From the archive

Notes from
the guardian

Vignettes written by Melanie Howard after forty years of being the guardian of the flame. These are her recollections of the songs and the people who made them, written first hand.

  1. Gladys Knight, Harlan Howard, Jimmy Newman and producer Tony Brown together at the Harlan Howard Songs office in Nashville, fall of 1999

    May 19, 2020By Melanie Howard

    A Fun Evening at Harlan Howard Songs, Fall of 1999

    Melanie Howard recalls the fall 1999 cocktail party she and Harlan Howard hosted at their Music Row office for Gladys Knight, arranged by producer Tony Brown around a benefit for the W.O. Smith School...

  2. Songwriters Dennis Morgan and Harlan Howard, friends and co-writers on Music Row

    March 22, 2020By Melanie Howard

    Dennis Morgan and Harlan Howard

    Melanie Howard remembers how Harlan Howard came to co-writing late in life, and how his friendship with Dennis Morgan produced the last song he ever wrote.

  3. Harlan Howard with Bobby Bare, Willie Nelson and Billy Walker at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge in 1995, during filming of a documentary about the Nashville bar

    March 10, 2020By Melanie Howard

    Some of the Boys Who Make the Noise on 16th Avenue

    Melanie Howard looks at a 1995 photograph taken at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge and remembers the songwriters in it, the guitar pulls upstairs, and the friendships that predated the hits.

  4. Portrait of country songwriter Harlan Howard, photographed by Jim Herrington

    March 3, 2020By Melanie Howard

    Harlan Howard Anniversary

    On the eighteenth anniversary of Harlan Howard's death, Melanie Howard writes briefly about longing, and about choosing to spend the day in his office listening to his voice.

  5. Mary and Roger Miller, Nanci Griffith, Waylon Jennings, Harlan Howard and Melanie Howard together at a Harlan Howard Birthday Bash in the mid 1990s

    February 26, 2020By Melanie Howard

    A Lifetime of Friends

    Melanie Howard writes about Harlan Howard's shyness, the bars and songwriters he gravitated to, and his friendship with Nanci Griffith, who recorded and co-wrote several of his songs.

  6. Ricky Van Shelton and Harlan Howard, whose 1987 recording of 'Life Turned Her That Way' went to number one

    February 11, 2020By Melanie Howard

    "Life Turned Her That Way"

    Melanie Howard remembers hearing Ricky Van Shelton's cut of 'Life Turned Her That Way' in Bob Montgomery's office in 1987, and learning that Harlan Howard wrote it in 1964 about his second wife, Jan...

  7. Harlan Perry Howard, the Country Music Hall of Fame songwriter behind more than 4000 songs

    January 30, 2020By Melanie Howard

    Harlan Perry Howard

    Melanie Howard introduces Harlan Perry Howard, the shy wordsmith behind 'I Fall To Pieces', 'Busted' and 'Blame It On Your Heart', and the hall of fame honors and catalog he left behind.

  8. Harlan Howard on stage at a Harlan and Friends Unrock the Hard Rock benefit in Nashville

    August 21, 2019By Melanie Howard

    Harlan and Friends Unrock the Hard Rock

    Melanie Howard recalls the annual Harlan and Friends Unrock the Hard Rock benefit shows, and why the W.O. Smith Music School and its fifty cent lessons mattered so much to her and Harlan Howard.

  9. Harlan Howard on stage at a Harlan Howard Birthday Bash on Music Row

    July 18, 2019By Melanie Howard

    Harlan Howard Birthday Bash

    Melanie Howard remembers the fifteen Harlan Howard Birthday Bashes, the honky tonk that took over the BMI parking lot each September, and the hosts, songwriters and musicians who made it the best songwriter show...

  10. Mel Tillis and Harlan Howard at Harlan Howard Songs in honor of Harlan's 70th birthday, 1997

    June 25, 2019By Melanie Howard

    Family, Friends and Fishing

    Melanie Howard writes about Harlan Howard's working week, his fishing trips to Center Hill Lake with Mel Tillis, and the cuts that gave him hits with two generations of the Tillis family.

  11. The 1920s stone house at 1902 Wedgewood Avenue in Nashville in 1992, before restoration as the home of Harlan Howard Songs

    June 14, 2019By Melanie Howard

    Harlan Howard Songs, Inc.

    Melanie Howard tells how she and Harlan Howard started their publishing company in a condo basement in 1989, signed their first writers, and bought the run down Wedgewood Avenue house that became Harlan Howard...

  12. Harlan Howard, Patty Loveless and Kostas at the number one party for 'Blame It On Your Heart'

    June 11, 2019By Melanie Howard

    "Blame It on Your Heart"

    Melanie Howard recalls the hour in 1992 when Harlan Howard helped Kostas finish 'Blame It On Your Heart', the 3AM phone call from River Phoenix, and how the song became Patty Loveless's first Sony...