Hardin / York
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1969) - Eddie Hardin (RIP 2015) -- vocals, keyboards, bass - Peter York -- vocals, drums, percussion
supporting musicians (1969) - Vic Flick -- lead guitar - Herbie Flowers -- bass - Eddie Hardin -- vocals, keyboards - Ron Hills -- cornet - Mike Hurst -- lead guitar - Rex Morrissey -- sax - Mel Thorpe -- woodwinds
supporting musicians (1971) - Ray Fenwick -- guitar
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- Axis Point (Eddie Hardin) - Blue Jive Five (Peter York) - Drum Legends (Peter York) - Eddie Hardin (solo efforts) - Hardin & York with Charlie McCracken - Hardin, York & Fenwick - Hardin, York & Charlie McCracken - Murgatroyd Band (Eddie Hardin and Peter York) - Natural Magic (Eddie Hardin) - The Powerhouse (Peter York) - The Spencer Davis Group (Eddie Hardin and Peter York) - String Time (Peter York) - Super Jam (Peter York) - Taste (Charlie McCracken) - A Wild Uncertainty (Eddie Hardin) - Winterkrieg (Peter York) - Wizard's Convention (Eddie Hardin) - Peter York's Percussion Band (Peter York) - York, Mac Dowell & Schmid (Peter York) - Pete York's New York (Peter York)
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Genre: rock Rating: 3 stars *** Title: Tomorrow Today Company: Bell Catalog: 6043 Year: 1969 Country/State: London, UK Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Available: 1 Catalog ID: 5209 Price: $50.00
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Time after time I see singer/keyboardist Eddie Hardin and drummer Tim York compared to Stevie Winwood and Traffic. Initially my ears didn't get the comparison. Yes, Hardin had a dry. rough hewn, R&B-ish voice and played a mean organ, but Traffic's unique blend of folk, jazz and rock influences just wasn't something I consistently heard on the Hardin-York albums in my collection. Admittedly, after listening to the debut album a couple of times I started to get the comparison. A couple of cold beers certainly helped.
Hardin and York actually share a link with Steve Winwood via their time in the Spencer Davis Group. Drummer Peter York was one of the original members of The Spencer Davis Group. Eddie Harris was selected to replace Winwood when he quit the group to form Traffic with Dave Mason. With Hardin and York in the line-up, the post-Winwood Spencer Davis Group lasted about a year, culminating in the release of their 1968 psych album "Heavies". When namesake Davis subsequently called it quits, York briefly went into the sessions world, before he and Hardin decided to try a collaboration.
A couple of months spent rehearsing saw them debut at London's famed Marquee Club where they secured a manager in the for of Ian Smithers. Smithers hooked the band up with German music agent Franks Dostel who got the band a slot on 1969's The Internationales Essener Pop & Blues Festival (joining the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd and Yes), followed by dates at various German clubs, including a stint playing at Hamburg's famed Star Club. The resulting publicity found the small British Bell label sign the group.
The
first time I heard 1969's Mike Hurst produced "Tomorrow
Today"
it reminded me of something out of the Procol Harum, or Spooky Tooth
catalogs. Lots of dark, almost pained, keyboard powered ballads
here. Blame the comparisons on Hardin whose voice
"Tomorrow
Today" track listing: 1.) Tomorrow Today (Eddie Hardin) - 3:20 rating: *** stars With a Southern Gospel flavor imagine Delaney and Bonnie had they been born and raised in England and you'll get a feel for this one. Surprising how well Hardin's voice fit the genre. Wouldn't have expected a young English guy to pull it off. Admittedly the shrieky female backing singers didn't help the performance. Perhaps because it was the most "American" sounding song, the US and UK the song was tapped as a single. In France and Germany the 45 was flipped with "Candlestick" serving as the "A" side.
- 1969's "Tomorrow Today" b/w "Candlelight" (Bell catalog number B-799)
YouTube has a black and white clip of the duo performing the song for the German Beat-Club television program. Perhaps it's just seeing the pair on stage, but the live version is better than the album track. Hardin & York - Tomorrow Today (1969)
2.) 100 Years from Now (Eddie Hardin) - 2:37 rating: **** stars The piano and acoustic guitar ballad powered "100 Years from Now" was one of the tracks that reminded me of mid-career Steve Winwood and Traffic. The song's beautiful, laconic, folk-jazz tinged vibe was one of those compositions that easily lowered my blood pressure 10 points. Hardin seldom sounded as good and it's one of the best Traffic-wannabe tunes I've ever encountered. Shame it was so short. 3.) I'm Lost (Eddie Hardin - Spencer Davis) - 8:13 rating: *** stars The discordant keyboards, flute and percussion opening sounded like something off a "musique concrete" sound collage. Luckily Hardin's Hammond C3 found a Procol Harum-styled melody and when his voice kicked in the tune displayed a smooth, lysergic vibe. Stretched out over eight minutes the track slowly built up more and more energy though it would have benefited from some judicious editing. 4.) Drinking My Wine (Eddie Hardin) - 4:47 rating: **** stars With a funky edge, "Drinking My Wine" was one of my favorite songs on the album. Rex Morrissey on extended sax solo.
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2) Released as a single in advance of the album, "Candlelight" was one of the most commercial things they ever recorded. The song boasted a great melody that would have sounded good on FM radio. The combination of Hardin's bluesy voice, keyboards and melodic bass pedals coupled with York's percussion was intriguing. . In France and Germany "Candlestick" was tapped as a single. In the US and UK the 45 was flipped with "Tomorrow Today" serving as the A" side and "Candlelight" relegated to the "B" side.
- 1969's "Candlelight" b/w "Tomorrow, Today" (Bell catalog number 1064)
Recorded for the German Beat-Club television program, YouTube has a black and white performance of the song. It sounded like they were lip-synching: : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RGptW8JdFk&list=RD_RGptW8JdFk&start_radio=1 2.) Beautiful Day (Eddie Hardin) - 2:27 rating: ** stars The stark piano ballad "Beautiful Day" was an okay effort, with sort of a waltz/music hall melody. Hardin's penchant for ballads would become more apparently on the next Hardin & York album and on his solo album debut. 3.) Mountains of Sand (instrumental) (Eddie Hardin - Peter York) - 6:38 rating: *** stars The instrumental "Mountains of Sand" was the album's lone Hardin and Clark collaboration. To my ears this one had kind of a Young-Holt Trio soul-jazz vibe. Nice example of Young's use of a bass pedal on his Hammond C3 keyboard, though the song was too long and I could have done with the extensive flute arrangement and York's drum solo. 4.) Can't Keep a Good Man Down (Eddie Hardin) - 6:00 Vic Flick's jazzy lead guitar provided the highlight on the bluesy "Can't Keep a Good Man Down". Elsewhere the song was forgettable rating: ** stars 5.) Listen Everyone (Eddie Hardin) - 3:42 Showcasing some Uriah Heep styled Hammond, "Listen Everyone" was the album's toughest rocker.
© Scott Blackerby September 2025
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Genre: rock Rating: 2 stars ** Title: For the World Company: Decca Catalog: SLK.16722 Year: 1971 Country/State: London, UK Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: German pressing Available: 1 Catalog ID: -- Price: $40.00
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Having spent most of the prior year on the road,
but found time to sign a new recording contract with Decca Records, Hardin -
York released their third album in 1971. Produced by Mike Hurst, "For
the World" featured another collection heavy on Hardin
originals - the collection reflecting three collaborations. I know the
pair's keyboard/drums sound has an enthusiastic fan base, but musically this
one has always struck me as being even duller than the two previous
LPs. The biggest problem derived from the fact Hardin seemed to
have fallen into a creative death spiral writing forgettable ballads; made
even worse by Phil Denny's heavy orchestration. Perhaps taken
individually you could have dealt with material like the title track, "Some
Places Are Better To Be", "Feeling,
Seeing, Hearing" and "Take
Away Today"
but when these tunes were all packed into a thirty minute collection the
results were zzzzzzz. Add in Phill Denny's heavy handed orchestration
and it was tough to sit through this one. It wasn't a total
wipeout. The album's most rock oriented track "Have
Mercy Woman" was okay, as was the country-rock tinged
"Cowboy". Because it was fully devoted to a big band jazz
sound, the instrumental "Extension 345" was momentarily
entertaining.
Still, the album just sounded like the pair were
tired and limping along without much interest in what they were
doing.
Perhaps part of that stemmed from how creatively stretched they were. As a duo they'd toured heavily over the last two years. Moroever, while recording the third Hardin-York LP, Hardin was preparing to record his first solo album "Home Is Where You Find It" (Decca catalog number TXS 106). Something had to give ...
"For the
World" track listing: 1.) Deep In My Despair (Eddie Hardin) - 3:33 rating: ** stars "Deep In My Despair" was a decent bluesy number spotlighting Hardin's keyboards and dry, rugged voice. Hard to believe he was a young English guy. Nice guitar solo from an uncredited Ray Fenwick. With Hardin still sounding good, YouTube has a live performance of the song recorded at an August 2013 appearance at the Bamberger Blues & Jazz-Festival: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsm1qHvRIrs&list=RDwsm1qHvRIrs&start_radio=1 2.) Have Mercy Woman (Eddie Hardin) - 3:58 rating: *** stars Known for their blues catalog, I'm always surprised how good these guys sounded when they turned up the rock quotient. Powered by Hardin's vocals and another nice Fenwick guitar performance, "Have Mercy Woman" was a good example of their rock moves. York's mid-section drum solo wasn't really necessary, but was at last short. 3.) For The World (Eddie Hardin) - 2:39 rating: ** stars Opening with some pretty Hardin keyboard work, the title track descended into a bland, pedestrian ballad. 4.) Some Places Are Better To Be (Eddie Hardin) - 2:48 rating: ** stars A somewhat jazzy ballad, "Some Places Are Better To Be" the Herbie Mann-styled flute solo, bongos and horns, gave the song a foreggatble MOR-ish flavor. 5.) Extension 345 (instrumental) (Eddie Hardin - Peter York) - 5:42 rating: *** stars Perhaps because it found the duo fully committed to a big band jazz sound, the instrumental "Extension 345" was actually one of the album's stronger compositions. Not exactly my musical niche, but Hardin's organ, coupled with the uncredited wah-wah guitar and true big band backing reminded me of something out of the Brian Auger catalog. The track was also notable for featuring Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice playing alongside took the chance to play alongside Pete York. At least part of the song was inspired by a drumming face off between jazz drummer Elvin Jones and the late Ginger Baker. The two drummers has been "slagging" each other in the music press and met at a February 1971 concert at New York's Lyceum Theatre where they spent part of the show trying to "out drum" one another. York was in the audience and less than impressed. York explained "Extension 345" to a journalist as: "That situation was contrary to the principals of entertainment, so Ian [Paice] and I decided to show how musicians can work together and forget egos ..."
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2) One of three Hardin - York collaborations, "Cowboy" offered up another Hammond C3 powered ballad, though the nice melody, entertaining lyrics and York's tribal drumming made this one was a little more entertaining than the earlier ones. 2.) I'll Be Back Again (Eddie Hardin) - 3:03 rating: ** stars Bluesy, keyboard ballad. York's "big" drum sound provided the highlight. 3.) Feeling, Seeing, Hearing (Eddie Hardin) - 2:33 rating: *** stars Another ballad,"Feeling, Seeing, Hearing" added a Gospel flavor to the mix. For some reason Hardin's voice sound pretty good on this one. Part of it may have derived from the absence of heavy orchestation. 4.) Natural Gas (Eddie Hardin) - 2:38 rating: *** stars "Natural Gas" was another track that showed the duo's funkier side. It was also the one track where Hardin's vocals actually reminded me vaguely of Steve Winwood. Elsewhere this one would have been an "also ran" track, but here it was a standout performance. Docked a star for the lyric "I'll natural gas it with you ..." 5.) Take Away Today (Eddie Hardin - Peter York) - 6:03 rating: ** stars Hey. how about closing the album with a heavily orchestrated ballad? This one could hae served as the centerpiece for a Broadway show. Way over the top ...
© Scott Blackerby September 2025
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occasionally recalled Gary Wright
("Tomorrow Today") and to a lesser extent Gary Brooker. I initially missed it, but after
a couple of spins the Traffic influences sunk in listening to material like
the Hardin-penned "100 Years from
Now" and "I'm Lost". Powered by
Hardin's growling voice those songs reflected a pseudo-jazzy sound reminiscent of "John
Barleycorn"-era Traffic. Since I'm a big Traffic fan that
comparison wasn't meant as a criticism; rather a nod to the old saying
"imitation is the sincerest form of flattery". Had the entire album
followed that path, it would have been a major find, but "Drinking My
Wine"
and the
instrumental
"Mountains of
Sand" found the duo falling
into mindless and far less interesting blues and jazz-tinged jams. Highlights to
my ears were the pre-LP single "Candlelight" and the bluesy "Can't Keep a
Good Man Down". The album certainly won't appeal to everyone, particularly anyone looking for acid
dripping psych performances. On the other hand, if the Traffic
comparisons strike a chord, this might be up your alley. Elsewhere
York's song-by-song back cover liner notes were interesting.
