There was a lot of media attention given this year to the 40th anniversary of the death of John Lennon. There will be no evening news clips on Tim Hardin, who died 40 years ago today.
Bob Dylan called him the greatest living songwriter. He did not live for long. He died at 39 of a heroin overdose six days after his birthday. He had been on and off heroin for two decades.
As a performer, he had long suffered stage fright. He used drugs to overcome it. He had been scheduled to be the first performer at Woodstock in 1969. He could not face the crowd. Richie Havens was substituted.
Some of his songs are masterpieces. They cross musical lines: pop, country, folk, bluegrass.
Consider Reason to Believe. Rod Stewart made it a hit, with his ground-glass voice. The Dillards cut a bluegrass version. But none matched the version by the magnificent Karen Carpenter, another tragic figure who died too young.
Bobby Darin made a hit with If I Were a Carpenter. Robert Plant's non-rock version is memorable. But Joan Baez's version haunted me from the day I heard it. She changed the lyric to If You Were a Carpenter.
(If Harrison Ford ever writes an autobiography, If I Were a Carpenter would be a great title.)
Then there is this: The Lady Came from Baltimore. Again, Joan Baez nailed it . . . on the same album.
It is always sad to see someone with enormous talent lose the battle to an addiction. We wonder what might have been.
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