Boy Howdy

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Boy Howdy was an American country music band founded in 1990 in Los Angeles, California by Jeffrey Steele (lead vocals, bass guitar), Hugh Wright (drums), and brothers Cary (guitar, mandolin, vocals) and Larry Park (guitar, fiddle, vocals). Between 1992 and 1995, the band recorded two albums (1992's Welcome to Howdywood and 1995's Born That Way) and an EP (1994's She'd Give Anything), all on the Curb Records label. In that same time span, they charted seven singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts; their highest-charting single, "They Don't Make 'Em Like That Anymore", peaked at #2 in 1994. After Boy Howdy disbanded in 1996, frontman Jeffrey Steele embarked on a solo career, recording several solo albums, in addition to writing more than sixty hit singles for other country acts.

History

Boy Howdy was founded in Los Angeles, California in 1990. Before the band's formation, lead singer Jeffrey Steele worked as a songwriter and solo artist in California.^[1]Brothers Larry and Cary Park, sons of bluegrass music artist Ray Parks, met Steele at a gig at a club; drummer Hugh Wright, also present at the gig, soon joined.^[1]

A year into their union, the band released an independent single with their rendition of the old Civil War song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home", at the height of the Gulf War.^[1] This single was so well-received that it caught the attention of Curb Records, a Nashville, Tennessee record label, which signed the band in 1992. The same year, Boy Howdy released their debut album titled Welcome to Howdywood, from which two singles were issued: "Our Love Was Meant to Be" and "A Cowboy's Born with a Broken Heart";^[1] these peaked at #43 and #12, respectively, on the Billboard country charts. On May 30, 1992, Wright was involved in a motorcycle accident on the LBJ Freeway in Dallas, Texas which placed him in a coma for five months.^[2] After coming out of the coma, Wright had to re-learn how to walk and play drums. In addition, his speech was slowed and he was no longer able to sing. He finally rejoined the band on July 1, 1993.^[2]

Shortly after Wright's re-joining, Boy Howdy released the single "She'd Give Anything", which became their first Top 5 hit on the Billboard country music charts, peaking at #4. The music video for "She'd Give Anything" was also a Number One video on both Country Music Television and The Nashville Network.^[2] This song was the title track to a 1994 EP, which also produced the band's highest-charting hit in "They Don't Make 'Em Like That Anymore" at #2.^[1] Following this was a largely unsuccessful third release, Born That Way, which produced a #23 in "True to His Word" and three other singles which all failed to make Top 40.

Disbanding

A year after the release of their final album, the four members announced that the band was "on hold" with no immediate plans to resume playing together, and by 1996, they had disbanded.^[3] Steele then moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he began a solo career. He recorded an unreleased album for Curb, but later switched his focus to songwriting, including singles for Kevin Sharp, Diamond Rio and LeAnn Rimes. Steele charted the #33 "Something in the Water" in 2001 on Monument Records, and has since become primarily known as a songwriter, although he has self-released several albums as well.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

Music videos

References