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Catherine Howe
Catherine Howe
Catherine Howe
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Catherine Howe (born 17 May 1950, Halifax, England) is an English singer-songwriter. She is an Ivor Novello Award winner who has earned critical acclaim in dozens of music magazines both in the UK and the US, including Folk Album of the Year from The Sunday Times.

Key Information

Howe began an acting career in the late 1960s, and has since gained a following in folk music: Record Collector in 2007 called her "one of the great unrecognised voices". Observer Music in 2007 said "Catherine Howe was a Kate Bush before her time".

1960s–1970s: early career

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Howe trained as an actress at the Corona Drama School in London. She commenced an acting career in the late 1960s, performing in contemporary television dramas such as Z-Cars, The Wednesday Play, Doctor Who, Undermind and Dixon of Dock Green. Howe went on to appear in Barney Platts-Mills' film, Private Road. In 1970 Howe met Andrew Cameron Miller, an executive at Reflection, a subsidiary of CBS Records, resulting in her recording her debut album What A Beautiful Place at Trident Studios in London, in February 1971. Miller paired Howe with Bobby Scott, an American pianist and record producer who had previously co-written The Hollies' "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother". However Reflection ceased to trade when the album was on the point of release, and as a result it remained largely unheard until it was reissued in 2007 on the Numero label. The re-release met with critical acclaim, gaining a five-star review from Observer Music.[1] The master tapes were by then lost, and the re-release was made from an original source copy.

Howe featured on soundtrack recordings in the UK and Europe throughout the 1970s, and provided the lead vocal for Ennio Morricone's theme song "Un genie, deux associés, une cloche" in 1976. She worked with the Italian jazz musician Piero Piccioni, recording two songs for his 1972 film God Under the Skin and singing in an Italian television broadcast with Piccioni two years later. Howe's second LP Harry was released in the UK in 1975 on RCA, for which the title track received an Ivor Novello Award (only the second female recording artist to achieve this) and became enduringly popular on BBC Radio 2. Also in 1974, Howe appeared on film as the singer during the title credits of the British sex farce, Can You Keep It Up for a Week?. RCA released a follow-up album, Silent Mother Nature in 1976, winning Folk Album of the Year from the Sunday Times.[citation needed] A single was released entitled "Until The Morning Comes" written by the Scottish singer/guitarist Dave Kelly and Ray McRiner, and was performed on LWT's Supersonic. The following year, the title tracks of both RCA albums were re-released (together with the aforementioned single) on the EP The Truth of the Matter, and was one of the Top 75 selling EPs of 1977.[citation needed] Throughout that year Howe produced and sang the songs for BBC Television's That's Life!. Howe's fourth album came two years later, Dragonfly Days, released on Ariola Records. Dragonfly Days featured the "Creme de La Creme" of English session musicians including drummer Peter Boita and the guitarist Alan Parker amongst others. Ariola also released singles by Howe prior to and following the album, some of which are not included on the LP, and promoted as far away as South America. The third single "Quietly and Softly" also featured as the B-side to "Switchboard" by Georg Kajanus' group "April Love". One was with Mike Batt, Howe's self-penned "Sit Down And Think Again", another was a cover of Carole King's "Goin' Back" produced by Pip Williams. Dragonfly Days remains her only record not reissued on CD. Howe also contributed vocals to two tracks for an album by Michael Giles of King Crimson, Progress, recorded in 1978 but unreleased until 2002. In 1979, the BBC transmitted Rhythm on 2: Catherine Howe and Judie Tzuke, a live concert at Ipswich's Corn Exchange.[2] The following year, again for the BBC, Howe featured on both the Jeremy Taylor[3] and Sacha Distel[4] shows.

1980s–present: respite and return to music

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None of Howe's albums sold in large quantity in their time, and after Dragonfly Days, she decided to retire from the music industry. Howe explained in her own words on the tradmusic.com website: "Despite promotion and tours with Andy Fairweather-Low, Chris de Burgh, David Soul and later with Randy Edelman, the albums and singles didn't sell enough. I thought it was because of me, but it was as much (I've since learned) because they weren't in the shops to buy. To remedy this it was suggested that maybe I should write 'country and western', maybe I should change my hair, maybe wear black leather. So the music business, which I loved, and I parted company. Like a bad marriage, some damage was sustained before separation took place...." There was some activity in the 1980s with a re-issue of the "Harry" single in 1984 (due to public demand with the birth of Prince Harry).[citation needed] A year later, Howe contributed two songs to the Sounds of Yorkshire LP: a re-recording of "Lucy Snow" ("Lucy Snowe") from the Silent Mother Nature album; and a new piece in a traditional vein, "Yorkshire Hills". In 1989 Howe had a daughter, Jenny, and later earned a first class degree in History and Religion from the Open University.[citation needed]

In 2002, the Michael Giles album Progress was released on CD: Howe contributed vocals for tracks Sunset and Arrival. In the same year, Howe returned to solo recording: producing a new CD, her fifth, Princelet Street. It coincided with the launch of an official website and preceded the re-issue of her 1970s albums What a Beautiful Place (with The Numero Group), Harry (with BGO) and Silent Mother Nature (with BGO). Of Princelet Street, Howe wrote:

My great-grandmother Susannah Constantine was born on Princelet Street in 1851, her mother worked as a silk winder, her father as a fancy comb maker. Lots of my family lived in or near the City of London in the early 1800s, and even before I knew this I used to go city walking there as a girl because it felt like coming home. Princelet Street the album is inspired by the street and a sense of family, past and present, and as I enjoyed writing and recording its songs I hope you'll enjoy hearing them....

[citation needed]

Catherine Howe continues to work on new recordings, also giving occasional live performances. As an author, Howe's book on the life of the 19th-century secularist George Holyoake was published by History into Print in 2012. A second book focused on the radical history of her home town of Halifax. In 2020, London Story 1848 was published. Catherine Howe has also contributed verse and lyrics for publication in themed editions of Playerist Poetry Magazine.

Discography

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Studio albums

  • What a Beautiful Place – 1971
  • Harry – 1975
  • Silent Mother Nature – 1976
  • Dragonfly Days – 1979
  • Princelet Street – 2005
  • English Tale – with Vo Fletcher, 2010
  • Because It Would Be Beautiful – 2015

Original soundtracks, compilation albums and re-releases

  • Il dio sotto la pelle OST – 1972
  • Un genie, deux associes, une cloche OST – 1976
  • Sounds of Yorkshire (compilation) – 1985 (Contributes two tracks)
  • Progress (Michael Giles album, 1978) – 2002 (Vocals for two tracks)
  • Harry / Silent Mother Nature Re-mastered CD – 2006
  • What a Beautiful Place Remastered CD, with previously unreleased demo track – 2007
  • What a Beautiful Place Remastered LP, with previously unreleased demo track – 2010

Singles and EPs

  • "Nothing More Than strangers" / "My Child" – Reflection, 1971
  • "Firestar Express" / "Forse eri tu" / "St. Francis in Katmandu" – CBS, Italian release with Piero Piccioni, 1974
  • "Harry" / "When The Sparrow Flies" – RCA, 1974
  • "What Are Friends for Anyway?" / "Keep Me Talking" – RCA, 1976
  • "Freedom Enough" / "Lucy Snow" – RCA, 1976
  • "Until The Morning Comes" / "Lucy Snow" – RCA, 1976
  • "The Truth of the Matter" EP – "Until The Morning Comes" / "Harry" / "Silent Mother Nature" – RCA, 1977
  • "Sit Down and Think Again" / "Someone's Got to Love You Sometime" – Ariola, produced by Mike Batt, 1978
  • "Move On Over" / "Too Far Gone" – Ariola, 1978
  • "Turn The Corner Singing" / "Too Far Gone" – Ariola, 1979
  • "Quietly and Softly" / "Daylight" – Ariola, 1979
  • "Switchboard" (April Love) / "Quietly and Softly" (Catherine Howe) – Ariola, 1979
  • "When The Night Comes" / "How Does Love Feel?" – Ariola, 1980
  • "Goin' Back" / "How Does Love Feel?" – Ariola, 1980
  • "Almost Love" (vocal version of Inside Moves theme) / "Inside Moves" theme (instrumental) – Breeze, 1981
  • "Harry" / "When The Sparrow Flies" – RCA, reissue in blue and gold sleeve, 1984
  • "In the Hot Summer" / "Let's Keep it Quiet Now" – Numero, 2010
  • "Going Home" EP / "Nothing Love Does Surprises Me" / "White Winter Hymnal" – with Vo Fletcher, Proper Music, 2010

Theme songs

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  • "It's Possible," title track from God Under the Skin [Il dio sotto la pelle] (1972)

Composer: Piero Piccioni / Director: Folco Quilici

  • "Firestar Express" from an Italian TV show, with Piero Piccioni (1974)

Composer: Piero Piccioni

Composer: Ted Dicks and Hazel Adair / Director: Jim Atkinson

  • "Glory, Glory, Glory," theme song from A Genius, Two Friends and an Idiot [Un genio, due compari, un pollo] (1975)

Composer: Ennio Morricone / Director: Damiano Damiani

Selected film and television appearances

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Bibliography

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References

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Catherine Howe

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from Grokipedia
Catherine Howe is a British singer-songwriter known for her critically acclaimed folk-influenced albums in the 1970s and for winning an Ivor Novello Award for her song "Harry." Her debut album What a Beautiful Place (1971) established her as a distinctive voice in British music, while subsequent releases such as Harry (1975) and Silent Mother Nature (1976) earned praise for their introspective songwriting and melodic style. Born in Halifax, Yorkshire, Howe initially pursued acting, training at the Corona Stage School in London from age twelve and appearing in British television dramas including Doctor Who, Z-Cars, and Dixon of Dock Green during the late 1960s, as well as the film Private Road (1971). She transitioned to music after recording demos that secured a contract, leading to her first album release. Following Dragonfly Days (1979), industry pressures to alter her style prompted her to leave music entirely in the early 1980s; she returned to Halifax, married, and focused on family life. After more than two decades away, Howe resumed recording in the 2000s, releasing Princelet Street (2005), English Tale (2010), and Because It Would Be Beautiful (2015), alongside reissues of her earlier work. She has also authored historical books, including studies of secularist George Holyoake and the Chartist movement in 1840s Halifax and London. Her catalog continues to attract attention for its enduring emotional depth and craftsmanship in the singer-songwriter tradition.

Early life

Birth and background

Catherine Howe was born on 17 May 1950 in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. She is English by nationality and grew up in the West Yorkshire region of northern England. Little is documented about her early childhood or family background prior to her entry into the performing arts.

Acting career

Early television appearances

Catherine Howe began her professional acting career in the mid-1960s after training at the Corona Stage School in London from the age of twelve. This training led to her first television work during the decade. At fifteen years old, she made her television debut in 1965 with a guest appearance in the ITV science fiction anthology series Undermind, playing the role of Constance in the episode "Puppets of Evil." Throughout the mid to late 1960s, Howe continued with supporting and guest roles in several established British television series. These included appearances in the long-running police drama Dixon of Dock Green, as well as contributions to the BBC anthology series The Wednesday Play and Theatre 625. These early credits reflected the opportunities available to young actors in the contemporary British television landscape, which featured a mix of police procedurals, single plays, and experimental dramas on BBC and independent channels. Such guest spots marked Howe's initial entry into screen acting before her involvement in higher-profile projects in subsequent years.

Notable roles and film work

Catherine Howe gained recognition for her performance as Ara in the Doctor Who serial The Underwater Menace, which originally aired in four episodes on BBC1 from 14 January to 4 February 1967. In the story, set in the hidden surviving city of Atlantis, she portrayed a young Atlantean servant who aided the Second Doctor and companions in resisting the manipulative scientist Professor Zaroff and his scheme to drain the ocean into the Earth's core. She also appeared in the independent British drama Private Road (1971), directed and written by Barney Platts-Mills, playing the character Iverna. The film depicted the struggles of a young couple navigating love, societal expectations, and disillusionment in early-1970s Britain, marking her primary feature film credit. Her screen acting career was concentrated primarily between 1965 and 1971, with these roles standing as her most notable contributions before she shifted focus away from acting. Earlier television guest appearances helped pave the way for such higher-profile opportunities.

Transition to music

Shift from acting to songwriting

In the early 1970s, Catherine Howe transitioned from her early acting career to songwriting and music. Her prior experience in television and film provided a foundation in performance that supported this shift. In 1969, Howe met Andrew Cameron Miller, an executive at Reflection Records, in a chance encounter that proved instrumental in launching her music career. This meeting led to initial demos in 1969 and eventually to arrangements for recording. The pivotal marker of her transition was the recording and release of her debut album What a Beautiful Place in 1971, tracked at Trident Studios in London during February that year. The album represented her move into songwriting as a primary focus.

Music career

Early albums and breakthrough

Catherine Howe launched her recording career with the debut album What a Beautiful Place in 1971 on the small Reflection label. The folk-influenced work featured her original songs enhanced by lavish, sophisticated arrangements from American jazz pianist and musical director Bobby Scott, including orchestral contributions from the London Symphony Orchestra and instruments such as bassoon, flute, flugelhorn, timpani, and vibraphone. Howe's vocal delivery—pure, whisper-soft, and confident—drew comparisons to Karen Carpenter and Carole King, blending simple folk melodies with bluesy piano lines and sweeping instrumentation. Due to financial troubles at Reflection Records, which went bankrupt shortly after the album's small pressing (primarily for promotional purposes), the record received almost no distribution and remained virtually unknown at the time. Her subsequent releases in the mid-to-late 1970s marked her emergence as a singer-songwriter in the British folk scene. In 1975, she issued Harry on RCA Records, a folk album produced by Del Newman that included original material alongside covers such as Bob Dylan's "To Be Alone With You." The title track "Harry" won an Ivor Novello Award in 1975. The following year, RCA released Silent Mother Nature (1976), continuing her introspective folk approach. Howe closed the decade with Dragonfly Days on Ariola Records in 1979, which incorporated contributions from notable session musicians. These albums on established labels brought her modest notice within UK folk circles, though her early output remained underappreciated commercially during the period. Her prior experience in acting helped shape the expressive, narrative quality of her songwriting and performances.

Later works and ongoing career

After a long period of reduced activity in the music industry following her 1979 album Dragonfly Days, Catherine Howe returned with new material in the mid-2000s. She released Princelet Street in 2005, marking her first new studio album in over two decades. This comeback was followed by English Tale in 2010 and Because It Would Be Beautiful in 2015, the latter issued through Talking Elephant Records. Her later albums have sustained critical interest in her songwriting, with recognition including Folk Album of the Year from The Sunday Times. Reissues of her earlier work, such as remastered editions of Harry and Silent Mother Nature in 2006 and What a Beautiful Place in 2007, have also kept her catalogue accessible. Her catalog continues to attract attention for its enduring emotional depth and craftsmanship in the singer-songwriter tradition, with her official website providing details on her recordings.

Awards and recognition

Ivor Novello Award and critical acclaim

Catherine Howe received an Ivor Novello Award in 1975 for her song "Harry," the title track of her album released that year. The award recognized her songwriting achievement and marked her as one of the early female recipients of this honour in British music. Her work has attracted critical acclaim in the UK and US music press, particularly upon the 2007 reissue of her 1971 debut album What a Beautiful Place. The Guardian hailed the album as "a lush masterpiece" and "the kind of lost MOR-folk classic we all hope to discover," placing it alongside rediscovered works by Judee Sill, Vashti Bunyan, and Linda Perhacs. The review described Howe as "a Kate Bush before her time" and praised the record's "extraordinary orchestrations," "intricate strings and haunting woodwind," and its status as a "perfect artefact of its time." This renewed attention has established her as a cult figure in folk and singer-songwriter circles, celebrated for her melodic gifts and introspective style.
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