Ten Favorite Country Songwriters: Harlan Howard (#1)

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Hi from my favorite restaurant near the golf course, where I hope to be coming to you from on most Wednesday afternoons for the next six months! It's GOLF SEASON!!!! Before tournament #1, though, here's songwriter #1 in my opinion in the world of country music. #1: Harlan Howard It may be a "surprise" but it's definitely a no-brainer. Hank Williams may be the "big name" in country music, but I assure you that Harlan Howard is the standard by which songwriters are measured in country music. Not just country, either. Remember Ray Charles moaning how he was "Busted" in that song? Harlan Howard tune. Remember Brenda Lee singing about how there's "Too Many Rivers"? Harlan Howard tune. And, when it comes to strictly country, I don't have time to tell you a tenth of Harlan Howard's songs....because I have to be at the course in an hour to practice! But one that you've heard of, whether you like country music or not, is "I Fall to Pieces," that classic Patsy Cline song (that Howard co-wrote with another person on this list, Hank Cochran). And it was Harlan Howard who described country music more succinctly and accurately than anyone in history. When asked to define what "country music" was, Howard replied, "Country music is three chords and the truth." Amen. Thanks for reading. Harlan Howard Born Harlan Perry Howard, September 8, 1927, Detroit, MI; died March 3, 2002, Nashville, TN (heart attack) Country Music Hall of Fame - 1997 Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame - 1973 Songwriters Hall of Fame - 1997 Best-known songs: "I Fall to Pieces" (Patsy Cline); "Busted" (Ray Charles, Johnny Cash); "Too Many Rivers" (Brenda Lee)" "I've Got a Tiger By the Tail" (Buck Owens); "Heartaches By the Number" (Ray Price); "Pick Me Up on Your Way Down" (Charlie Walker). Like many other songwriters, Harlan Howard did record some, with minimal success. Here's my favorite song that he sang (even though it was actually a hit when Cal Smith covered):