Jan Howard
Encyclopedia
Lula Grace Johnson known professionally as Jan Howard, is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 singer and Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...

 star. She attained moderate success as a country female vocalist during the 1960s and early 1970s. Her ex-husband was singer-songwriter Harlan Howard
Harlan Howard
Harlan Perry Howard was a prolific American songwriter, principally in country music. In a career spanning six decades, Howard wrote a large number of popular and enduring songs, recorded by a variety of different artists...

.

Howard's biggest hit and signature song is the 1966 country hit, "Evil on Your Mind
Evil on Your Mind
"Evil on Your Mind" is the name of a popular Country music song, originally made famous by Grand Ole Opry star, Jan Howard in 1966.In the mid-60s, Jan Howard was not acquiring any significant hits. Only one of her songs hit the Top 20, which was in 1960 with, "The One You Slip Around With", which...

," which peacked at No. 5 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

country charts. The song is included in the book, Heartaches By the Number: The 500 Greatest Country Music Singles. In the late 1960s and early 70s, she dueted with Bill Anderson
Bill Anderson (country music)
James William Anderson III , better known as Bill Anderson, is an American country music singer, songwriter and television personality. He has released more than 40 studio albums and has reached No...

 on a number of top 10 hits, including the No. 1 hit, "For Loving You
For Loving You
"For Loving You" is a 1967 duet by Bill Anderson and Jan Howard. The single was the duo's most successful release. "For Loving You" went to number one on the country charts in four weeks and spent 20 weeks on the chart....

."

Early life and rise to fame

Howard was born in West Plains, Missouri
West Plains, Missouri
West Plains is a city in Howell County, Missouri, United States. The population was 10,866 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Howell County. The West Plains Micropolitan Statistical Area consists of Howell County.-Geography:...

 in 1930 and was one of eight children. Her family was poor, but was able to maintain a farm. She attended a one-room schoolhouse, wearing homemade clothing. At only age 15, she married, and soon had children. After dealing with two unsuccessful marriages, Howard moved to Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

, where she met aspiring songwriter Harlan Howard. They married in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

 one month later. One evening though, Jan was washing dishes in her kitchen. While she was washing dishes, she was singing and Harlan heard her sing for the very first time, and liked what he heard. He thought Jan had talent and wanted her to become a country music singer.

Harlan persuaded Howard to make a demo tape of one of the songs he wrote called "Mommy For a Day." The song would later be a big hit for Kitty Wells
Kitty Wells
Ellen Muriel Deason , known professionally as Kitty Wells, is an American country music singer. Her 1952 hit recording, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts, and turned her into the first female country star...

. She soon worked as a demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...

 singer for her husband, singing demos for other Country artists, like Buck Owens
Buck Owens
Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. , better known as Buck Owens, was an American singer and guitarist who had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music charts with his band, the Buckaroos...

 and Tex Ritter
Tex Ritter
Woodward Maurice Ritter , better known as Tex Ritter, was an American country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting...

. It was Jan Howard who originally sang the demo for the Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...

 hit "I Fall to Pieces
I Fall to Pieces
"I Fall to Pieces" is a single released by Patsy Cline in 1961, and was featured on her 1961 studio album, Patsy Cline Showcase. "I Fall to Pieces" was Cline's first #1 hit on the Country charts, and her second hit single to cross over onto the Pop charts...

."

In 1959, she made her debut as a recording artist backed by Wynn Stewart
Wynn Stewart
Winford Lindsey Stewart , better known as Wynn Stewart, was an American country music performer. He was one of the progenitors of the Bakersfield sound...

's band. She recorded her first song that year called "Yankee Go Home," along with the Harlan Howard composition, "Pick Me Up on Your Way Down" (which was once recorded by Charlie Walker
Charlie Walker (musician)
Charlie Walker was an American country musician born in Copeville, Texas. He held membership in the Grand Ole Opry from 1967, and was inducted into the Country Radio DJ Hall of Fame in 1981.- Career :...

).

Success as a solo singer in the 60s and "Evil on Your Mind"

In 1959, under the name Jan Howard, she released the single "Yankee Go Home", which failed to hit the country charts. In 1960, the Howards went to Nashvile, Tennessee where they appeared on The Prince Albert Show, the Grand Ole Opry segment carried nationally by NBC Radio. Howard then released her first single under her new record company, Challenge. Titled, "The One You Slip Around With", the song was Howard's first significant country hit, hitting the Top 15, peaking at No. 13 on the Billboard country music chart. Performing on the Grand Ole Opry led to friendships with several country singers, including singer Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...

, who she introduced herself to. According to Cline's 1980 biography, Honky Tonk Angel, Cline originally yelled at Howard after a performance on the Opry stage. Howard fought back, and Cline was shocked by her reply. Cline then said to Howard, "Anybody who stands up to Cline is all right, we're gonna be good friends." The two were good friends on and off the Opry until Cline's death in 1963.

Meanwhile, painfully shy Jan was suffering from the psychological scars of her youth, as well as the anxiety of beginning a new adventure. When her weight dropped below 97 pounds, Harlan hospitalized Jan and she went into therapy.

Howard appeared on ABC-TV's Jubilee USA
Ozark Jubilee
Ozark Jubilee is the first U.S. network television program to feature country music's top stars, and was the centerpiece of a strategy for Springfield, Missouri to challenge Nashville, Tennessee as America's country music capital...

 on February 6, 1960, and later that year she won Billboard magazine's "Most Promising Female Country Award." In 1962, she charted successfully on the country charts at No. 27 with, "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again". However, none of Howard's followup singles were successful.

The Decca Years

Jan Howard signed with Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....

 in 1965 and immediately had a career upswing. Her first Decca record "What Makes a Man Wander" hit the Top 25 on the country charts. 1966's "Evil on Your Mind
Evil on Your Mind
"Evil on Your Mind" is the name of a popular Country music song, originally made famous by Grand Ole Opry star, Jan Howard in 1966.In the mid-60s, Jan Howard was not acquiring any significant hits. Only one of her songs hit the Top 20, which was in 1960 with, "The One You Slip Around With", which...

" was the biggest solo hit of Howard's career, hitting No. 5 on the Billboard. The follow-up to "Evil on Your Mind" was "Bad Seed". The song reached the Top 10 in 1966.

Howard began recording duets with singer Bill Anderson
Bill Anderson (country music)
James William Anderson III , better known as Bill Anderson, is an American country music singer, songwriter and television personality. He has released more than 40 studio albums and has reached No...

 and joined his syndicated television show and touring act as his "girl singer". Their first duet record was a remake of "I Know You're Married (But I Love You Still)". They do went on to have several top ten songs, including the 1967 No. 1 hit, "For Loving You".

Between 1967 and 1972, Howard chalked up a number of solo of Top 40 hits, like "Roll Over and Play Dead" (1967), "Any Old Way You Do" (1967), and "I Still Believe in Love" (1968). "Count Your Blessings Woman". The song reached the Country Top 20 at No. 16. Her other Top 20 hits from this time include "My Son" (1969) and "We Had All the Good Things Going" (1969).

"My Son", a recitation song
Recitation song
A recitation song or "recitation" as it is more commonly called, is a spoken narrative to music, generally with a sentimental theme. Such numbers were quite popular in country music from the 1930s into the 1960s although few in number...

, was Howard's most personal composition. She dreamed in 1968 that her son, who was fighting in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

, would be killed in battle, which came true. She pleaded that her son would return home, but he died that year. The song was a Top 15 country hit in 1969.

Howard was also an accomplished songwriter. In 1966, she wrote the Kitty Wells
Kitty Wells
Ellen Muriel Deason , known professionally as Kitty Wells, is an American country music singer. Her 1952 hit recording, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts, and turned her into the first female country star...

 hit "It's All Over But the Crying", and in 1970 she wrote the Bill Anderson hit "Love Is a Sometimes Thing". Together, Bill and Jan wrote the 1970 Connie Smith
Connie Smith
Connie Smith is an American country music artist. She began her career in 1963 after winning a local talent contest near Columbus, Ohio, which attracted the attention of country songwriter Bill Anderson...

 hit "I Never Once Stopped Loving You". Jan also co-wrote "Dis-Satisfied" with one of her three sons, Carter Howard.

The 1970s

In the early 1970s, Howard paired up again with Bill Anderson for a series of duet singles. In 1970, their song, "If It's All the Same to You" hit No. 2 on the country charts that year, just missing the top spot. Their album of the same name was released that year also. Soon, Howard and Anderson were one of the biggest duet groups of the early 70s, racking up two other Top 10 country hits between 1970 and 1971. Their 1970 album Bill and Jan or Jan and Bill spawned their other two Top 10 country singles, "Someday We'll Be Together" (1970) and "Dis-Satisfied" (1971). In 1970 and 1971, the duet pair were nominated for Vocal Duo of the Year by the CMA Awards, but never won the award.

Howard's solo recordings began to be somewhat less successful in the early 1970s, hitting the top 40 as a soloist only twice with "Rock Me Back to Little Rock" (1970) and"Love is Like a Spinning Wheel" (1972).

Howard's son David committed suicide. This devastated Howard, still reeling from her older son's death in Vietnam four years earlier, and she seriously considered quitting the music industry. She did limit her personal appearances for many years. In 1973, she left Decca Records (shortly after it changed into MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...

) and recorded for several smaller labels, hitting the back of the country charts several times into the late 1970s.

In 1976 she began appearing with Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...

's touring show, performing as a soloist and as a backup member of the Carter Family
Carter Family
The Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. They were the first vocal group to become country...

, until being fired by Cash in 1980. References made by the media regarding an affair
Affair
Affair may refer to professional, personal, or public business matters or to a particular business or private activity of a temporary duration, as in family affair, a private affair, or a romantic affair.-Political affair:...

 between Howard and Cash were rather poorly dismissed by Cash, and Cash biographies leave the question unresolved

In 1978 Howard began occasionally performing as a background vocalist for her friend Tammy Wynette
Tammy Wynette
Virginia Wynette Pugh, known professionally as Tammy Wynette , was an American country music singer-songwriter and one of the genre's best-known artists and biggest-selling female vocalists....

. She still performed as a soloist on The Grand Ole Opry and in concert, however.

Later career and life today

Since March 27, 1971, Howard has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry where she has been a regular performer for over 30 years. She has also opened many doors for other country music artists. She has toured every state in the United States, and has also toured in 21 countries. She has also appeared on The Today Show, Family Feud
Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...

, and Hee Haw
Hee Haw
Hee Haw is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop. It aired on CBS-TV from 1969–1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. The show was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the major difference being...

. In 1984, Howard released the album Tainted Love, and that same year she published her best-selling autobiography, Sunshine and Shadow. In 1987, she released another album titled, The Life of a Country Girl Singer, but by this time, her chart success had faded.

In 1990, Howard re-married. In 2005, she was inducted into the Missouri Country Music Hall of Fame. Most recently, she has released a box set called Through the Years. Her hometown of West Plains, Missouri pays homage to Howard by observing a Jan Howard Day annually. In West Plains, the US 63 bypass is known as the Jan Howard Expressway.

In 2002, Howard made her acting debut in the feature film Changing Hearts starring Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway is an American actress.Dunaway won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Network after receiving previous nominations for the critically acclaimed films Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown...

, which also featured Howard's friend and country singer, Jeannie Seely
Jeannie Seely
Jeannie Seely is an American country music singer and Grand Ole Opry star. She is best-known for her 1966 Grammy award-winning Country hit, "Don't Touch Me", which peaked at No...

.

Awards and nominations

Year Award Program Award Result
1960 Billboard magazine  Most Promising Female Artist Won
1966 Grammy Awards  Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "Evil on Your Mind
Evil on Your Mind
"Evil on Your Mind" is the name of a popular Country music song, originally made famous by Grand Ole Opry star, Jan Howard in 1966.In the mid-60s, Jan Howard was not acquiring any significant hits. Only one of her songs hit the Top 20, which was in 1960 with, "The One You Slip Around With", which...

"
Nominated
1968 Grammy Awards  Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "My Son" Nominated
1968 CMA Awards  Vocal Duo or Group of the Year (with Bill Anderson) Nominated
1970 CMA Awards  Vocal Duo of the Year (with Bill Anderson) Nominated
1971 CMA Awards Vocal Duo of the Year (with Bill Anderson) Nominated

External links

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