WILLOW SPRINGS TUESDAY STUDY CLUB

Jan Howard is a native of West Plains, Missouri. She was a female star in Nashville when it was not popular for a woman to be in the country singing business. Most women were used a backup singers for men. Jan became a solo artist singing about heartaches as she knew about only too well. Sucessful women preceding her were Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Kitty Wells. Jan was born Lula Grace Johnson on March 13, 1929 and died March 28, 2020 in Gallatin, TN. 

Jan’s early life was marked by poverty and hardship. The fifth of eight children, she married her high school boyfriend at 15 and had 3 sons before she was 21. After divorcing her first husband and an annulment from the second, she moved to Los Angeles. There she met songwriter Harlan Howard. Harlan discovered she could sing and started her recording business. Between 1965 and 1972 she and Bill Anderson became a duo with several hits. 

Jan became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1971 and was inducted into the Missouri Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005. In West Plains the “Jan Howard Expressway” has been named in her honor. From 1960 through 1978, she placed thirty singles on the Billboard country music charts.

Some of her hits:

Yankee Go Home

Pick Me Up On Your Way Down

I know You’re Married

For Loving You

Someday We’ll Be Together