Glen D. Hardin
Glen D. Hardin is a true gentleman of the South … and a living American legend. As a piano player and arranger he has performed and recorded with such notable artists as John Denver, Linda Ronstadt and Frank Sinatra.
But most of all he’s world famous for performing and recording with the biggest super star the world has ever seen. In 1970 Hardin, while touring with Frank Sinatra, got a call from none other than Elvis Presley who asked him to join the TCB Band – a group of professional musicians who formed the core rhythm section of Presley’s band from August 1969 until his death in 1977.
Elvis called him because Hardin was an in-demand session pianist and over the years he recorded with numerous artists in a variety of music genres including Nancy Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Buck Owens, Kenny Rogers, Johnny Rivers, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings and Dwight Yoakam.
Hardin remained with the TCB Band until 1976, touring and recording with Presley and appearing in the Aloha From Hawaii TV special. Hardin arranged many of Presley’s hits such as “The Wonder of You”, “Let It Be Me” and “I Just Can’t Help Believin”.
His high profile position with Elvis Presley soon led to many other opportunities. In 1972 Gram Parsons, widely regarded as the father of country rock, hired the TCB Band to record his first album, GP. Hardin played piano and was musical director on the sessions for this as well as Parsons’ second album, Grievous Angel.
Through his work with Parsons, Hardin was introduced to Emmylou Harris, with whom he would work after Parsons’ death in the highly praised and influential Hot Band.
Hardin also played piano on the Roy Orbison television special, A Black and White Night.
Glen D. Hardin was born in 1939 and today he lives in Nashville, Tennessee …