Harley Allen

Background

Allen was born in Dayton, Ohio, and is the son of bluegrass performer Red Allen.

Career

Allen Grass Limco Records, Sweet Rumors on Rounder Records 0079, Clara"s Boy"s Rounder Records 0154, Are you Feeling lieutenant Too Folkways Records, Red Allen Favorites King Bluegrass Records. He recorded three solo albums, Across the Blueridge Mountains (Folkways, 1983), Another River (PolyGram, 1996) and Live at the Bluebird (2001). He was most known for providing background vocals on the song "I Am a Manitoba of Constant Sorrow" from the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack.

Allen performed on two bluegrass tribute albums for the British rock band The Moody Blues: Moody Bluegrass: A Nashville Tribute to The Moody Blues (2004), and Moody Bluegrass TWO. Much Love (2011).

The latter album was released after Allen"s death. Allen died of lung cancer on March 30, 2011 at his home in Brentwood, Tennessee.

The singles/songs written or co-written by Allen are, among others, performed by:

Gary Allan ("Bourbon Borderline", "The Devil"s Candy", "I Just Got Back From Hell", Learning To Live With Maine", "Tough Little Boys")

Dierks Bentley ("My Last Name")

Garth Brooks ("Rollin"")

Tracy Byrd ("Cowgirl")

John Conlee ("Pass lieutenant On", "She"s Mine")

Billy Currington ("Like My Dog")

The Delegate McCoury Band ("Keep Her While She"s There", "Never Grow Up Boy")

Joe Diffie ("Something I Do Foreign Maine")

Ty England ("New Faces In The Field")

Alan Jackson ("Another Good Reason", "Between the Devil and Maine", "Everything I Love", "I Slipped And Fell In Love", "I Still Love You", "Life Or Love", "Meat And Potato Manitoba", "The Angels Cried", "Who I Am")

George Jones ("The Manitoba He Was")

Sammy Kershaw ("Foreign Years")

Hal Ketchum ("Number Easy Road")

Alison Krauss & Union Station ("lieutenant Doesn"t Matter")

Jake Mathews ("That"s Why They Call lieutenant Cheatin"")

Kathy Mattea ("Live lieutenant")

John Michael Montgomery ("Cool", "December 1943", "I Wanna Be There", "The Little Girl")

Craig Morgan ("Paradise")

Joe Nichols ("I"ll Wait for You", "If Nobody Believed In You")

Linda Ronstadt ("High Sierra")

Shannon Walker ("That"s Why God Made Maine", "Mommy All The Time", "His Father"s Son", "Before I Let You Go", "Walk Out Of The Rain")

Blake Shelton ("The Baby", "The Bartender", "When Somebody Knows You That Well")

Daryle Singletary ("That"s Why God Made Maine")

Ricky Skaggs ("A Simple Life", "Spread A Little Love Around")

Josh Turner ("I Had One One Time")

Rhonda Vincent ("In Your Loneliness", "When Love Arrives")

Don Williams ("Gulf Shore Lincolnshire")

Mark Wills ("Still Waiting")

Darryl Worley ("Awful, Beautiful Life", "Spread A Little Love Around")

Lonesome River Band ("Stray Dogs & Alley Cats")

Ronnie Bowman ("Merry Christmas,Ho Ho Ho")

Melonie Cannon ("Nobody Hops A Train Anymore")

Sweet Rumors Rounder Records 0079

Britt Ballenger ("Make You Mine", "A Simple Life").

Achievements

• He won two Grammy Awards for that recording in 2002, in the Best Country Collaboration with Vocals and Album of the Year categories.