The Harden Trio 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, ...

group. It comprised Bobby Harden and his sisters, Robbie and Arlene. The trio recorded for Columbia Records between 1964 and 1968, charting six times on the Hot Country Songs charts. The trio's highest-peaking single was the No. 2 country and No. 44 pop hit "Tippy Toeing."

Biography

The Harden Trio, Bobby Harden with his sisters, Arlene (Born Arleen) and Robbie (Born Fern) was formed in

England, Arkansas England is a city in southwestern Lonoke County, Arkansas, United States and the county's fourth most populous city. The population was 2,825 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock– Conway Metropolitan St ...

. They began performing as teenagers on the

Ozark Jubilee ''Ozark Jubilee'' is a 1950s United States network television program that featured country music's top stars of the day. It was produced in Springfield, Missouri. The weekly live stage show premiered on ABC-TV on January 22, 1955, was renamed ...

and the

Louisiana Hayride ''Louisiana Hayride'' was a radio and later television country music show broadcast from the Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana, that during its heyday from 1948 to 1960 helped to launch the careers of some of the ...

. Robbie moved to Nashville first as part of

The Browns The Browns were an American country and folk music vocal trio best known for their 1959 Grammy-nominated hit, " The Three Bells". The group, composed of Jim Ed Brown and his sisters Maxine and Bonnie, had a close, smooth harmony characteristic ...

filling in for Bonnie Brown on the Grand Ole Opry and most road dates. The two families had grown up in the same area and worked together on the

. Bobby and Arleen soon followed and the trio was re-formed. In 1964, the trio signed with Columbia Records and released their debut single "Poor Boy", followed by their break-through crossover single "Tippy Toeing", both penned by Bobby Harden. "Tippy Toeing" spent 21 weeks on the Hot Country Songs charts and peaked at number 2, in addition to peaking at number 44 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The Harden Trio charted four more singles and released 3 albums before the trio disbanded in mid 1968. Arlene and Robbie charted a final single as The Hardens on Columbia Records in 1968 with "Who Loves Who". Bobby briefly formed a new trio with Karen Wheeler and Shirley Michaels before going solo and recording for

Starday Records Starday Records was an American record label producing traditional country music during the 1950s and 1960s. History The label began in 1952 in Beaumont, Texas, when local businessmen Jack Starnes (Lefty Frizzell's manager) and Houston record di ...

Mega Records Mega Records was a Nashville, Tennessee-based music label founded in 1970 by former RCA Records executive Brad McCuen along with Harry E. Pratt. Its most successful recording artist was Sammi Smith who also recorded the label's very first single. ...

and

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1959, ...

through the mid-1970s with several chart singles. Bobby last charted the number 48 country music single "One Step" on

in 1975. His greatest success was, however, as a songwriter all the way up until his unexpected death on May 30, 2006, with two minor hits for

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Ma ...

, one for Reba McEntire, and one for

Mark Chesnutt Mark Nelson Chesnutt (born September 6, 1963) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Between 1990 and 1999, he had his greatest chart success recording for Universal Music Group Nashville's MCA and Decca branches, with a total of ei ...

. Arlene Harden also went solo and released 3 albums, 2 for Columbia Records as Arlene Harden and 1 for Capitol Records reverting to the original spelling Arleen. She had a total of eighteen singles for Columbia Records, Capitol Records and Elektra Records between 1967 and 1978, fifteen of which were on Columbia. Her biggest chart success came with the female version of the Roy Orbison hit "

Oh Pretty Woman "Oh, Pretty Woman" or simply "Pretty Woman" is a song recorded by Roy Orbison, written by Orbison and Bill Dees. It was released as a single in August 1964 on Monument Records and spent three weeks at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 fro ...

". "Lovin' Man (Oh Pretty Woman)" in 1970. Also notable was "True Love Is Greater Than Friendship" written for Arlene by Carl Perkins and used in the Robert Redford movie "

Little Fauss and Big Halsy ''Little Fauss and Big Halsy'' is a 1970 American comedy-drama film directed by Sidney J. Furie, starring Robert Redford and Michael J. Pollard, also featuring Lauren Hutton, Noah Beery, Jr. and Lucille Benson. The film concerns the exploits o ...

" the same year. Robbie Harden joined the Johnny Cash Show in 1969 as part of the Carter Family freeing

June Carter June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the second of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the third of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. June contains the summer solstice in t ...

to work front and center with Johnny Cash, as June became pregnant with their only child

John Carter Cash John Carter Cash (born March 3, 1970) is an American country singer-songwriter and musician. He is the only child of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, and the grandson of Maybelle Carter. Biography For several years after his birth, his fathe ...

. Together and individually The Harden Trio provided back up vocals for other artists. Bobby Harden co-wrote

's 1990 single "Too Cold at Home".

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harden Trio American country music groups Columbia Records artists Musical groups from Arkansas Sibling musical trios American musical trios