Guest post by Nathan Arizona
Tim Hardin and his fans had a reason to believe. He could write much-loved songs like the one with that title. “If I Were a Carpenter” was his too. And “Misty Roses.” And “Don’t Make Promises.” Bob Dylan called him the best singer-songwriter of the ‘60s. He was offered the opening slot at Woodstock.
But it didn’t really happen for Hardin, who began as part of a New York folk scene with John Sebastian, Fred Neil and others. It was another story for his songs. “Reason to Believe” was a hit, but not for him. Most people know it as a Rod Stewart song. But Hardin even had some bad luck with that. “Reason to Believe” was released as the single from Stewart’s “Every Picture Tells a Story,” but eventually the B-side, “Maggie May,” got more airplay and became probably Stewart’s most famous song.
Everybody and his brother did “If I Were a Carpenter.” Bobby Darin had the big hit with it. Hardin despised that version but could only sit back and watch.
Nor was Hardin able to capitalize on Woodstock. He was too discombobulated to open the festival as requested. Richie Havens took that spot and became a star of the documentary film and soundtrack. Hardin made the cut for neither. He did go on later at Woodstock in a set that was equal parts impressive and embarrassing. He didn’t manage to show up at all for some gigs that would have strengthened his identification with the songs he wrote.
“Discombobulation” pretty much explained Hardin’s failures. And drugs pretty much explained the discombobulation. Hardin could not overcome an addiction to heroin; stage fright played a role as well. He died from a heroin overdose in 1980 at 39.
Gone but not forgotten. “Reason to Believe” had a prominent place in the 2000 Michael Douglas movie “Wonder Boys.” The tribute album “Reason to Believe: The Songs of Tim Hardin” (2013) included a Mark Lanegan version of “Red Balloon.” The 2005 album “Black Sheep Boy” by veteran indie band Okkervil River was inspired by and titled after a Hardin song about a heroin relapse. The tune, said the band’s Will Sheff, is “like a tiny, perfectly cut gem.”
