrit un grand nombre de chansons qui ont été enregistrées par des artistes
de styles différents. Il a été admis en 1997 au Country Music Hall of Fame. Il est décédé le 3 Mars 2002 à Nashville (Tennessee).
Country
music's preeminent composer, Harlan Howard boasted an unparalleled body of work encompassing well over 4,000 songs; the writer behind such perennials as "I Fall
to Pieces," "Life Turned Her That Way," and "Heartaches by the Number," he
scored major chart hits during every decade of the postwar era. Born September
8, 1927, in Lexington, KY, Howard and his family moved to Detroit just two years
later. A devoted fan of the Grand Ole Opry radio show, his idol was the great
Ernest Tubb, whose songs Howard attempted to copy down lyric by lyric; a
number of words were subsequently lost in the translation, of course, forcing
him to invent new lines -- sometimes even entire verses -- and in the process an
aspiring songwriter was born. After graduating high school, Howard spent the
next four years stationed in Fort Benning, GA, serving as a military paratrooper;
in his off hours, he learned to play guitar, and each Friday night he and a
friend would hitchhike to Nashville, spending the weekends soaking up live
country music.
After leaving the service, Howard spent the last half of the 1950s traveling the
country, accepting short-term jobs everywhere from Michigan to Arizona; he
finally ended up in California, gravitating towards the Bakersfield area. There
performers including
Buck Owens and
Wynn Stewart were developing the famed Bakersfield sound; Howard's fledgling
compositional skills were recognized, and soon artists like
Tex Ritter and
Johnny Bond agreed to publish his songs. Then
Stewart recorded Howard's "You Took Her off My Hands," and virtually
overnight his work was in hot demand; with his wife,
Jan Howard -- herself a rising country star -- recording his demos, in 1958
his "Pick Me Up on Your Way Down" was cut by
Charlie Walker, and a short time later "What Makes a Man Wander" was covered
by
Jimmy Skinner. In early 1959,
Kitty Wells scored with her rendition of "Mommy for a Day"; however,
Howard's true breakthrough came later in the year, when his classic "Heartaches
by the Number" became a smash for
Ray Price. A pop remake by Guy Mitchell was also an enormous success.
In mid-1960, the Howards relocated to Nashville; he soon authored another hit
for
Price, "I Wish I Could Fall in Love Today," as well as a pair of tracks for
Owens, "Excuse Me (I Think I've Got a Heartache)" and "Above and Beyond."
Then, in 1961, Howard and
Hank Cochran co-wrote arguably his best-loved song, "I Fall to Pieces," a
crossover success for the legendary
Patsy Cline. After penning the hit "Three Steps to the Phone (Millions of
Miles)" for
Jim Reeves, he then wrote a follow-up, "He'll Have to Go";
Reeves rejected the track, however, and it was passed on to
George Hamilton IV, in whose hands it was a major success. (Reeves
instead cut Howard's "The Blizzard," to significant acclaim.) In all, Howard
notched 15 chart hits in 1961 alone; among his other notable compositions that
year were "Heartbreak U.S.A." (covered by
Wells), as well as "Under the Influence of Love" and "Foolin' Around" (two
more by
Owens). He was writing a minimum of two or three songs daily, with about a
dozen of those recorded each week; not surprisingly, he was named Billboard's
Songwriter of the Year two years running.
Also in 1961, Harlan Howard Sings Harlan Howard, his debut solo LP, was released;
he cut several more albums in the years to follow, even scoring a minor hit a
decade later with the single "Sunday Morning Christian," but a serious recording
career was clearly never his intention. Instead, he remained Nashville's most
prolific composer; between 1962 and 1963, his major hits included
Johnny Cash's "Busted" (later a pop hit for
Ray Charles),
Price's rendition of "You Took Her off My Hands,"
George Jones' "You Comb Her Hair,"
Roy Drusky's "Second Hand Rose," and
Johnny & Jonie Mosby's "Don't Call Me From a Honky Tonk." In 1964, Howard
established his own publishing imprint, Wilderness Music, and
Jones notched another hit with "Your Heart Turned Left (And I Was on the
Right)"; the following year, he and
Owens co-authored the latter's chart-topper "I've Got the Tiger by the Tail."
In 1966, Howard and
Tompall Glaser teamed to write the superlative "Streets of Baltimore" for
Bobby Bare, and a year later wife
Jan even hit with "Evil on Your Mind."
In 1967,
Waylon Jennings issued Sings Ol' Harlan, an album comprised solely of Howard
songs; that same year,
Mel Tillis cut "Life Turned Her That Way," another of his greatest
compositions (it was later successfully covered by
Ricky Van Shelton).
Hank Williams, Jr. scored in 1968 with "It's All Over (But the Crying)," but
as the decade drew to a close, Howard fell prey to an extreme case of writer's
block which threatened to derail him for the duration of the 1970s. Indeed, he
scored only a handful of hits in the years to follow, among them a pair of chart-toppers,
Melba Montgomery's "No Charge" and
Charlie Rich's "She Called Me Baby." By the 1980s, Howard had settled into
semiretirement, although he regularly tutored up-and-coming songwriters at Tree
Publishing; in 1982,
John Conlee dusted off his "Busted" and reached the Top Ten, and two years
later a pair of his more recent gems -- "I Don't Know a Thing About Love (The
Moon Song)," covered by
Conway Twitty, and
the Judds' rendition of "Why Not Me" -- reached number one. Other
contemporary artists to hit with Howard's songs include
Reba McEntire,
Highway 101, and K.D. Lang. Howard
died on March 3, 2002, in Nashville.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlan_Howard
Talents : Vocals, Songwriter, Guitar
Style musical : Traditional Country, Contemporary Country, Honky Tonk, Bakersfield Sound
BUSTED (1965)
I FALL
TO PIECES (1965)
JUST FOR THE HECK OF IT (1967)
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Years in activity :
| 1910 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90 | 2000 | 10 | 20 |
DISCOGRAPHY
Singles
| 1959 | SP TALLY T 107 (US) | Fun On The Way / A Guy Named Joe |
| 08/1961 | SP CAPITOL 4612 (US) | We've Proud To Call Him Son / Legion Of The Lost |
| 01/1962 | SP CAPITOL 4682 (US) | Wishin' She Was There / She Called Me Baby |
| 07/1962 | SP CAPITOL 4813 (US) | I Ain't Got Nobody / Ramblin' Son-Of-A-Gun |
| 01/1963 | SP CAPITOL 4928 (US) | My Baby's His Baby Now / Someday Sweetheart |
| 01/1964 | SP MONUMENT 45-833 (US) | It's All In Your Mind / I Can't Stand It |
| 05/1964 | SP MONUMENT 45-849 (US) | Time To Bum Again / Previews Of Coming Attractions |
| 10/1964 | SP MONUMENT 45-864 (US) | Hobo Jungle / Deepening Snow |
| 03/1965 | SP MONUMENT 45-883 (US) | How Slow Time Goes / What's Left On Me |
| 10/1965 | SP MONUMENT 45-907 (US) | Everglades /
Busted
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| 02/1966 | SP MONUMENT 45-919 (US) | Another Bridge To Burn / Baby That Would Sure Be Good |
| 07/1967 | SP RCA VICTOR 47-9252 (US) | I'd Rather Be A Fool / Take It And Go |
| 10/1967 | SP RCA VICTOR 47-9352 (US) | It's Nothing To Me / Home From The Forest |
| 05/1968 | SP RCA VICTOR 47-9535 (US) | Sid Podner / Where Were You When I Was Young |
| 07/1970 | SP MONUMENT 45-1207 (US) | Too Many Rivers / Look Behind You |
| 02/1971 | SP NUGGET NR 1058 (US) | Sunday Morning Christian / That Little Boy Who Follows Me |
| 1971 | SP NUGGET NR 1060 (US) | Uncle Sam / Better Get Your Pride Back Boy |
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Albums
| 09/1961 | LP 12" CAPITOL T-1631 (mono) / ST-1631 (stereo) (US) |
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HARLAN HOWARD SINGS HARLAN HOWARD - Come On Home Boy / She Called Me Baby / Put Me Back Together Again / Has Anybody Seen Me Lately / Wishin' She Was Here / Maybe The Hurt Will Go Away / We're Proud To Call Him Son / I Hope You're Lonesome / Legion Of The Lost / He's Just A Little Meaner / Life Goes On / Pretty Good Shape |
| 11/1965 | LP 12" MONUMENT MLP-8038 (mono) / SLP-18038 (stereo) (US) |
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ALL TIME FAVORITE COUNTRY SONGWRITER - Billboard Award Album - Busted / Heartaches By The Number / Too Many Rivers / I Don't Believe I'll Fall In Love Today / Above And Beyond / I've Got A Tiger By The Tail / Everglades / Mary Ann Regrets / Pick Me Up On Your Way Down / Call Me Mr In-Between / I Fall To Pieces / Blizzard |
| 04/1967 | LP 12" RCA VICTOR LPM-3729 (mono) / LSP-3729 (stereo) (US) |
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MR. SONGWRITER - You Don't Know My Mind / Grey Eyes You Know / Just For The Heck Of It / I'll Be Gone / Now Everybody Knows / I'm Tired / I've Gotta Leave You Baby / Everybody's Baby / I Wish I Felt This Way At Home / Take It And Go / Hello There Stranger / Baby Sister |
| 12/1967 | LP 12" RCA VICTOR LPM-3886 (mono) / LSP-3886 (stereo) (US) |
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DOWN TO EARTH - It's Nothin' To Me / I Don't Mind / Baby I Don't Believe Him / California Sunshine / I Run To The Door / I'd Rather Be A Fool / Home From The Forest / Old Podner / If Only You'd Of Happened To Me A Long Time Ago / Wine Women And Song / Call Me Up |
| 1971 | LP 12" NUGGET NRLP-105 (US) |
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TO THE SILENT MAJORITY, WITH LOVE - Sunday Morning Christian / Uncle Sam I'm A Patriot / We Didn't Build This World / That Little Boy Who Follows Me / World Is Weighing Heavy On My Mind / She Called Me Baby / Three Cheers For The Good Guys / Better Get Your Pride Back Boy / Mr Profesor / I Care / Little More Time / Chokin' Kind |
| 1981 | LP 12" MILL 5002 (SWE) |
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SINGER AND SONGWRITER - Sing The Girls A Song / King Of The Hobo Jungle / Preview Of Coming Attraction / She Made One Mistake / Another Bridge To Burn / Thanks But No Thanks / Too Many Miles / I Can't Stand It / Deepening Snow / Time To Bum Again / What's Left Of Me / I've Got My Baby On My Mind |
| 1996 | CD KOCH KOC-3-7915 (US) |
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All Time Favourite Country Songwriter - Busted / Heartaches By The Number / Too Many Rivers / I Don't Believe I'll Fall In Love Today / Above And Beyond (The Call Of Love) / I've Got A Tiger By The Tail / The Everglades / Mary Ann Regrets / Pick Me Up On Your Way Down / Call Me Mister In-Between / I Fall To Pieces / The Blizzard |
| 07/2002 | CD King 5159 (US) |
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Country Music Hall of Fame 1997 - Sunday Morning Christian / Uncle Sam / That Little Boy Who Follows Me / Better Get Your Pride Back Boy / Three Cheers For The Good Guys / She Called Me Baby / A Little More Time / The Chokin' Kind / Mister Professor |
© Rocky Productions 7/09/2014
