Merle Haggard - see artist discography

Tom T. Hall - see artist discography

Stuart Hamblen "I Gotta Feeling" (Allegro, 2001)
Smoky voiced country crooner and Hollywood cowpoke Stuart Hamblen was a likeable lesser light -- he's best known for his 1954 hit version of "This Old House," and for the religious anthem, "It Is No Secret," which he wrote while part of Billy Graham's evengelical organization. This budget-line 2-CD set includes neither of those classics, delving instead into his lesser-known early work on the Decca and Columbia labels. The Decca recordings, which date back to the 1930s are striking for their saucy, raunchy content -- like Louisiana Governor Jimmie Davis, Hamblen was a born-again Christian with a rowdy past, in specific, an early devotion to the off-color, yodelling blues style popularized by Jimmie Rodgers. This set is packed with fine examples of the genre, as well as some later, more staid, western-themed folk material and a few solid late-'40s honkytonk tunes, such as "I Won't Go Huntin' With You Jake," which was his first big hit, back in 1949. The packaging and liner notes are a bit disappointing, and occassionaly the sound is a bit rough, but overall most of the music is pretty fun. It'd be nice if there were another Hamblen release that would include more of his honkytonk-style material, but this disc is still quite welcome.

Stuart Hamblen "This Old House Has To Go (There's A Freeway Comin' Through)" (Kapp, 1966) (LP)
God, this is embarrassing. Hamblen was unmistakably over-the-hill, and the (uncredited) producers clearly had little respect for the old coot, pairing him up with a shrill string arrangements and a Mitch Miller-ish vocal chorus that overpowers him at every turn. I suppose there's some kitsch value here, particularly on the Vietnam War-era patriotic songs, but not much. This is basically a pretty lame record.

George Hamilton IV - see artist discography

O. J. Hanssen "What's It Gonna Take" (Row Music, 2001)
A likeable Nashville also-ran, aspiring to hit the charts with this sleekly-produced, big-sounding album. Hanssen has an unusual voice which is used to great effect on the uptempo title song, and which can sometimes make him sound adrift inside the studio, particularly on slower, sappier numbers... Still, for fans of quirky-sounding country singers (think: Don Williams, Roger Miller, Hank Locklin...) Hanssen has a nice not-perfectness to offer, an everymannish quality that doesn't seem too strained or false. This record's not great, but it's better than a lot of what Nashville had to offer at the time...

O. J. Hanssen "Blessed" (IMI, 2007)

O. J. Hanssen "Just The Thought Of You" (IMI, 2007)

Jennifer Hanson "Jennifer Hanson" (Capitol, 2003)
Densely-produced, but fairly rootsy, rock-flavored Nashville country, with more than a nod or two towards roots-rock foremothers Rosanne Cash and Sheryl Crowe. Hanson's best on the upbeat numbers -- the ballads just don't fly -- and she's got several catchy tunes here that might get her into the Top Country stratosphere. I like "Half A Heart Tattoo," myself. Her dad, by the way, played guitar in the Top Country supergroup, Alabama. Oh, and she was also voted Miss California, in 1994.... Who knew??

Jennifer Hanson "Thankful" (Universal South, 2008)

Arlene Harden "What Can I Say" (Columbia, 1968) (LP)
A solo album from Arlene Harden (who also spelled her name "Arleen"), the "girl" singer for the family band known as The Harden Trio. For more info on the band, see below...

Arlene Harden "...Sings Roy Orbison" (Columbia, 1970) (LP)

Arlene Harden "I Could Almost Say Goodbye" (Capitol, 1975) (LP)

The Harden Trio "Tippy Toeing" (Columbia, 1966)
This perky family act from out Arkansas way was sort of like a modernized version of the Browns -- two sisters and a brother, but with more rockin', popped-out arrangements on a couple of tunes. The catchy title track, "Tippy Toeing," had a pop-rock kookiness to it, as did a couple of other tunes on here, though for the most part it's a softened country-folk vibe that predominates. The band put out at least one other record that I know of; sister Arlene Harden also had a fairly successful solo career, in which she pursued a more serious artistic image, albeit in a soft, weepy kinda way.

The Harden Trio "Sing Me Back Home" (Columbia, 1968)

Gus Hardin "Almost Live" (Carmen, 1981)

Gus Hardin "Gus Hardin" (RCA, 1983)

Gus Hardin "Fallen Angel" (RCA, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Rick Hall)
Synthy country, or twangy pop? Well, that raspy, Tanya Tucker-ish voice is what tips the balance, but this may be a little rockin' and 'Eighties-ed out for most twangfans. As a singer, she's almost rootsy enough, but the clumsy, thudding arrangements all start to sound the same, and there's not a lot here that's terribly distinctive. There were three singles off this album, which all fell just short of the Top 40... Hardin hit the Top Ten, though the next year, and made a couple of albums after that; she apparently died in the 1990s, in a car crash.

Gus Hardin "Wall Of Tears" (RCA, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Mark Wright)
Horrible! Basically this is tacky '80s synthpop, ala Bonnie Tyler, just not as much fun. And, yeah, that's not saying much. Not a single song on here stood out as memorable, although a duet with Earl Thomas Conley, "All Tangled Up In Love," amazingly hit the Top Ten. That was about it, though. Yeesh. Not my cup of tea, for sure.

Gus Hardin "I'm Dancing As Fast As I Can" (Rainy Day, 2001)

Keith Harling "Write It In Stone" (MCA, 1998)
Okay commercial country -- smooth, croony tunes with an undercurrent of growly hard-country vocals. Harling is a so-so singer: he sounds warm and sincere, but he doesn't seem able to bring the lyrics to an emotional crescendo, and sometimes he flubs his phrasing. The production is classic punch-in studio work -- occasionally you can even hear the edits. Overall, though, this ain't bad... He sure isn't George Jones or Randy Travis, but it's kinda nice that he wants to be. Highlight: "There Goes The Neighborhood," in which our long-married hero dreads the coming of the perfect, cutesy young couple across the street, 'cuz the attentive, ardent boyfriend makes him and his beer belly look bad by comparison. Nice cover of the old Lefty Frizzell hit, "I Never Go Around Mirrors," too. Good for him.

Keith Harling "Bring It On" (MCA, 1999)
He may have jumped the gun on the wimping-down of his true country sound... Sure, that's what all the hat-act country dudes do: hard-country debut, followed by an album packed with sappy power ballads, tinkly keyboards and insufferably formulaic, overblown, cloying lyrics. That's all very well and fine if it sells, but it helps if you've established yourself as a big star first, though: here Harling just sounds like a big old cheeseball. Bummer: his debut showed some real promise.

Joni Harms "Hometown Girl" (Capitol, 1990)
(Produced by Jimmy Bowen & James Stroud)
A delightful album from an Oregonian gal who had a real feel for old-style country singing, but applied it to the new stuff really well. She was lucky, in a sense, that her debut came out when the whole neo-trad hard-country sound was "in": they let her make the record, didn't they? The downside was that this album didn't make a dent on the charts -- two songs had been previously released as singles, with the novelty song "I Need A Wife" barely cracking into the Top 40. Regardless of how well it sold, though, this album is a winner. Harms delivers uptempo material and weepers with equal ease, and her voice is in peak form. After this flopped, she dropped from sight for a while, then years later recorded several independently released albums (see my Alt-Country section) with more of a Roy Rogers-y "western" theme; if you've heard some of those albums, which have their shaky moments, you might be surprised by the solidity and pleasant poppiness of this disc. It's worth searching for!

Emmylou Harris - see artist discography

Freddie Hart - see artist discography

J. Michael Harter "Unexpected Change" (Broken Bow, 2003)
A pretty weak release. All the production tricks and songwriting muscle that Nashville can muster aren't enough to overcome Harter's lackluster showing as a vocalist... The father-son nostalgia tune, "Hard Call To Make," is a standout, and is enough to merit lower-rung status in the Billboard charts, but on the whole this disc strikes me as a dud.

Wade Hayes "Old Enough To Know Better" (Columbia, 1994)
Oklahoma native Wade Hayes debuts with one of the most impressive neotrad albums of the 1990s... Even the songs that sound like they're gonna suck ("Kentucky Bluebird," for example) wind up more soulful and involving that we've any right to expect. There's some prefabby production, but for the most part, producer Don Cook (known for his work with the Mavericks and Brooks & Dunn) lets Hayes carry the tunes home, crooning in a low, growl that makes me wonder what Dale Watson would sound like if Nashville opened its doors and let him in. Merle Haggard comes to mind, too, and not just in a wishful-thinking kinda way either... Some of the poppier songs are pretty bogus ("What I Meant To Say...") but Hayes certainly appears as a versatile singer with a lot of promise... Only time will tell if he'll throw it away, the same way all those Nashville cats seem to... In the meantime, this one's worth picking up...

Wade Hayes "On A Good Night" (Columbia, 1996)
Another nice one! The opening strains, with slightly too-perfect production, make it seem like this album is going to be overcommercialized and icky, but Hayes wins you over right away... Mostly it's pretty catchy, hard country stuff, tempered with just enough of the Nashville pop formula to help things go down a little easier. Love that growly voice... He's not quite Alan Jackson, but the lad comes close!

Wade Hayes "When The Wrong One Loves You Right" (Columbia, 1998)
(Produced by Don Cook & Chick Raines)
He's still a superior vocalist, but the songs are starting to strain at the edges a bit, under the weight of encroaching Nashville-isms. There are a couple of okay uptempo numbers, like "Are We Having Fun Yet?" and "Tore Up From The Floor Up" and even some fairly effective power ballad weepers, like "This Is My Heart Talking Now" (which should have been a single, but wasn't). Still, it kinda feels like Hayes was in a rut; he's a good singer, but this album never really takes off or catches fire. An okay album, not great, but also not dismal.

Wade Hayes "Highways & Heartaches" (Sony/Monument, 2000)
Hmm. Sigh, even. Ronnie Dunn and Terry McBride step in to split the knob-twiddling chores with Hayes's longtime producer Don Cook, and the results are mixed. The opening tracks are way too by-the-numbers, on "Life After Loving You," Hayes seems to be struggling to be heard over the dense pop-tinged production; it's so tightly crafted that it's kinda hard to tell it apart from a Broks & Dunn album. He takes back the album though, on a couple of more intimate numbers, Shawn Camp's "Goodbye Is The Wrong Way To Go" and a nice cover of Jim Lauderdale's "She Used To Say That To Me," and on some uptempo tunes that kinda remind me of Dwight Yoakam. Things fall apart on the glitzier pop-country numbers, but the old boy still seems to have life in him... This album tanked out on the charts, but I hope he bounces back with a good true-country album sometime soon.

Wade Hayes "Place To Turn Around" (Self-Released, 2010)

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Hick Music Index

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