If I Were a Carpenter

If I Were a Carpenter is a single that was written by the American composer Tim Hardin . The song has been recorded by many different artists, including the original by himself, hit-versions of Bobby Darin and the Four Tops and other successful artists such as the Small Faces , Joan Baez and Dolly Parton . The version of Bobby Darin reached in # 1966, the 8-position in the United States and the # 9-position in the United Kingdom.

Besides the successful version of Bobby Darin, also had the Four Tops, an American group which at that time under contract with the record company Motown stood there with a big hit. They brought the number of succeeding " Walk Away Renee ", a hit for the group at the beginning of the year. Like its predecessor, "If I Were a Carpenter" a cover. The Four Tops brought these two numbers, because their fixed writer team, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Motown had left the group and did not bring their own new singles. Like "Walk Away Renee" is "If I Were a Carpenter from the album" Reach Out ". The B-side of the single, "Wonderful Baby" comes from the album. This song was written by Smokey Robinson, a singer who also was part of another group that was under contract with Motown, The Miracles . "If I Were a Carpenter" for the Four Tops most successful in the Netherlands. As the song reached the # 4 position in the top 40. In the homeland of the group, the United States, the song reached the # 17 position on the R & B list and the # 20 position on the pop chart.

The Dutch-Swedish singer Cornelis Vreeswijk made ​​a Swedish version: Om jag furrow arbetslös ("When I was unemployed).

Occupancy Four Tops [ edit ]

 * Lead: Levi Stubbs
 * Background: Renaldo "Obie" Benson , Abdul "Duke" Fakir and Lawrence Payton
 * Instrumentation: The Funk Brothers
 * Writer: Tim Hardin
 * Producers: Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier