Today’s classic song of the day was written in 1965 but became a hit a half-dozen years later. The tune is “Reason to Believe,” and it was written and originally recorded by folksinger Tim Hardin for his debut album, Tim Hardin 1, which was released in 1966.
“Reason to Believe” tells the story of a young man who’s been led on by a girl but knows he’s likely to fall for her wiles again. As the lyrics put it:
If I listened long enough to you
I’d find a way to believe that it’s all true
Knowing that you lied
Straight-faced while I cried
Still I look to find a reason to believe
Although the song was covered by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and the Carpenters, “Reason to Believe” didn’t garner widespread notice until British singer Rod Stewart recorded it for his 1971 album, Every Picture Tells a Story. The song was originally slated as the album’s initial single, with “Maggie May” as the single’s B-side. Disc jockeys flipped the 45 over, however, and made “Maggie May” a worldwide #1 hit. On its own, “Reason to Believe” made it to #62 on the Billboard Hot 100 before it was supplanted by the better-selling B-side.
Like several of the songs on Every Picture Tells a Story, Rod Stewart’s version of “Reason to Believe” features a stripped down, almost folk-country instrumentation. You get a violin, acoustic guitar, piano, organ, bass, and drums, and not much else. It’s an effective approach to a deceptively simple tune.
Tim Hardin never achieved the success for which he seemed destined. Born and raised in Eugene, Oregon, he burst onto the Greenwich Village folk scene when he was discharged from the Army in 1961. Unfortunately, he’d developed a taste for heroin and other drugs while in the military, and those addictions colored his life after. He signed with the Verve Forecast label in 1965 and his songs quickly found a following. In addition to “Reason to Believe,” his “If I Were a Carpenter” was a hit for both Bobby Darin and the Four Tops, and Darin had another minor hit with Hardin’s “Simple Song of Freedom.”
The folksinger’s erratic behavior, both onstage and off, kept him from reaching widespread acclaim. For example, he inadvertently dodged widespread notice when he was scheduled to open the Woodstock festival but was in such bad shape that Richie Havens opened in his stead.
Despite the quality of his songwriting, Hardin struggled to remain popular and relevant throughout the 1970s. On December 29, 1980, a friend found Tim Hardin dead on the floor of his Hollywood apartment, the victim of a heroin overdose. He was just 39 years old.
Which leads to our daily bonus video of the day, Tim Hardin, sometime in the later 1970s, performing “Reason to Believe” live in concert. He was a fine songwriter.
