Hardin and York - Drinking My Wine (1969)

Having been in The Spencer Davis Group together, Eddie Hardin and Pete York split from Spencer’s band to create a two-person band in 1969. Hardin, an organist and pianist, mixed with York’s drumming to create one of the most unique duo/instrument combinations of the era. Although Hardin’s left hand usually created the bass sound, the band’s three albums were often accompanied by more than just the pair’s instruments of choice. You would often hear guitars, brass, female backup vocals, or wind instruments on any of their three albums: 1969’s Tomorrow Today, 1970’s The World’s Smallest Big Band, and 1971’s For the World. The duo wasn’t able to find much of an audience in the US or UK, but were quite popular in the rest of Europe, especially in Germany. In 1971, York started the Pete York Percussion Band and Hardin co-created Hardin/Fenwick/Newman. Although they kept up their dual enrollment for a while, they eventually disbanded in 1973 when the Spencer Davis Group came beckoning for a reunion.

With their jazz-influenced blend of the blues and hard rock, it was hard not to compare the duo to Traffic. Steve Winwood, co-creator of Traffic, had been in the Spencer Davis Group with Hardin and York, so it’s certainly conceivable to see where Hardin & York were inspired to find their sound. The song heard below, written by Eddie Hardin and featured on their debut 1969 album, Tomorrow Today, was featured as the album’s fourth track. That album’s cover, which lacked Hardin and York’s name, was an award-winner in New York for artistic originality.



Hardin and York - Drinking My Wine (1969)

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Lyrics:

Sitting here drinking my wine
Wastes so much of my time
Pass another empty day
Sitting on my new friend’s way

When it comes to you
I drink some out of your shoe
And I don’t know, but i feel like
Some of these might happen to me, too

Sitting alone in the park
Feeling afraid of the dark
Everyone’s eyes set firmly on me
Why can’t they set me free?

When it comes to you
I drink some out of your shoe
And I don’t know, but i feel like
Some of these might happen to me, too

Sitting here drinking my wine
Wastes so much of my time
Pass another empty day
Sitting on my new friend’s way

When it comes to you
I drink some out of your shoe
And I don’t know, but i feel like
Some of these might happen to me, too

Sitting alone in the park
Feeling afraid of the dark
Everyone’s eyes set firmly on me
Why can’t they set me free?

When it comes to you
I drink some out of your shoe
And I don’t know, but i feel like
Some of these might happen to me, too