|
Glen D. grew up in Texas and discovered the new music scene in
Los
Angeles in 1961, after leaving the army. Less than a few
months
later, he was the regular piano player at the worldwide
known
Palomino Club.
Hardin's first major gig came that same year, 1961, when he
became a
member of
the Crickets,
the Texas-spawned band
founded by Buddy
Holly and led by drummer
Jerry Allison
in
the wake of Holly's
death. Glen played piano on the singles
My Little Girl and
La Bamba, and on their album California
Sun; additionally, after
Joe B. Mauldin
left the group, Hardin
furnished their bass sound with a Fender
Rhodes piano bass.
He also wrote songs with
Crickets
guitarist/singer Sonny Curtis,
co-authoring the group's single Teardrops Feel Like Rain,
and
the songs Count Me In, My Heart's Symphony, and
Where Will
the Word Come From, recorded by their fellow
Liberty Records
artists Gary Lewis & the Playboys.
|
During the second half of the 1960s, Glen D. Hardin kept busy
and
highly visible as a member of
the Shindogs,
the house band
on the weekly ABC rock & roll showcase series
Shindig, which
had been put together by
Leon Russell
and included James
Burton
as leader and lead guitarist. He also played on records
by
Merle Haggard
and Hamilton Camp.
It was through Russell
that Hardin played on records for
Delaney Bramlett and, in
tandem
with Burton
that, in 1970, he started working with
Elvis
Presley. Glen D. wasn’t
the original piano player in the TCB
Band, as he replaced Larry
Muhoberac who quit in 1970.
During his long career, Hardin has played on
recordings for
numerous singers in a variety of music genres
including:
Emmylou Harris, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Buck Owens,
Linda Ronstadt, Kenny Rogers, Johnny Rivers, Merle Haggard,
Michael
Nesmith, Waylon Jennings, and Dwight Yoakam. He
also played piano on
the Roy Orbison television special,
A Black and White Night.
Glen D. still lives in Nashville,
where he works as a full time
studio musician.
 |
