# Don't Make Promises

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Don't_Make_Promises
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Don't_Make_Promises.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_Make_Promises
> Source revision: 1355322295
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|1966 song by Tim Hardin}}
{{Infobox song
| name     = Don't Make Promises
| cover    =
| alt      =
| type     =
| artist   = [Tim Hardin](/source/Tim_Hardin)
| album    = [Tim Hardin 1](/source/Tim_Hardin_1)
| released = 1966
| recorded =
| studio   =
| venue    =
| genre    =
| length   =
| label    = Verve
| writer   = [Tim Hardin](/source/Tim_Hardin)
| producer = [Erik Jacobsen](/source/Erik_Jacobsen)
}}

'''"Don’t Make Promises"''' was the first track on [Tim Hardin](/source/Tim_Hardin)'s debut album ''[Tim Hardin 1](/source/Tim_Hardin_1)'', released in 1966. The song, along with "[Reason to Believe](/source/Reason_to_Believe)," was one of the two major songwriting hits from the album,<ref name="eder">
{{cite web
|last = Eder
|first = Bruce
|url = {{Allmusic|class=album|id=r106707|pure_url=yes}}
|title = ''Tim Hardin 1'' - Review
|publisher = [Allmusic](/source/Allmusic) ([Macrovision Corporation](/source/Macrovision_Corporation))
|accessdate = 2009-10-24}}</ref> 
with more than a dozen [cover version](/source/cover_version)s having been recorded following its release.<ref>
{{cite book
| last1=Bogdanov
| first1=Vladimir 
| last2=Woodstra
| first2=Chris
| last3=Erlewine
| first3=Stephen Thomas 
| title=All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul
| edition= 3rd
| publisher=[Backbeat Books](/source/Hal_Leonard_Corporation)
| page=503
| location=San Francisco
| year=2002 
| isbn=978-0-87930-653-3}}</ref> 
[British](/source/United_Kingdom) [radio](/source/radio) presenter and writer [Charlie Gillett](/source/Charlie_Gillett) noted the song's ability to achieve "the elusive balance between personal miseries and universal sufferings,"<ref>
{{cite book
| last=Gillett
| first=Charlie
| title=The Sound Of The City: The Rise Of Rock And Roll
| edition=2nd 
| publisher=[Da Capo Press](/source/Da_Capo_Press)
| location=New York
| page=308
| year=1996 
| isbn=978-0-306-80683-4}}</ref> 
while author Mark Brend praised the song's "fragile pop sensibilities" and how it contrasted with the "swaggering" [R&B](/source/Rhythm_and_blues) of album track "Ain't Gonna Do Without."<ref>
{{cite book
| last=Brend
| first=Mark
| title=American Troubadours: Groundbreaking Singer-Songwriters of the 60s
| edition=1st
| publisher=[Backbeat Books](/source/Hal_Leonard_Corporation)
| location=San Francisco
| page=[https://archive.org/details/americantroubado00bren/page/82 82]
| year=2001
| isbn=978-0-87930-641-0
| url-access=registration
| url=https://archive.org/details/americantroubado00bren/page/82
}}</ref>

==The Beau Brummels version==
{{Infobox song
| name        = Don't Make Promises
| cover       =
| alt         =
| type        = single
| artist      = [The Beau Brummels](/source/The_Beau_Brummels)
| album       =
| A-side      = Two Days 'Til Tomorrow
| released    = [March 1967](/source/1967_in_music)
| recorded    =
| studio      =
| venue       =
| genre       = [Folk rock](/source/Folk_rock)
| length      = {{Duration|m=2|s=30}}
| label       = [Warner Bros.](/source/Warner_Bros._Records) 7014
| writer      = Tim Hardin
| producer    = [Lenny Waronker](/source/Lenny_Waronker)
| chronology  = [The Beau Brummels](/source/The_Beau_Brummels)
| prev_title  = [Here We Are Again](/source/Here_We_Are_Again)
| prev_year   = 1966
| next_title  = Lower Level
| next_title2 = [Magic Hollow](/source/Magic_Hollow)
| next_year   = 1967
}}
[The Beau Brummels](/source/The_Beau_Brummels) released a cover version of "Don't Make Promises" as a single in 1967. The song later appeared on the band's 1987 [compilation album](/source/compilation_album) ''[The Best of The Beau Brummels 1964–1968](/source/The_Best_of_The_Beau_Brummels_1964%E2%80%931968)''. The single's [B-side](/source/A-side_and_B-side), "Two Days 'Til Tomorrow," was a favorite of lead vocalist [Sal Valentino](/source/Sal_Valentino), who called it the band's "greatest" song.<ref>
{{cite web
| last=Farrar
| first=Justin F.
| url=http://www.sfweekly.com/2006-03-01/news/oh-pioneers/2
| title=Oh, Pioneers
| publisher=[SF Weekly](/source/SF_Weekly) (New Times Media)
| date= 2006-03-01
| accessdate=2009-10-24}}</ref> It was included on the 2007 compilation album ''[Love Is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965–1970](/source/Love_Is_the_Song_We_Sing%3A_San_Francisco_Nuggets_1965%E2%80%931970)'',<ref>
{{cite web
|url = {{Allmusic|class=album|id=r1070696|pure_url=yes}}
|title = ''Love Is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965–1970'' - Overview
|publisher = [Allmusic](/source/Allmusic) ([Macrovision Corporation](/source/Macrovision_Corporation))
|accessdate = 2009-10-24}}</ref> and was called a "sublime bit of pop drama" by [Pitchfork Media](/source/Pitchfork_Media) music critic Joe Tangari.<ref>
{{cite web
|last = Tangari
|first = Joe
|date = 2007-09-21
|url = http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/10653-love-is-the-song-we-sing-san-francisco-nuggets-1965-1970/
|title = Album Reviews - Various Artists - ''Love Is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970''
|publisher = [Pitchfork Media](/source/Pitchfork_Media))
|accessdate = 2009-10-24}}</ref>

==Other versions==
[Bobby Darin](/source/Bobby_Darin) included "Don't Make Promises", as well as four other Tim Hardin songs, on Darin's 1966 ''[If I Were a Carpenter](/source/If_I_Were_a_Carpenter_(Bobby_Darin_album))'' album.<ref>{{cite web|url = {{Allmusic|class=album|id=r5113|pure_url=yes}}|title = ''If I Were a Carpenter'' - Overview|publisher = [Allmusic](/source/Allmusic) ([Macrovision Corporation](/source/Macrovision_Corporation))|accessdate = 2009-10-24}}</ref> In 1967, the song was covered by [Marianne Faithfull](/source/Marianne_Faithfull), [Scott McKenzie](/source/Scott_McKenzie), [Rick Nelson](/source/Ricky_Nelson), and [Gary Lewis & the Playboys](/source/Gary_Lewis_%26_the_Playboys).<ref>[http://allmusic.com/album/listen-r1940970 Gary Lewis & the Playboys, ''Listen!''] Retrieved October 1, 2011</ref> Later versions were performed by [Cliff Richard](/source/Cliff_Richard) (1967) on ''[Don't Stop Me Now!](/source/Don't_Stop_Me_Now!)'', [Gary Puckett & The Union Gap](/source/Gary_Puckett_%26_The_Union_Gap) as the B-side to "[Woman, Woman](/source/Woman%2C_Woman)" (1968), [Three Dog Night](/source/Three_Dog_Night) (1968), Circus (1969), [Z. Z. Hill](/source/Z._Z._Hill) (1969), [Helen Reddy](/source/Helen_Reddy) (1971), [Joan Baez](/source/Joan_Baez) ([1995](/source/Ring_Them_Bells)), [Chris Smither](/source/Chris_Smither) (1999), [Paul Weller](/source/Paul_Weller) (2004), and [The Kingston Trio](/source/The_Kingston_Trio), whose version was recorded in 1967 but remained unreleased until it appeared on the 2007 compilation album, ''The Lost 1967 Album: Rarities, Vol. 1''.<ref>{{cite web|url = {{Allmusic|class=album|id=r1085991|pure_url=yes}}|title = ''The Lost 1967 Album: Rarities, Vol. 1'' - Overview|publisher = [Allmusic](/source/Allmusic) ([Macrovision Corporation](/source/Macrovision_Corporation))|accessdate = 2009-10-24}}</ref> [Dave Alvin](/source/Dave_Alvin) recorded the song for his 2009 release ''[Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women](/source/Dave_Alvin_and_the_Guilty_Women)''.

== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{Tim Hardin}}
{{The Beau Brummels}}
{{Gary Puckett & The Union Gap}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Don't Make Promises}}
Category:1966 songs
Category:1967 singles
Category:Songs written by Tim Hardin
Category:Tim Hardin songs
Category:The Beau Brummels songs
Category:Bobby Darin songs
Category:Marianne Faithfull songs
Category:Scott McKenzie songs
Category:Ricky Nelson songs
Category:Gary Lewis & the Playboys songs
Category:Gary Puckett & The Union Gap songs
Category:Three Dog Night songs
Category:Helen Reddy songs
Category:Joan Baez songs
Category:Cliff Richard songs
Category:The Kingston Trio songs
Category:Song recordings produced by Lenny Waronker
Category:Warner Records singles
Category:Columbia Records singles

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Don't Make Promises](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_Make_Promises) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_Make_Promises?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.