Van Howard

Personal life

Van was born into a musical family on a crisp, windy morning in Grady, New Mexico (36 miles north of Clovis, New Mexico), Van grew up on a 'dry land' farm during The Great Depression with his older brother & sister, learning responsibility at a young age. Van's family life was centered around school, basketball & the country church where he sang and often played. Van's Mom taught him a few chords on the guitar when he was about 8 years old and that planted the seed for a whole new world for him. Van's family listened to the Grand Ole Opry every Saturday night via a battery powered radio where he learned all of the country 'hits' & dreamed of being a performer.

At the age of 13, Van's uncle sponsored a weekly radio program for him every Saturday on station KICA in Clovis, NM. Van had his own radio show. He played his guitar and sang from his planned program and took requests by mail & worked them into the mix. Van began singing more and more for special events, as well as school and church.

Van played basketball all through school & was selected to All County, All District & the North/South All Star teams for New Mexico in high school. Eastern New Mexico University recruited Van to play for them when he graduated from high school. Van made the team, but during the first game tripped and broke his ankle. Even though he couldn't play basketball, the University asked him to join a choral group that they used to promote the college. At the end of the year, Van returned to Clovis and began working in a local bank. He was still able to sing on weekends and evenings.

Early life and career

In 1951, Van went to Dallas, Texas to make a 'demo record'. The talent scout for the Louisiana Hayride was there and strictly by accident heard him singing. The talent scout invited Van to move to Shreveport, LA and join the Hayride as one of the new singing talents. Since the pay was only $5.00 per week, the talent scout helped Van find a job in a local bank. Two weeks later Van arrived in Shreveport, ready to perform. Being on shows and working closely with stars like Jim Reeves, Johnnie & Jack, Slim Whitman, Faron Young, Webb Pierce, Red Sovine & Hank Williams was more than this country boy could have ever imagined. In 1954, Lefty Frizzell came to the Hayride looking for a band to accompany him on a 6 month tour on the West Coast. Floyd Cramer (piano), Jimmy Day (steel), DJ Fontana (drums), Bill Peters (fiddle), Chuck Wiginton (bass) & Van (rhythm & vocals) formed the band & joined Lefty. They left Shreveport to 'make their fortunes in the music business'! The tour was very successful & the band became popular. They performed with Tennessee Ernie Ford on his TV show in Hollywood as well as with Tex Williams & his fabulous band.

During the tour, Lefty's manager (Al) began working with Ray Price. Near the end of the relationship with Lefty, Al called Van and asked if he would join Ray's 9-piece western swing band as their front man. Van became a part of the Cherokee Cowboys in late 1954 where he opened each show and did all the vocals when Ray was not on stage. Since Ray was a member of the Grand Ole Opry, Van too, became a part of that great country show. Van was chosen to be the Master of Ceremony for each tour Ray and Van did together. They traveled with every artist that performed on The Opry at various times during the year. Sometimes there would be 10 stars on the same tour.

One day as Ray was practicing a new song, Van began to sing harmony with him. Ray looked at Van and said, "that sounds pretty good!" After they practiced as a duet, Ray decided to record it, with Van singing the high harmony. A new sound was born when they recorded "Crazy Arms" for Columbia Records, which became the No. 1 country song on the charts for over 4 months. They recorded about 15 more duets and at least 10 of them reached the top 10 in the country music charts over the next few years. Van continued to travel with the band until November 1959. Realizing that constantly "being on the road", poor eating habits, loss of rest was the wrong lifestyle, Van left Nashville and the glamour of the stage to be with his family.

Late career

Van moved to Dallas in 1960 and again entered the banking profession. Over the next 31 years, Van rose from Cashier to the office of Sr. Vice President. Van changed careers again in 1991, becoming a Customer Service Rep. for a Computer Software outsourcing firm.

Soon after moving to Dallas, Van met his future wife, Charlotte ("Chatsey"). They married on January 18, 1964. The couple has two daughters and six grandchildren.

Van retired from the business world in March 2008. He died in Dallas on October 2, 2012.