Chuck Howard

Within the Chuck Howard family line of country and western performers, this guitarist stood out as the sort of session player whose distinctive lines appeared across countless releases while his identity remained obscure to most listeners. Among his standout contributions was his work on Ringo Starr’s frequently underappreciated country album Beaucoups of Blues, an effort Howard helped bring into existence. He first accessed the tightly guarded circle surrounding the Beatles by accompanying frequent collaborator Pete Drake to London, where Drake had been summoned by George Harrison to add his touch to the expansive All Things Must Pass. During that period Howard forged a close friendship with Ringo Starr and persuaded the drummer to undertake a lengthy stay in the United States for a dedicated country recording project. The resulting album featured four songs written by Howard along with substantial input from songwriter, guitarist, and peanut farmer Sorrells Pickard.

Born in Kentucky, Howard cut a string of honky-tonk singles in the late 1950s and early 1960s for small regional imprints including Sand, Kim, Flame, and Do-Re-Me. Tracks such as “Crazy, Crazy Baby,” “Out of Gas,” “Gossip,” and a rockabilly version of “Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy” later found frequent placement on compilations devoted to hardcore country, hot-rod country, honky-tonk, or rockabilly. Given rockabilly’s position as the most unrestrained corner of the country and western spectrum, exposure to these recordings around the household may have prompted his son, Chuck Howard Jr., to turn away from his father’s path and instead pursue a career as a polished Nashville producer and A&R executive, overseeing numerous string-laden pop successes and guiding the careers of several visually striking yet musically conventional country acts during the 1990s.