Bird on a Wire (Tim Hardin album)

Bird on a Wire
Studio album by Tim Hardin
Released 1971
Genre Folk
Length 36:36
Label Columbia (CK-30551)
Producer Ed Freeman
Tim Hardin chronology
Suite for Susan Moore and Damion: We Are One, One, All in One
(1969)
Bird on a Wire
(1971)
Painted Head
(1972)

Bird on a Wire is an album by folk artist Tim Hardin, released in 1971. It was Hardin's second release on Columbia Records. It peaked at No. 189 on the Billboard Pop Album charts and was his last album to chart.

Background

Hardin had one of his few commercial successes with his single of Bobby Darin's "Simple Song of Freedom", which reached the US Top 50. He did not tour in support of the single and failed to capitalize on its success. For his second Columbia release, producer Ed Freeman had most of the backing tracks recorded in advance for Hardin to later come to the studio and perform his vocals. Although Hardin later considered it one of his best performances, calling it "good clean superiority", the album did not sell well. Shortly after its release, Hardin moved to England.[1] In contrast to Hardin's previous releases where he had written all his own material, Bird on a Wire includes cover songs for four of the ten tracks. By this time, his drug addictions were beginning to take a larger toll on his live performances and songwriting output.[2] It was his last recording done in the US.[3]

The sessions included Joe Zawinul, Alphonse Mouzon, and Tony Levin, the core of the rhythm section of the band Weather Report.

Bird on a Wire was re-issued on CD by Sony in 1989 and Sony Japan in 2005.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [3]

In his review for Allmusic, music critic Bruce Eder wrote "The singing is exquisite, poignant, and powerful and the production is as tasteful and eloquent as any in Hardin's output. This might not be the place to start listening to Tim Hardin (though there are worse places for that as well) in terms of finding out what he was about, but it's also as essential as anything in his output and a lot closer to the core of who he was than, say, Tim Hardin 4."[3]

Track listing

All tracks composed by Tim Hardin; except where indicated

Side one

  1. "Bird on the Wire" (Leonard Cohen) – 5:29
  2. "Moonshiner" (Trad.)– 3:15
  3. "Southern Butterfly" – 2:53
  4. "A Satisfied Mind" (Joe Hayes, Jack Rhodes) – 2:07
  5. "Soft Summer Breeze" – 2:59

Side two

  1. "Hoboin'" (John Lee Hooker, Joe Josea) – 3:28
  2. "Georgia on My Mind" (Hoagy Carmichael, Stuart Gorrell) – 4:33
  3. "Andre Johray" – 2:50
  4. "If I Knew" – 3:55
  5. "Love Hymn" – 4:37

Personnel

Production notes

  • Produced by Bob Devere and Ed Freeman
  • Engineered by Jim Greene, Lacy O'Neal, Doug Pomeroy
  • Mastered by Lous Schlossberg

References

  1. Brend, Mark (2001). American Troubadours: Groundbreaking Singer-Songwriters of the '60s. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-87930-641-0.
  2. Rough Guide to Rock bio.
  3. 1 2 3 Eder, Bruce. "Bird on a Wire > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
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