Harriet Schock -

Harriet Schock is an American singer/songwriter from Dallas who released three albums between 1974 and 1976 on 20th Century Records. Her songs inspired covers by Gonzalez (“Ain’t No Way to Treat a Lady”) and Manfred Mann’s Earth Band (“Hollywood Town”).

Background

Harriet Schock was born Harriet Schoch on January 24, 1941, in Dallas, Texas. Her father, dermatologist Arthur Schoch, taught her piano by ear when she was four, and she later studied piano through school. Schock attended the Hockaday School and earned a BA in English from the University of Texas at Austin, where she wrote songs for campus productions.

Schock worked as an advertising copywriter in Dallas and Los Angeles before she turned Los Angeles club work into a publishing deal. She met publisher Roger Gordon at an ASCAP event, and Gordon signed her to Screen Gems after he heard her perform original songs. Screen Gems cut demos with Schock singing her material and brought them to Russ Regan at 20th Century Records.

Hollywood Town

Harriet Schock released her debut album, Hollywood Town, in 1974 on 20th Century Records.

The album presents piano-led vocal pop and orchestrated singer-songwriter material by Schock, who wrote all ten songs. Schock performs with roughly a dozen credited musicians, including bassist Leland Sklar, drummers Ron Tutt and Russ Kunkel, guitarist Larry Carlton, and keyboardist David Carr.

Hollywood Town places Schock at piano and lead vocal inside polished studio arrangements with strings, keyboards, backing voices, and controlled crescendos. The title track sets the album’s city-addressed taxonomy: compact piano-led songcraft, mid-tempo studio finish, and lyric lines that turn career ambition into social observation. “Ain’t No Way to Treat a Lady” opens through direct second-person address and sets clipped conversational phrasing against a formal rise into the refrain. “Straight Man” uses a pointed character sketch, with tight internal rhyme and barbed line endings. “Could It Be” loosens the vocal surface and gives the album its most open closing surge.

A1. “Hollywood Town” (3:07)
A2. “Standin’ in the Way of the Music” (3:01)
A3. “You Took the Words Out of My Mouth” (2:12)
A4. “Straight Man” (2:55)
A5. “That’s the Way It Is with You” (2:56)

B1. “Ain’t No Way to Treat a Lady” (3:26)
B2. “Hold Me” (3:18)
B3. “The Day” (2:32)
B4. “Let ’Em Love” (3:56)
B5. “Could It Be” (2:57)

Roger Gordon produced the album at Sound Recorders with engineer Eirik Wangberg. David Carr arranged strings on “Standin’ in the Way of the Music,” “That’s the Way It Is with You,” “The Day,” and “Hold Me.” Nick DeCaro arranged the balance.

Hollywood Town appeared in a cover designed by Jack L. Levy with photography by Michael Paladin.

20th Century issued “Hollywood Town” as a 1974 promo single. “Ain’t No Way to Treat a Lady” became the second promo single, backed with “Hold Me.” Gonzalez released a soul-funk version of “Ain’t No Way to Treat a Lady” as a 1979 single.

“Hollywood Town” plays in the opening credits of the 1977 film Game Show Models, a comedy drama with Thelma Houston in the minor role of Dana Sheridan. Manfred Mann’s Earth Band covered the song on their 1979 album Angel Station.

She’s Low Clouds

Harriet Schock released her second album, She’s Low Clouds, later in 1974 on 20th Century Records.

The album presents piano-led vocal pop and arranged soft-rock material by Schock, who wrote all ten songs. Schock performs with more than twenty credited musicians, including bassist Leland Sklar, drummers Gary Mallaber and John Guerin, guitarist Larry Carlton, and keyboardist Craig Doerge.

She’s Low Clouds retains Schock’s piano-forward writing and places the vocal in cleaner relief against electric piano, light percussion, strings, and background-vocal returns. “Go On and Go” opens the album with breakup text and a firm piano base. “Come Inside, Cowboy” adds clarinet and dobro tones to the arrangement without breaking the album’s controlled mid-tempo profile. “Play It Again” expands the texture with congas, organ, and backing voices around a longer-form tribute lyric. “My Heart” narrows the accompaniment to piano, cello, and vocal placement, while “Brooklyn Can Hear You Braggin’” uses rhetorical line turns and internal rhyme as its main text pattern.

A1. “Go On and Go” (3:20)
A2. “Come Inside, Cowboy” (3:13)
A3. “She’s Low Clouds” (2:43)
A4. “You” (2:53)
A5. “Play It Again” (4:20)

B1. “My Heart” (3:05)
B2. “Brooklyn Can Hear You Braggin’” (2:45)
B3. “Mama” (4:13)
B4. “I Want Your Time” (3:40)
B5. “Songs Are the Children” (3:57)

Roger Gordon produced the album. Armin Steiner recorded and mixed the album at Sound Labs. Michael Lietz also recorded at Sound Labs, and Eirik Wangberg recorded at Sound Recorders. Glen Spreen arranged eight tracks and wrote the string arrangement for “You.” Doug Sax mastered the album at the Mastering Lab.

She’s Low Clouds appeared in a cover with art direction by Jack L. Levy. Eddie Douglas designed the cover and insert. Michael Paladin provided photography. Larry Vigon provided type design.

You Don’t Know What You’re in For

Harriet Schock released her third album, You Don’t Know What You’re in For, in 1976 on 20th Century Records.

The album presents vocal pop with Page-produced orchestral arrangements by Schock, who wrote all ten songs. Schock performs with more than twenty credited musicians, including bassist Leland Sklar, drummer Ed Greene, guitarists Dean Parks and Lee Ritenour, and flutist Tom Scott. Backing vocalists include Carolyn Willis, Edna Wright, and Marcia Waldorf.

You Don’t Know shifts Schock into denser Page production, with strings across the program, broader backing-vocal writing, and a more lacquered studio surface. “He’s So Macho” uses parody as its main text device, with the vocal aimed at a caricatured masculine pose. “I Could’ve Said It All” lengthens the album’s reflective mode through a larger ballad design. “Let Me Out! Let Me Go!” and “Nobody Stole Your Lady” place relationship argument inside firmer ensemble settings. “Southern Belle” uses character-study phrasing, and the title track closes the album with a warning line that treats romance as both invitation and trap.

A1. “You’re a Man” (3:23)
A2. “We’re Better Friends” (2:53)
A3. “He’s So Macho” (3:28)
A4. “Somebody Else” (2:52)
A5. “I Could’ve Said It All” (4:40)

B1. “Let Me Out! Let Me Go!” (3:57)
B2. “Nobody Stole Your Lady” (3:17)
B3. “Keep Drivin’ James” (3:27)
B4. “Southern Belle” (3:14)
B5. “You Don’t Know What You’re in For” (3:50)

Gene Page and Billy Page produced the album. Gene Page arranged the sessions. Barney Perkins engineered “You’re a Man,” “We’re Better Friends,” “He’s So Macho,” “Somebody Else,” “I Could’ve Said It All,” and “Keep Drivin’ James” at ABC Recording Studios in Los Angeles. Dave Hassinger engineered “Let Me Out! Let Me Go!,” “Nobody Stole Your Lady,” “Southern Belle,” and “You Don’t Know What You’re in For” at the Sound Factory in Hollywood. Perkins remixed “Let Me Out! Let Me Go!” and the title track at ABC Recording Studios. Mike Reese mastered the album at the Mastering Lab in Hollywood.

You Don’t Know What You’re in For appeared in a cover designed by Vigon/Nahas/Vigon with photography by Ethan Russell.

20th Century issued “Southern Belle” as a 1975 promo single. “I Could’ve Said It All” followed as a June 1976 promo single. “Let Me Out! Let Me Go!” appeared as a September 1976 single backed with “Keep Drivin’ James.”

Discography: