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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 producer Erik Jacobson (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 first 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. This LP contained "Reason to Believe", a song that Rod Stewart would later bring to fame. Tim Hardin 2 was released in 1967 and contained his most famous song, "If I Were a Carpenter", which Bobby Darin recorded for a U.S. top 10 hit in 1966. Hardin did not tour in support of this album and his heroin addiction and stage fright made his live performances erratic. Tim Hardin 3, released in 1968, was a collection of live recordings along with remakes of previous songs.
During the following years Hardin moved between England and the U.S. His heroin addiction had taken control of his life by the time his last album, Tim Hardin 9, was released in 1973. He died on December 29, 1980 in Los Angeles, California of a heroin and morphine overdose.
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