Tim Hardin (December 23, 1941 – December 29, 1980) was a United States folk musician and composer who was a part of the 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene and performer at the Woodstock Festival. Hardin was born in Eugene, Oregon. He dropped out of high school at age 18 to join the Marine Corps. After his discharge he moved to New York City in 1961, where he briefly attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He was dismissed because of 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 considered a failure by Columbia, which chose not to release the material until 1969 as Tim Hardin IV.
His debut album, Tim Hardin 1, was released in 1966 on Verve Records. This album saw a transformation from his early traditional blues style to the folk that defined his recording career.Tim Hardin (December 23, 1941 – December 29, 1980) was a United States folk musician and composer who was a part of the 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene and performer at the Woodstock Festival.
Hardin was born in Eugene, Oregon. He dropped out of high school at age 18 to join the Marine Corps. After his discharge he moved to New York City in 1961, where he briefly attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He was dismissed because of 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 considered a failure by Columbia, which chose not to release the material until 1969 as Tim Hardin IV.
His debut album, Tim Hardin 1, was released in 1966 on Verve Records. This album saw a transformation from his early traditional blues style to the folk that defined his recording career. Wikipedia:I 'discovered' Tim Hardin and his music when I was about 18 years old (almost 40 years ago) - this was thanks in part to a wonderful woman who ran the Premier Record Shop in Belfast's Smithfield Market. The record shop is still there but that wonderful woman (I never found out her name) no longer works there.She would stock records that other shops would not and the shop was a treasure trove of all sorts of good music including East Coast psychedelia as well as contemporary and classic American folk artists. She was also a mine of information about the records, the artists and their music and would never mind spending time imparting the same to youngsters such as myself.
Tim Hardin died the same year and month as John Lennon but his death was never considered newsworthy other than by people like myself. He was a man of great talent, he had a wonderful singing voice and his songs still sound as good now as they did all those years ago. 'Misty Roses' which I posted a couple of days ago has to be one of the best love songs ever and songs such as 'Black Sheep Boy' and 'Lady came from Baltimore' along with 'If I were a Carpenter' have become classics. Sadly his heroin addiction took control of his life and he died on December 29, 1980 in Los Angeles, of a heroin and morphine overdose.
Article: Reason to believe in Tim Hardin
Article and music clips allmusic.com
