Hard Times

Album: Blue Over You (1952)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The book Hound Dog: The Leiber & Stoller Autobiography gives this as the third produced song by the songwriting team of Leiber and Stoller. The year was 1952. They had sold their first two songs to Modern Records, and this gave them the confidence to audition "Hard Times" for producer Maxwell Davis at Aladdin Records.

    When Charles Brown met with Leiber and Stoller in the studio to try out the song, the songwriters noticed an inner tube on the bench in front of the Baldwin piano. Brown had to explain that this was due to the hemorrhoid operation he had just undergone.
  • Regarding the success of this single, producer Lester Sills reported, "I've been to all my stops, all the places where they sell records - Wollworth's, Music City, the shoeshine stands, the candy stores - and everyone's playing it."
  • The original Aladdin recording of "Hard Times" features Jerry Leiber's name misspelled as "Lieber" on the label.
  • In Charles Brown's day, he was equal in popularity with Nat "King" Cole. Beginning in 1945, he had a string of hits with moderate success, including "Drifting Blues," "Get Yourself Another Fool," "Black Night," and "Trouble Blues." His star faded by 1960, as he was unable to keep up with the sudden uprising of Rock and Roll. He was lucky enough to have a comeback in 1990 when he went on tour with Bonnie Raitt. This second run of popularity gave him ever greater success, earning several Grammy Award nominations.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Chris Tomlin

Chris TomlinSongwriter Interviews

The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.

Trans Soul Rebels: Songs About Transgenderism

Trans Soul Rebels: Songs About TransgenderismSong Writing

A history of songs dealing with transgender issues, featuring Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Morrissey and Green Day.

Phone Booth Songs

Phone Booth SongsSong Writing

Phone booths are nearly extinct, but they provided storylines for some of the most profound songs of the pre-cell phone era.

Ramones

RamonesFact or Fiction

A band so baffling, even their names were contrived. Check your score in the Ramones version of Fact or Fiction.

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s EditionMusic Quiz

You know the scenes - Tom Cruise in his own pants-off dance off, Molly Ringwald celebrating her birthday - but do you remember what song is playing?

Bryan Adams

Bryan AdamsSongwriter Interviews

What's the deal with "Summer of '69"? Bryan explains what the song is really about, and shares more of his songwriting insights.