Tim Hardin - 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Tim Hardin

A MUSIC LEGEND...

In the late sixties, early seventies, I had a Tim Hardin LP album that I played to death. It was my all time favorite LP. As technological advances were made and CDs came to the fore, it was consigned to a box with all my other LP albums. I was, therefore, thrilled to find this CD with all my Tim Hardin favorites. I was not disappointed by it. It is, without a doubt, my favorite CD.

Tim Hardin was a very gifted musician, singer, and songwriter. His music is a celebration of the human spirit which is ironic, considering that his own life ended so tragically from a drug over dose. His songs often sung by others, Tim Hardin did it best. A cornucopia of emotion and sound, there is not a bad song on this entire CD. It is quintessential Tim Hardin.

While some purists may object to the orchestral arrangement on this CD, it only enhances already great music. What makes it unique is Tim Hardin himself, a truly gifted artist with no equal. A folksinger who shaded his music with blues and jazz overtones, Tim Hardin sang with a poignancy that will touch your heart. At times romantic and lyrical, other times positively soulful, Tim Hardin was an original.

When he sang his music, Tim Hardin spoke to your very soul. It is this quality, and not the musical arrangement, that makes his music transcend the passage of time. June 16, 2008

The Best Of Tim Hardin? Minus His ONLY Hit? Why?

Technically speaking, Tim Hardin will always have a place in that congregation of musical artists known as the "One-Hit Wonders." Many deserve to be there. Many more do not, And Tim Hardin is definitely in that latter category.

Born on December 23, 1941 in Eugene, Oregon he is, of course, much better known for the music he wrote than performed, headed by If I Were A Carpenter which became a monster hit for not one, not two, but three giants of the industry, and a minor chart entry for two others.

The first to taste success with the now classic song was, of course, Bobby Darin when his rendition reached # 8 on the Billboard Pop Hot 100 in 1966. In 1968 The Four Tops took it to # 17 R&B/# 20 Hot 100, and two years after that Johnny Cash & June Carter crossed over three charts with their version, going to # 2 Country, # 9 Adult Contemporary, and # 36 Hot 100. The two-year cycle then continued in 1972 and 1974 with minor Hot 100 entries by Bob Seger [# 76] and Leon Russell [# 73] respectively.

So, quite a hit by any standard and it's nice to see his own treatment of the song included in this package, along with other of his compositions which became associated with a wide variety of singers and groups. These include Black Sheep Boy [Paul Weller], Don't Make Promises [Roland and the Blues Workshop], Lady Came From Baltimore [Joan Baez - who also does a nice job on If You Were A Carpenter on one of her many albums - and Bobby Darin], Red Balloon [The Small Faces], and Reason To Believe [Rod Stewart].

It's also true that Hardin concentrated more on albums than singles himself, and in that category he delivered several that are now considered classics in their own right: Tim Hardin I 1966 and Tim Hardin II 1967, and This Is Tim Hardin 1967 - all for the Vine label; and Bird on a Wire 1971 and Painted Head 1973 for Columbia.

Most of their contents are sprinkled throughout the other CDs available here, but would it have killed the producers of this entry in the Millennium series to include the ONE song he recorded which made it onto the charts? That came in 1969 when he took a Bobby Darin-penned tune, A Simple Song Of Freedom, to # 50 Hot 100 for Columbia b/w A Question Of Birth. Hard to accept a compilation entitled his best with those omissions, and hence the deduction of 2 stars.

Possessed of his own drug and booze demons, Hardin moved to the U.K. in 1974 where he performed with the likes of Tim Rose for just over a year, improving his health as well in the process. In 1975, however, he abruptly moved back to L.A. where, for the next five years, he lived as a total recluse. Six days after his 39th birthday on December 29, 1980 he was found dead in his apartment. Who knows how many more classic songs went with him.

This compilation is a nice, cheap sampling of his music, but I would really recommend you opt for one of the others, especially if that one contains his lone hit single. August 9, 2007

a terrific songsmith

Unless one's name was Dylan, Baez, Guthrie, or Collins, folk artists in the 1960's had a rough time of it in the USA. There were a group of folkies ( David Ackles, Tim Rose, Tim Hardin, and Fred Neil among them ) whose songs were mined for hits with great success by Rock performers--and who still never became famous.

I knew of Tim Hardin on the strength of "Hang on to A Dream", which the Nice made into a big production, and was probably the most beautiful piece that Keith Emerson ever played. Rod Stewart did a fabulous version of "Reason to Believe".

As good as those two songs are in their original versions, every other song on this collection is just as stellar. After hearing just a couple of these tunes, you will realize that Tim Hardin was a huge influence on Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young, and especially Stephen Stills.

Tim Hardin did not have the greatest voice in the world, but he knew how to write great, unpretentious songs. There are few frills here--reportedly, Hardin was unhappy with what did get overdubbed, and would have preferred no string arrangements at all.

Listening to this album, I still find myself marveling, wondering how Hardin came up with songs that are so simple yet so profound. These are some of the best songs ever written in the 20th Century. They will endure forever. June 19, 2006

Mede me feel good

I saw Tim Hardin sing and he was as good in person as he is on this album. The songs are not only believable but every
song is sung so wonderfully you might miss how gut wrenching the story is. Tim was way ahead of his times. What a loss when
he died. He had so much talent and not many people even know
about him today. Rod Stewart cut Reason to Believe as his A side
instead of Maggie May in 1973. This Cd is special. Do no miss out.

March 25, 2005

great until drugs and the 1960s did him in

i hate it when people romanticize the 1960s drug culture. they must not have seen the wrecked lives i saw. the 1960s and drug use were an unmitigated disaster for working class young people. tim hardin coulda been great. he shoulda been great. unfortunately he was a junkie. he never lived up to his potenial. live at town hall ("tim hardin live in concert") was his best album. there is only one song from that album on this cd. its a shame. almost 40 years later i can still remember his heartbreaking song "lenny's tune" (from that album) for his friend and fellow junkie lenny bruce. that song and others should be on this cd. along with bob dylan and joni mitchell, tim hardin was one of the very best 1960s singer songwriters. drug use and the 1960s did him in. these few great songs are all we have left. September 16, 2004

More reviews at Amazon.com ...