HARLEY ALLEN

The songs of Harley Allen are well known to country music lovers, with cuts recorded by the likes of George Jones, Ricky Skaggs, Garth Brooks, Linda Ronstadt, Don Williams, Hal Ketchum and Alison Krauss. Alan Jackson, having recorded several of Harley’s songs, brought chart attention to his songwriting talent, with “Everything I Love” becoming the top-ten title track on his 1996 release, and “Between The Devil and Me” reaching R&R and Billboard charts’ number one position in January 1998. In recognition of these songs, Harley accepted an award from Music Row magazine in 1998 as Nashville’s top emerging songwriter. Anyone who has followed bluegrass music for more than a few years is familiar with Harley’s bluegrass background and with the legendary Allen name: Harley and his brothers toured and recorded as the Allen Brothers. Harley’s father, Red Allen, was not only one of the great lead voices in bluegrass but also sang the low harmony part on some of the finest trios ever recorded with the Osbourne Brothers, including “Once More” and “My Destiny.” Red was clearly an influence on Harley’s singing but also gave him his initial inspiration to write songs at an early age. Some of Harley’s cuts include “If Nobody Believed In You” – Joe Nichols; “Awful Beautiful Life” – Darryl Worley; “The Baby” – Blake Shelton; “My Last Name” – Dierks Bentley;  “Spread A Little Love Around” – Ricky Skaggs; “She’s Mine” – John Conlee; “A Simple Life” – Ricky Skaggs; “Slipped and "Fell In Love” – Alan Jackson.  Harley’s song, “The Little Girl,” recorded by John Michael Montgomery, stayed at #1 for four weeks on Country Singles Charts.

Harley passed away in March of 2011.