Harlan Howard
is one of the greatest songwriters in
country
history. His career as a writer far overshadowed his career as a recording artist, which was not nearly as successful or sustained. He had an album in 1965 for
Monument
, as well as some sessions for the small label
Nugget
in the early '70s.
King
's 2002 collection
Country Music Hall of Fame 1997
draws from those
recordings, featuring nine originals, including the minor hit
"Sunday Morning Christian."
Howard
had a warm, pleasant voice and these productions are appealingly dated -- witness the fuzz guitars on his version of his standard,
"The Chokin' Kind"
-- but this does not capture him at his best and the packaging is so shoddy that only hardcore fans who cannot find this material any other way should pick this up. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine