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If I Were a Carpenter may refer to:
- "If I Were a Carpenter" (song), a song composed by Tim Hardin and popularized by Bobby Darin
- If I Were a Carpenter (Bobby Darin album), a 1966 album by Bobby Darin
- If I Were a Carpenter (tribute album), a tribute album to The Carpenters
- "If I Were a Carpenter", an episode of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title If I Were a Carpenter.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.
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Songfacts®:
This was written by the folk singer Tim Hardin, who performed it at Woodstock in 1969. Hardin wrote "Reason To Believe" and some other songs that became popular for other artists. He dealt with drug problems and died in 1980 at age 39.
The lyrics are written from the perspective of a man asking an elegant woman if she would still love and marry him if he was just a carpenter. There may be some biblical meaning, as Jesus was a carpenter.
It had been three years since Bobby Darin had a hit record. The Beatles had arrived, and if it wasn't English, it didn't sell. Darin was still a very marketable talent; if he recorded a song, it was going to get a fair shot. Two music publishers, Charles Koppleman and Don Rubin, walked into his office one day and played him a song they felt was perfect for him: "Do You Believe in Magic?" After hearing it through one time Bobby was convinced it wasn't hit record material and told them so: "Very cute, but it will never be a hit." That song was eventually pitched to The Lovin' Spoonful and became a hit. Several months went by and these same guys came back by Bobby's office and played him another song they thought was perfect for him: "Summer in the City." Again, Bobby didn't like the song and turned it down. That one also went to The Lovin' Spoonful and sold over two and a half million records. More time went by and the two men called on Bobby a third time. Before they sat down he said, "I don't care what you got! I'm gonna record it," and he did. They pitched him "If I Were A Carpenter" and It became Darin's last big hit. Darin died in 1973 at age 37.
According to Mojo magazine February 2012, the song was partly inspired by engineer John Judnich, who built Hardin a small recording setup in fellow junkie Lenny Bruce's Sunset Plaza house.
Another inspiration was Hardin's love for actress Susan Morss, with whom he appeared on the cover of Tim Hardin 2. As Susan Yardley, she appeared in the Sally Field-starring TV series Gidget.
Hardin initially raged at the way Darin had appropriated his vocal style for the song, before later admitting to have personally coached Darin through the performance. Hardin later had his biggest hit when he recorded a song Darin wrote called "Simple Song Of Freedom," which made it to #47 in 1969.
According to an interview with Tim Hardin's pianist Warren Bernhard in Uncut, the reason why the singer-songwriter hated Bobby Darin's lushly orchestrated version was, "He liked the fact people were listening to his music, but he wanted them to hear him doing it."
Robert Plant covered the song on his 1993 album Fate of Nations; his version reached #33 in the UK. It's a fitting addition to an album in which Plant was trying to get back to the '60s music he was artistically born from.
- Originals
- Highlights 6
- Versions 170
- Adaptations 14
- Web Covers 2
- Discussions 3
- All
Versions
If I Were a Carpenter written by Tim Hardin English
If I Were a Carpenter | Tim Hardin | November 1966 | First recording in 1966 | ||
If I Were a Carpenter | Bobby Darin | September 1966 | First release Hit song | ||
If You Were a Carpenter | Jody Miller | October 1966 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Bobby Brooks | October 1966 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Johnny Rivers | November 1966 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | George Hamilton IV | January 1967 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | The Pozo Seco Singers | February 1967 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Four Tops | July 1967 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Leon Bibb | September 1967 | |||
If You Were a Carpenter | Joan Baez | 1967 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | John Davidson | 1967 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Val Doonican | 1967 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | The Gloomys | 1967 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Peter Belli & Four Roses | January 1968 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Leonard Nimoy | February 1968 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Burl Ives | June 1968 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs | December 14, 1968 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Emerson and Waldron | 1968 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | American Blues | 1968 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Ramblin' Jack Elliott | 1968 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Ann Tholsted | 1968 | |||
If You Were a Carpenter | Catherine McKinnon | 1968 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Joe Brown [GB] | 1968 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | David Garrick and The Dandy | 1968 | Live | ||
If I Were a Carpenter | Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich | 1968 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Bruce | 1968 | |||
If You Were a Carpenter | Isabel Bond | 1968 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Paul Nero Sounds | 1968 | Unverified | ||
If I Were a Carpenter | Cook E. Jarr | February 1969 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Small Faces | March 1969 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Andy Kim | July 1969 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Johnny Cash & June Carter | December 1969 | Editor's cover song pick | ||
If I Were a Carpenter | Harry Belafonte | 1969 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Ray Bryant | 1969 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | The Free Design | 1969 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Joel Grey | 1969 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Lee Dresser | 1969 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Marlene Beaudry and Dick Nolan | 1969 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Gene Bua | 1969 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Tom Thumb | 1969 | Unverified | ||
If I Were a Carpenter | Wayne Cochran | February 1970 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Al Martino | March 1970 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Hank Williams, Jr. & Lois Johnson | September 1970 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Charlie Louvin | September 1970 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Waylon Jennings | November 1970 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Les & Larry Elgart Nashville Country Sound | 1970 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Big Ben Colder | 1970 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Matt Monro | 1970 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | The Tokens | 1970 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Gary and Randy Scruggs | 1970 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | The Ray Bloch Singers | 1970 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | The Hamilton County Bluegrass Band | 1970 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Jerry & Jo'Anne | 1971 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Chicken Shack | April 1972 | |||
Carpenter | John Pearse | May 1972 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Bob Seger | August 1972 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Tim Rose | 1972 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Tim Connor | 1972 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Leon Russell | March 1974 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Fivepenny Piece | October 1974 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Trident | 1975 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Werner Lämmerhirt Session | 1975 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Leslie West | 1975 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Couggies | 1975 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Therapy [GB1] | 1975 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | The Seldom Scene | February 1976 | Live | ||
If I Were a Carpenter | Tom Bresh | August 24, 1976 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Indefinite Four | 1977 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Roger Humphries [UK] | 1978 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Leif Garrett | November 1979 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | John Holt | 1979 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Friedlander & Hall | 1980 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Swanee | 1981 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Bert Jansch | April 1982 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Lee Dorsey | 1987 | Released more than 10 years after its recording | ||
If I Were a Carpenter | The Beat Farmers | 1989 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Ed Kuepper | October 1990 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Grant & Forsyth | 1992 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Robert Plant | May 27, 1993 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Gitze & The Good Vibes | 1998 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Doc and Richard Watson | April 20, 1999 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Luka Bloom | 2000 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Tree Adams | 2002 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Michel Montecrossa | 2002 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Kevin Spacey with John Wilson & the Orchestra | November 2004 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Dave Moody | December 21, 2004 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Karen Jo Fields & Sivert Høyem | 2004 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Dolly Parton with Joe Nichols | October 11, 2005 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | J.C.P. feat. Gordon Griffin | March 10, 2006 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Matthew Temple | December 1, 2006 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Sheryl Crow and Willie Nelson | June 2007 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Slim Man | 2007 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Redwing | 2007 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | P.J. Proby | 2007 | Live | ||
If I Were a Carpenter | Wes Carr | December 3, 2008 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Roch Voisine | August 14, 2009 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Sweet Tea [1] | August 2009 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Jonathan Edwards | 2009 | Live | ||
If I Were a Carpenter | Ron Meyers | 2009 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Estéban | 2010 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Berchtold & Stear | April 2011 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Mugglestone Revue featuring Margareth Kammerer | 2011 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Craig Douglas | 2011 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Lilly of the West | March 2012 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Smoke Fairies | January 7, 2013 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Lupe Carroll | October 7, 2013 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Shannon & Heather Slaughter & County Clare | 2013 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | The Ugly Beats | April 18, 2014 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Owen Moore | April 21, 2014 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Noise Reaction | August 8, 2014 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | The Cashbags | August 1, 2015 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | Christina Lindberg & Tommy Wigardt | 2015 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter | David Campbell | September 2016 | |||
If I Were a Carpenter - Hvis jeg var arbejdsløs | Peter Belli & The Beatophonics | March 3, 2017 | Medley | ||
If I Were a Carpenter | Adam Harvey & Beccy Cole | April 28, 2017 |