Country Music Without Boundaries

This album suffers from a bit of an identity crisis. It’s called Hall of Fame 1997, commemorating the year Harlan Howard was inducted into the Nashville museum; the release notes say it came out in 2002; but if you poke around you’ll find that this album consists of nine of the twelve songs that appeared on Harlan’s 1971 album To the Silent Majority With Love. And it’s important to know this because the album is full of pro-America sentiment at the time the Vietnam War was battering down a weary nation.

There is a little bit of a problem with over-production on this album, as some songs have an annoying horn or something coming out of one of the stereo speakers. But Harlan’s songwriting and voice carry the album nicely. For those who don’t know Harlan Howard, he wrote songs like I Fall To Pieces, Busted, The Streets of Baltimore, Pick Me Up On Your Way Down and a myriad of others. On the country song writer scale you have (in my opinion) Kris Kristofferson on top, but just behind him are Harlan Howard and Hank Cochran. Harlan is one of the best.

As a singer, Harlan is fairly typical of singer-songwriters — he has a limited range, but he uses those limits to put life into the songs. Mellow and somewhat reminiscent of a less-polished Charlie Rich.

The album starts off with Sunday Morning Christian, a song recorded by Cal Smith. That annoying horn in the left speaker is present, but Harlan interprets this song his way rather nicely. Next up is Uncle Sam, a stand-by-your-country ode. Funny, it could have been written today and been just as relevent.

The Little Boy Who Follows Me is not Harlan’s best work. You could compare it to some of the sippy cup drivel that has come out of Nashville recently. The straight-country arrangement and Harlan’s vocals make it listenable, however. Better Get Your Pride Back Boy is a trucker vs. hippy story, with a touch of deserter criticism tossed in. That annoying horn is back in the left speaker. Three Cheers For the Good Guys sticks up for the “regular joes” who never get credit for just being regular.

She Called Me Baby was recorded by Charlie Rich when he was with RCA, and was finally released as a single after Charlie hit it big with Behind Closed Doors on Epic in 1973. Here we get a pretty good comparison of Harlan’s voice as compared to Charlie’s. Pretty good stuff.

A Little More Time mixes narration with a sung chorus. Three people are profiled in the song, and it’s quite the eclectic mix — Stephen Foster, John Kennedy and Jesus. Hmmmmm. The Chokin’ Kind was recorded by Tanya Tucker and may be the strongest vocal on this album as Harlan’s voice works within his range. The album finishes up with Mr. Professor, a tune about how good Christian kids are sent to college where they are taught (corrupted) by liberal anti-God anti-war teachers.

While most of this album isn’t Harlan’s best writing work, it does give a rare glimpse into how he interprets his own music (although I’d bet he’d have gone for a few fewer instruments backing him). Harlan’s warm vocals carry the day.

Songs added to Goodtime Country Radio’s rotation: Sunday Morning Christian, Uncle Sam, She Called Me Baby, The Chokin’ Kind.

Final thoughts — if you aren’t a fan of 1970s country, then leave this one alone. But if you like Charlie Rich, you’ll probably enjoy this one. It would have gotten four stars, but the production brings it down just a notch to three. ***