Boy Howdy was an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

band founded in 1990 in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Its members were

Jeffrey Steele Jeffrey LeVasseur (born August 27, 1961), known as Jeffrey Steele, is an American country music singer and songwriter. Along with recording his own material, Steele has become a prolific Nashville songwriter, having co-written more than 60 hit ...

(lead vocals, bass guitar), Hugh Wright (drums), and brothers Cary Park (guitar,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, 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

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

(1994's '' She'd Give Anything''), all on the

Curb Records Curb Records (also known as Asylum-Curb and formerly known as MCG Curb) is an American record label started by Mike Curb, originally as Sidewalk Records in 1963. From 1969 to 1973, Curb merged with MGM Records where Curb served as President of ...

label. In that same time span, Boy Howdy charted seven

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

) charts, including the Top Five hits " She'd Give Anything" and "

They Don't Make 'Em Like That Anymore "They Don't Make 'Em Like That Anymore" is a song written by Chris Farren and Jeffrey Steele, and recorded by American country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and S ...

." After Boy Howdy disbanded in 1996, Steele worked as both a solo artist and songwriter.

History

Boy Howdy was founded in

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1990. Before the band's formation, lead singer Jeffrey Steele worked as a songwriter and solo artist in California. Brothers Larry and Cary Park, sons of

bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music The term American folk music encompasses numerous music genres, variously known as ''traditional music'', ''traditional folk music'', ''contemporary folk music'', ''vernacular music,'' or ...

artist Ray Park, met Steele at a gig at a club; drummer Hugh Wright, also present at the gig, soon joined. Boy Howdy initially recorded several

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

s through the assistance of producer

James Stroud James Stroud is an American musician and record producer who works in pop, rock, R&B, soul, disco, and country music. He played with the Malaco Rhythm Section for Malaco Records. In the 1990s, he was the president of Giant Records (a subsidiar ...

. A year after their formation, the band independently released a rendition of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

standard, "

When Johnny Comes Marching Home "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (Roud 6637), sometimes "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again", is a popular song from the American Civil War that expressed people's longing for the return of their friends and relatives who were fighting in the ...

," at the height of the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

. This single was so well-received that it caught the attention of

, a

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

record label, which signed the band in 1992. That same year, Boy Howdy released its 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". These peaked at No. 43 and No. 12, respectively, on the ''

'' country charts. The album also included a cover of

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...

' "

You Really Got Me "You Really Got Me" is a song written by Ray Davies for English rock band the Kinks. The song, originally performed in a more blues-oriented style, was inspired by artists such as Lead Belly and Big Bill Broonzy. Two versions of the song wer ...

". On May 30, 1992, Wright was involved in a motorcycle accident in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

, while trying to assist a driver who had crashed his pickup truck on the median of the

LBJ Freeway Interstate 635 (I-635) is a partial loop around Dallas, Texas, in the United States between I-20 in Balch Springs and State Highway 121 (SH 121) at the north entrance of the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW Airp ...

. The accident placed Wright in a coma for five months. After coming out of the coma, Wright had to re-learn how to walk and play drums. In addition, his speech was impaired and, as a result, was no longer able to sing. Notwithstanding, however, he officially rejoined Boy Howdy on July 1, 1993. Shortly after Wright's reunion with Boy Howdy, the band released the single " She'd Give Anything", which became its first Top 5 hit on the ''Billboard'' country music charts, peaking at No. 4. The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "She'd Give Anything" was also a No. 1 video on both

Country Music Television Country Music Television (CMT) is an American pay TV network owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched on March 5, 1983, as Country Music Television, CMT was the first nationally available channel devoted to coun ...

and

The Nashville Network The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, game shows, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows. On September ...

. "She'd Give Anything" was included on an

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

of the same name, which containing four previously unreleased songs as well as a re-issue of "A Cowboy's Born with a Broken Heart." One of the four new songs, "

" was the EP's other single; it was also the band's highest-charting single, reaching No. 2. Following this was a largely unsuccessful third release, '' Born That Way'', which produced a No. 23 single in "True to His Word" and three other singles, none of which entered the Top 40. In 1994, they were nominated by the

Academy of Country Music The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris Christensen. They wanted to promote country music ...

for the Top New Vocal Group award, along with

Blackhawk Black Hawk and Blackhawk may refer to: Animals * Black Hawk (horse), a Morgan horse that lived from 1833 to 1856 * Common black hawk, ''Buteogallus anthracinus'' * Cuban black hawk, ''Buteogallus gundlachii'' * Great black hawk, ''Buteogallus uru ...

and

Gibson/Miller Band Gibson/Miller Band was an American country music band founded in 1990 by Dave Gibson and Bill "Blue" Miller, the latter of whom was a former guest musician in rock musician Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band. Both Gibson and Miller served as vocalis ...

, but lost to Gibson/Miller.

Disbanding

In February 1996, a year after the release of ''Born That Way'', the four members announced that the band was "on hold" with no immediate plans to resume performing together, and by August of that same year, they had disbanded. Steele then moved to

, 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 Kevin Grant Sharp (December 10, 1970 – April 19, 2014) was an American country music singer, author, and motivational speaker. Sharp came on the country music scene in 1996 with his first single: a cover of Tony Rich's " Nobody Knows", which to ...

Diamond Rio Diamond Rio is an American country music band. The band was founded in 1982 as an attraction for the Opryland USA theme park in Nashville, Tennessee, and was originally known as the Grizzly River Boys, then the Tennessee River Boys. It was foun ...

and

LeAnn Rimes Margaret LeAnn Rimes Cibrian (born August 28, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She originally rose to success as a country music artist at age 13 with 1996's "Blue". She has since crossed over into pop, contemporary Chris ...

. Steele charted the No. 33 single "Something in the Water" in 2001 on

Monument Records Monument Records is an American record label in Washington, D.C. named for the Washington Monument, founded in 1958 by Fred Foster, Buddy Deane (a prominent Baltimore disc jockey at WTTG), and business manager Jack Kirby. Buddy Deane soon left ...

, and has since become primarily known as a songwriter, although he has self-released several albums as well. Drummer and co-founder Hugh Wright (born on December 18, 1951 in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

) died of natural causes on September 25, 2015 at age 63.Hugh Wright Obituary
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Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Music videos

Nominations

* 1993 Top New Vocal Group or Duet

References

{{Authority control Country music groups from California Musical groups from Los Angeles Musical groups established in 1990 Curb Records artists Musical quartets Musical groups disestablished in 1996