Archetypes

AMG Review of Archetypes

Stewart Mason
All Music Guide

Released in 1974, Archetypes is the exact same album, down to the running order, as the previous MGM compilation, The Best of Tim Hardin. (An obvious bid to add some hipster prestige to a label by then forever associated with the Mike Curb Congregation and the Osmonds, the Archetypes series also included compilations by Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, the Blues Project, the Velvet Underground, and Allen Ginsberg.) In either incarnation, this is actually an excellent introduction to the New York City folkie's material, mixing the original versions of songs later made famous by the likes of Bobby Darin ("If I Were a Carpenter") or Rod Stewart and the Carpenters (who both charted with very different versions of "Reason to Believe," probably Hardin's finest song) with lesser-known gems like the heartfelt "Tribute to Hank Williams" and the elliptical but lovely "Misty Roses." This 11-song compilation isn't the only Tim Hardin album worth buying -- his folk-jazz-pop debut, Tim Hardin 1, is a minor masterpiece -- but it's certainly an excellent introduction.