Tim Hardin - The Best of Tim Hardin

Tim Hardin – The Best of Tim Hardin
Verve Forecast, 1969
Acquired: Love Garden, Used, 2007
Price: $4



Pretty sure I got this one 20% off because Love Garden was doing some sale where Folk records had such discount. I'd never heard Tim Hardin, but desperately wanted to after falling in love with Okkervil River's Black Sheep Boy which not only features a cover of Hardin's “Black Sheep Boy,” but the whole record is constructed around that song. And that Okkervil River record is one of my favorite records, period. This Best Of is pretty excellent. Maybe not excellent, per se, but I really enjoyed listening to it. There are hints of Nick Drake throughout (particularly on “If I Were a Carpenter” and “Reason to Believe”) and “Black Sheep Boy” is pretty much a perfect song. He's not as great a guitarist as Drake, but his songs are damn fine and it feels like Hardin is right here in the room with me as I listen. I also like that there's an RIAA note on the back. It reads: “This record has been engineered and manufactured in accordance with standards developed by the Record Industry Association of America, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to the betterment of recorded music and literature.” The words “non-profit” stick out like sore thumb style, especially in the light of that Minnesota woman being hit with a multi-million dollar fine for downloading 25 songs. Hmmmmm! And apparently, according to Jenny (and now the internet), Rod Stewart covered “Reason to Believe.” WEIRD! ALSO, I just noticed the next record up is another Tim Hardin greatest hits sorta thing. It's really funny, because it's all the same songs with the exception of two that are switched out. I'm going to remove it and give it away, or something, because I'm pretty sure I don't need it and it doesn't have a tribute song to Hank Williams on it, which means it can get fucked.