Songwriter Spotlight - Harlan Howard

"For a songwriter, you don't really go to songwriting school; you learn by listening to tunes. And you try to understand them and take them apart and see what they're made of, and wonder if you can make one, too." - Tom Waits

Harlan Perry Howard (September 8, 1927 – March 3, 2002

One of my favorite things about songwriters, is where they get their ideas. Where do they come up with these turns of phrases? Is it like the movie Walk Hard, where Dewey Cox hears an interesting phrase and immediately has an idea? Or is something crafted slower? Do you start with a title and work back or do you craft that first line that sets the tone? I suppose all of these are right, because in my research, it seems like everyone is a little different. That's why I want to start this feature of the Music Ramble; The Songwriter Spotlight.

Today in this first edition, I wanted to start somewhere less then expected. Prine, Kristofferson, Snider, Isbell, Keen, Williams and more will be featured in time, but why not take this opportunity to learn a little more about one of the most prevalent songwriters in country music history.

When I began looking for someone to start this article with, I wanted to find someone I didn't know much about. I definitely did that, because an hour ago, I had no idea who Harlan Howard was. That's the best thing about digging into the history of music; you can always learn. 

Harlan Howard was born in Lexington Kentucky in 1927. His family relocated soon after to a farm near Detroit. He spent his Saturday nights listening to the Grand Ole Opry and became a fan of Ernest Tubb. It was these songs and their words that would inspire Howard to write. He was especially adept at song titles. 

As an adult, he spent four years in the military service before moving to California and becoming acquainted with the Bakersfield Sound. By the time he moved to Nashville in the 1960's, Howard was a sought after writer and brought several hits with including "Heartaches by the Number", which had been a massive hit for Ray Price. 

In the next four decades, Howard would pen many more songs that would help push artists to the top of the charts. He would write classics with Hank Cochran and Buck Owens. One of Patsy Cline's signature songs, "I Fall To Pieces" was written by he and Cochran. His songs would be recorded Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, Patty Loveless, The Judds, Joe Simon, Waylon Jennings, and many more.

Harlan Howard is a member of the Country Music Hall Of Fame and the Nashville Song Writer's Hall Of Fame.

Selected works written by (or with) Harlan Howard:

Above and Beyond (song)

All Fall Down (duet)

All I Can Be (Is a Sweet Memory)

Blame It on Your Heart

Busted 

Call Me Mr. In-Between 

The Chokin' Kind

Don't Tell Me What to Do

Evil on Your Mind

Excuse Me (I Think I've Got a Heartache)

Foolin' Around 

Heartaches by the Number

Heartbreak U.S.A.

The Hurtin's All Over

I Don't Know a Thing About Love (The Moon Song)

I Don't Remember Loving You

I Fall to Pieces

I Wish I Could Fall in Love Today

I've Got a Tiger By the Tail

Life Turned Her That Way

No Charge

The One You Slip Around With

She Called Me Baby

She's a Little Bit Country

She's Gone, Gone, Gone

Somebody Should Leave

Somewhere Tonight

Streets of Baltimore

These Lips Don't Know How to Say Goodbye

Too Many Rivers

When I Get Thru with You

Where I Ought to Be

Why Not Me 

You Comb Her Hair

You're a Hard Dog (To Keep Under the Porch)

Your Heart Turned Left (And I Was on the Right)

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For more information on Harlan Howard. visit the Songwriters Hall Of Fame