James Timothy "Tim" Hardin (December 23, 1941 – December 29, 1980)

Tim Hardin

« Tim simboleggia un'anima rinascimentale in un mondo di plastica. »

(Bob Dylan)

Tim Hardin (Eugene, Oregon, 23 dicembre 1941 – Los Angeles, 29 dicembre 1980) è stato un cantautore statunitense.
Musicista dotato di grande talento canoro e compositivo, non riuscì a conseguire il successo che avrebbe meritato, anche a causa della sua dipendenza dall'eroina. Fra le sue canzoni più celebri: If I Were a Carpenter, Reason to Believe, Hang On To A Dream e 'Lady Came from Baltimore, brani che sono stati reinterpretati da artisti come Johnny Cash, Bobby Darin, Joan Baez, Robert Plant, Rod Stewart, Mark Lanegan e molti altri.
Il suo stile univa al folk elementi blues, jazz e psichedelici. Molti suoi dischi sono stati a lungo irreperibili, solo in anni recenti la sua opera è stata rivalutata e i suoi dischi ristampati.
Per molti aspetti la sua vita privata e artistica può essere paragonata a quella di un altro musicista di culto: Tim Buckley

Biografia

Nato in Oregon, finita la scuola si arruola nei marines nel 1959, viene inviato in Vietnam. Dopo il congedo si trasferisce a New York dove si iscrive all'Accademia di Arti Drammatiche che frequenta per un breve periodo. Inizia in questo periodo a cantare per le strade, si inserisce così nell'ambiente del Greenwich Village. Si trasferisce a Boston dove viene notato da Erik Jacobsen che gli procura un contratto con la Columbia.
Ritorna a New York, registra alcuni brani che non vengono però pubblicati, il contratto viene scisso. L'anno seguente dopo una breve parentesi a Los Angeles dove conosce Susan Morss, firma per la Verve con la quale pubblica il primo album: Tim Hardin I nel 1966 contenente Reason To Believe e Misty Roses. Nel 1967 esce il secondo album, Tim Hardin II, con la sua più famosa ballata If I Were a Carpenter, entrata nella versione di Bobby Darin nella Top 10 dei singoli più venduti. Partecipa al festival di Woodstock. Dopo un live, Tim Hardin 3 Live in Concert ed un altro disco (Tim Hardin 4) firma per la Columbia con la quale pubblica altri 3 album.
Negli anni 70 la dipendenza verso l'eroina che, a quanto pare aveva iniziato ad usare negli anni della permanenza nei marines, diventa padrone della sua vita, il suo ultimo disco del 1973, Nine sarà pubblicato solo negli Stati Uniti solo nel 1976. Tim Hardin morì per overdose nel 1980 ed è stato sepolto al Twin Oaks Cemetery di Turner in Oregon.

Discografia

• Tim Hardin 1 - 1966
• Tim Hardin 2 - 1967
• Tim Hardin 3 Live in Concert - 1968
• Tim Hardin 4 - 1969
• Suite for Susan Moore and Damion: We Are One, One, All in One - 1969
• Bird on a Wire - 1971
• Painted Head - 1972
• Nine - 1973
• The Homecoming Concert (Live) - 1973

James Timothy "Tim" Hardin (December 23, 1941 – December 29, 1980) was an American folk musician and composer. He wrote the Top 40 hit "If I Were a Carpenter", covered by, among others, Bobby Darin, Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, The Four Tops, Robert Plant, and Johnny Rivers; his song "Reason to Believe" has also been covered by many artists, notably Rod Stewart (who had a chart hit with the song), Neil Young, and The Carpenters. Hardin is also known for his own recording career.

Early life and career

Hardin was born in Eugene, Oregon and attended South Eugene High School. He dropped out of high school at age 18 to join the Marine Corps. Hardin is said to have discovered heroin while posted to the far east.
After his discharge he moved to New York City in 1961, where he briefly attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He was dismissed due to truancy and began to focus on his musical career by performing around Greenwich Village, mostly in a blues style.
After moving to Boston in 1963 he was discovered by the record producer Erik Jacobsen (later the producer for The Lovin' Spoonful), who arranged a meeting with Columbia Records. In 1964 he moved back to Greenwich Village to record for his contract with Columbia. The resulting recordings were not released and Columbia terminated Hardin's recording contract.
After moving to Los Angeles in 1965, he met actress Susan Yardley Morss (known professionally as Susan Yardley), and moved back to New York with her. He signed to the Verve Forecast label, and produced his first authorized album, Tim Hardin 1 in 1966 which contained "Reason To Believe" and the ballad "Misty Roses" which did receive Top 40 radio play.
Tim Hardin 2 was released in 1967; it contained "If I Were a Carpenter". An English tour was cut short after Hardin contracted pleurisy.
An album entitled This is Tim Hardin, featuring covers of "House of the Rising Sun", Fred Neil's "Blues on the Ceilin'" and Willie Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man", among others, appeared in 1967, on the Atco label. The liner notes indicate that the songs were recorded in 1963–1964, well prior to the release of Tim Hardin 1. In 1968, Verve released Tim Hardin 3 Live in Concert, a collection of live recordings along with re-makes of previous songs. It was followed by Tim Hardin 4, another collection of blues-influenced tracks believed to date from the same period as This is Tim Hardin. In September 1968 he and Van Morrison shared a bill at the Cafe au Go Go, at which each performed an acoustic set.
In 1969, Hardin again signed with Columbia and had one of his few commercial successes, as a non-LP single of Bobby Darin's "Simple Song of Freedom" reached the US Top 50. Hardin did not tour in support of this single and a heroin addiction and stage fright made his live performances erratic.^{[citation needed]}
Also in 1969 he appeared at the Woodstock Festival where he sang his "If I Were a Carpenter" song solo, as well as a full set of his music while backed by a full band.
He recorded three albums for Columbia—Suite for Susan Moore and Damion: We Are One, One, All in One; Bird on a Wire; and Painted Head.

Later work and death

During the following years Hardin moved between England and the U.S. His heroin addiction had taken control of his life by the time his last album, Nine, was released on GMA Records in the UK in 1973 (the album did not see a US release until it appeared on Antilles Records in 1976).
He sold his writers' rights in the late 1970s.^{[citation needed]}
On December 29, 1980, Hardin was found on the floor of his Hollywood apartment by longtime friend Ron Daniels. He died of a heroin overdose. His remains were buried in Twin Oaks Cemetery in Turner, Oregon.

Discography

• 1966: Tim Hardin 1 (Verve Forecast FT/FTS 3004)
• 1967: Tim Hardin 2 (Verve Forecast FT/FTS 3022)
• 1967: This Is Tim Hardin (demos recorded 1963/64) (ATCO 33–210)
• 1968: Tim Hardin 3 Live in Concert (Verve Forecast FTS 3049)
• 1969: Tim Hardin 4 (Verve Forecast FTS 3064)
• 1969: The Best of Tim Hardin (Verve Forecast FTS3078)
• 1969: Suite for Susan Moore and Damion: We Are One, One, All in One (Columbia CS 9787)
• 1971: Bird on a Wire (Columbia CK-30551)
• 1972: Painted Head (Columbia CK-31764)
• 1973: Nine (Antilles AN-7023)
• 1981: Unforgiven (San Francisco Sound SFS 10810)
• 1981: The Tim Hardin Memorial Album (Polygram PD-1-6333)
• 1981: The Shock of Grace (CBS Columbia PC37164)
• 1981: The Homecoming Concert (Line LICD 9.00040)
• 1990: Reason to Believe (The Best Of) (Polydor 833954)
• 1994: Hang on to a Dream: The Verve Recordings (Polydor 521583)
• 1996: Simple Songs of Freedom: The Tim Hardin Collection (Legacy /Sony 64858)
• 2000: Person to Person: The Essential, Classic Hardin 1963–1980 (Raven)
• 2002: 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Tim Hardin (Polydor)
• 2002: Black Sheep Boy: An Introduction to Tim Hardin (Universal International)
• 2007: Through the Years 1964–1966 (Lilith)

Covers of Hardin songs

• "Black Sheep Boy" – Scott Walker on his album Scott 2, Okkervil River on their concept album Black Sheep Boy, Paul Weller on the ninth issue of Volume magazine, Vince Guaraldi on album The Eclectic, Joel Plaskett on the album EMERGENCYs, false alarms, shipwrecks, castaways, fragile creatures, special features, demons and demonstrations.
• "Don't Make Promises" – The Beau Brummels, Helen Reddy on her album I Don't Know How to Love Him, Three Dog Night on their eponymous first album, Bobby Darin, Scott McKenzie on his first album "San Francisco". The Kingston Trio, Gary Puckett & The Union Gap, Ricky Nelson, Scottish singer Tam White (a 1969 single on Deram Records), Chris Smither on Drive You Home Again, Joan Baez on her 1995 live Ring Them Bells album, Paul Weller on his album "Studio 150", Richard Barone on his album Sorrows & Promises (2016).
• "Eulogy to Lenny Bruce" – Nico, on her debut solo album, Chelsea Girl, Damon and Naomi on their album Damon and Naomi with Ghost.
• "How Can We Hang on to a Dream?" – Françoise Hardy on her album Françoise Hardy en Anglais; Ian & Sylvia on their album "Lovin' Sound". Echo & the Bunnymen, on their Avalanche EP; Fleetwood Mac on their Album "Live at the BBC (1968)"; The Nice, on their self-titled third album and Elegy (in both cases as "Hang on to a Dream"), Emerson, Lake & Palmer's on the 4-disc retrospective The Return of the Manticore; Gandalf on their eponymous debut (appearing as "Hang on to a Dream"), Nazareth on their album Snakes 'n' Ladders.
• "If I Were a Carpenter" – Wes Carr, Stan Webb's Chicken Shack, Bobby Darin, Johnny Cash and June Carter, The Four Tops, Leon Russell, Rod Stewart, Doc Watson, Joan Baez (as "If You Were a Carpenter"), Cornelis Vreeswijk, The Nice, Small Faces, Robert Plant, Dolly Parton, Leonard Nimoy, John Holt, Smile, Werner Lämmerhirt, Bob Seger, Leslie West, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Lee Dorsey, Engineers, Sandro on his album Beat Latino, and León Gieco on album Tributo a Sandro, un disco de rock.
• "It'll Never Happen Again" – Peggy Lee, The Dream Academy, David Sylvian, Cilla Black, Johnny Rivers, and P.P. Arnold.
• "The Lady Came from Baltimore" – Johnny Cash, Joan Baez, Bobby Darin (single), Scott Walker on his album Scott, Jesse Malin, Lloyd Cole, John Stewart on his "Neon Beach" live album, and Bob Dylan (performed live but never released on record)
• "Misty Roses" – Peggy Lee, Colin Blunstone, Astrud Gilberto, The 5th Dimension, Irene Kral, Ron Davies, Sonny and Cher, Jess Roden, The Youngbloods, Bobby Darin, Johnny Mathis, The Sandpipers, and Cilla Black.
• "Reason to Believe" – Karen Dalton, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Johnny Cash, Paul Weller, Ian & Sylvia, Billy Bragg, The Youngbloods, Brainbox, Rod Stewart, Cher, Ron Sexsmith, Wilson Phillips, Gary Lewis & the Playboys, The Carpenters, Marianne Faithfull, Bobby Darin, Glen Campbell, The Kingston Trio, Weddings Parties Anything, Mason Williams, The Sandpipers, Scott McKenzie and by the Israeli singer Arik Einstein, Vince Guaraldi on album The Eclectic.
• "Red Balloon" – Ricky Nelson, Small Faces, Idha, Kula Shaker.
• "Shiloh Town" – Mark Lanegan on his fourth solo album I'll Take Care of You.
• "Never Too Far" – Wally Tax, member of The Outsiders on his solo album The Entertainer, and Gandalf on their eponymous debut.
• "You Got a Reputation" [aka "Reputation"] – The Association, The Byrds (recorded during the Sweetheart of the Rodeo sessions and eventually released some 22 years later on The Byrds box set in 1990) and Gram Parsons (on Another Side of This Life: The Lost Recordings of Gram Parsons).
• "You Upset the Grace of Living" – Gandalf on their eponymous debut.
• "Reason to Believe, The Songs of Tim Hardin" – A collection of Tim Hardin covers released on UK independent record label Full Time Hobby. Features covers of "Don't Make Promises You Can't keep" – The Phoenix Foundation, "Red Balloon" – Mark Lanegan, "It'll Never Happen Again" – Okkervil River.



 

 

Tim Hardin - If I Were A Carpenter - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RrRajjlo6M

Testo

Save my love through loneliness
Save my love through sorrow
I give you my only-ness
Give me your tomorrow…

If I were a carpenter, and you were a lady
Would you marry me anyway?
Would you have my baby?
If a tinker were my trade, would you still find me
Carrying the pots I made, following behind me?

Save my love through loneliness
Save my love through sorrow
I give you my only-ness
Give me your tomorrow

If I worked my hands in wood, would you still love me?
Answer me, babe: "yes I would, I'd put you above me"
If a miller were my trade, at a mill wheel grinding
Would you miss your color box, your soft shoes shining

Save my love through loneliness
Save my love through sorrow
I give you my only-ness
Give me your tomorrow

If I were a carpenter, and you were a lady
Would you marry me anyway?
Would you have my baby?
Would you marry me anyway?
Would you have my baby?

Compositori: Tim Hardin

Testo di If I Were a Carpenter © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

 

 

"Reason to Believe" Tim Hardin - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bW6VZi0ICs

Testo

If I listen long enough to you
I'd find a way to believe that it's all true
Knowing, that you lied, straight-faced
While I cried …

If I listen long enough to you
I'd find a way to believe that it's all true
Knowing, that you lied, straight-faced
While I cried
But still I'd look to find a reason to believe
Someone like you makes it hard to live
Without, somebody else
Someone like you, makes it easy to give
Never think of myself
If I gave you time to change my mind
I'd find a way to leave the past behind
Knowing that you lied, straight-faced
While I cried
But still I'd look to find a reason to believe
(Instrumental)
If I listen long enough to you
I'd find a way to believe it's all true
Knowing that you lied, straight-faced
While I cried
Still I'd look to find a reason to believe.

Compositori: Tim Hardin

Testo di Reason to Believe © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

 

Tim Hardin - Hang on to a Dream - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhO2Hi9jQD4

Testo

What can I say, she's walking away
From what we've seen
What can I do, still loving you
It's all a dream…

What can I say, she's walking away
From what we've seen
What can I do, still loving you
It's all a dream

How can we hang on to a dream
How can it, will it be, the way it seems

What can I do, she's saying we're through
With how it was
What will I try, I still don't see why
She says what she does

How can we hang on to a dream
How can it, will it be, the way it seems

What can I say, she's walking away
From what we've seen
What can I do, still loving you
It's all a dream

How can we hang on to a dream
How can it, will it be, the way it seems
How can we hang on to a dream

Compositori: Tim Hardin

Testo di How Can We Hang on to a Dream © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Tim Hardin - Simple Song Of Freedom - Durata: 3:53. Chris DE BODT493.332 visualizzazioni

Lyrics

Come and sing a simple song of freedom
Sing it like you've never sung before
Let it fill the air
Tell the people everywhere
We, the people here, don't want a war.
Hey there, Mister Black Man can you hear me?
I don't want your diamonds or your game
I just want to be someone known to you as me
And I will bet my life you want the same
Come and sing a simple song of freedom
Sing it like you've never sung before
Let it fill the air
Tell the people everywhere
We, the people here, don't want a war.
Seven hundred million are you listening?
Most of what you read is made of lies
But speaking one to one, ain't it everybody's sun
To wake to in the morning when we rise?
Come and sing a simple song of freedom
Sing it like you've never sung before
Let it fill the air
Tell the people everywhere
We, the people here, don't want a war.
Brother Solzhenitsyn, are you busy?
If not, won't you drop this friend a line?
And tell me if the man, who is plowing up your land
Has got the war machine upon his mind?
Come and sing a simple song of freedom
Sing it like you've never sung before
Let it fill the air
Tell the people everywhere
We, the people here, don't want a war.
No doubt some folks enjoy doing battle
Like presidents, Prime ministers and kings
So let's all build them shelves where they can fight among themselves
And leave the people be who love to sing.
Come and sing a simple song of freedom
Sing it like you've never sung before
Let it fill the air
Tell the people everywhere
We, the people here, don't want a war.
Let it fill the air, tell the people everywhere
We, the people, here don't want a war...

Written by Bobby Darin • Copyright © Carlin America Inc, BMG Rights Management US, LLC

 

 

 

Tim Hardin - Lady Came From Baltimore - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSu44UMcB8c

Lady came from Baltimore,
All she wore was lace.
She didn't know that I was poor,
She never saw my place.
I was there to steal her money,
Take her rings and run.
Then I fell in love with the lady,
Got away with none.

The lady's name was Susan Moore,
Her daddy read the law.
She didn't know that I was poor,
And lived outside the law.

Her daddy said, I was a thief
And didn't marry her for love.
I was Susan's true belief
Married her for love.

I was there to steal her money,
To take her rings and run.
Then I fell in love with the lady
Got away with none.

The house she lived in had a wall
To keep the robbers out.
She'd never stop to think at all
If that's what I'm about.

I was there to steal her money
Take her rings and run.
Then I fell in love with the lady
Got away with none.