Hang on to a Dream: The Verve Recordings

by

Tim Hardin

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this 2 cd set includes hardin's work for verve records, a sixties label that also featured some of the " bosstown sound" acts, as well as luminaries like the velvet underground and the blues project, among others. the second cd consists of outtakes and hardin's not so great tim hardin 4 album. it's alright, but nothing special

the first cd contains numerous classics. the man's work has been covered by bobby darin, the four tops, scott walker, robert plant, rod stewart, the small faces, the psychedelic band gandalf, zz top's frank beard and dusty hill's early outfit american blues, and numerous others. this shows how highly regarded hardin's work was by his contemporaries, bob dylan apparently claimed that hardin was either THE, or one of the, country's greatest living songwriters.

hardin's work is a model of simplicity, and that's why so much of his material is so great. his plaintive, yet powerful vocals are another testament to the importance of the material. this first cd is chock full of classic tunes. many of the best tunes can also be found on the various best of compilations out there, this 2 cd set is for big hardin fans. people with a mild interest in the singer would probably be better off buying a cheaper and briefer disc to start out with.

hardin isn't really a folk singer, his stuff is more jazzy and bluesy. his phrasing is excellent. there are too many classics to list,suffice it to say that the first two hardin records, tim hardin 1 and 2, are simply essential. the song i'm into lately are two that don't show up too often on best of hardin releases: never too far and part of the wind, from his debut. his work will be appreciated by those who like brevity ( most cuts are under three minutes, and many under two!), vocal clarity, and melancholy ballads with a jazzy flavor. little of this is topical, hardin was apparently rather apolitical. hardin is yet another musician who is more appreciated today than at the time, it's too bad he never had any real prolonged success in terms of reaching a large audience. sadly, hardin died in 1980, leaving us these two beautiful early recordings to remember him by.

I had never heard many Tim Hardin songs before purchasing this collection. Of course I'd heard the classics "Reason to Believe" and "If I Were a Carpenter" --- both of which are included on here --- but it was only after hearing the dreamlike "Misty Roses" on a multi-artist compilation that I became intrigued enough to order a full album, in this case a 2-CD set. Well ... this was too much Tim Hardin for me. I think I would have been much more satisfied with a single disc collection that focused on his singles. You can't argue with the fact that Hardin had a postively beautiful singing voice, one of those magical voices that commands your attention. On songs like "Don't Make Promises" and "Black Sheep Boy" --- as well as the previous songs mentioned --- his vocals shimmer and shine. But too often his choice of material fails to take advantage of his remarkable voice. On this compilation those misses are especially pronounced on the second disc when he tries to tackle blues material. Ouch! I listen to stuff like his cover of "Hoochie Coochie Man" and wince. The other stuff isn't much better. Really, some of these blues songs that he sings are close to awful. Whose idea was that? Was he so strung out that he lost the ability to wrote his own songs at that point in his career. Doing blues standards and remakes of tunes like "House of the Rising Sun" just doesn't cut it, at least not for me. But on that first disc there really are some gems that are worth hearing. For Hardin neophytes like I was, you are better off sticking to a single disc collection and not this blues-padded set.