Don't Make Promises

{{Infobox song

| name = Don't Make Promises

| cover =

| alt =

| type =

| artist = Tim Hardin

| album = Tim Hardin 1

| released = 1966

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre =

| length =

| label = Verve

| writer = Tim Hardin

| producer = Erik Jacobsen

}}

"Don’t Make Promises" was the first track on Tim Hardin's debut album Tim Hardin 1, released in 1966. The song, along with "Reason to Believe," was one of the two major songwriting hits from the album,

{{cite web

|last = Eder

|first = Bruce

|url = {{Allmusic|class=album|id=r106707|pure_url=yes}}

|title = Tim Hardin 1 - Review

|publisher = Allmusic (Macrovision Corporation)

|accessdate = 2009-10-24}}

with more than a dozen cover versions having been recorded following its release.

{{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

| page=503

| location=San Francisco

| year=2002

| isbn=978-0-87930-653-3}}

British radio presenter and writer Charlie Gillett noted the song's ability to achieve "the elusive balance between personal miseries and universal sufferings,"

{{cite book

| last=Gillett

| first=Charlie

| title=The Sound Of The City: The Rise Of Rock And Roll

| edition=2nd

| publisher=Da Capo Press

| location=New York

| page=308

| year=1996

| isbn=978-0-306-80683-4}}

while author Mark Brend praised the song's "fragile pop sensibilities" and how it contrasted with the "swaggering" R&B of album track "Ain't Gonna Do Without."

{{cite book

| last=Brend

| first=Mark

| title=American Troubadours: Groundbreaking Singer-Songwriters of the 60s

| edition=1st

| publisher=Backbeat Books

| 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

}}

The Beau Brummels version

{{Infobox song

| name = Don't Make Promises

| cover =

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = The Beau Brummels

| album =

| A-side = Two Days 'Til Tomorrow

| released = March 1967

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Folk rock

| length = {{Duration|m=2|s=30}}

| label = Warner Bros. 7014

| writer = Tim Hardin

| producer = Lenny Waronker

| chronology = The Beau Brummels

| prev_title = Here We Are Again

| prev_year = 1966

| next_title = Lower Level

| next_title2 = Magic Hollow

| next_year = 1967

}}

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 The Best of The Beau Brummels 1964–1968. The single's B-side, "Two Days 'Til Tomorrow," was a favorite of lead vocalist Sal Valentino, who called it the band's "greatest" song.

{{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 (New Times Media)

| date= 2006-03-01

| accessdate=2009-10-24}} It was included on the 2007 compilation album Love Is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965–1970,

{{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 (Macrovision Corporation)

|accessdate = 2009-10-24}} and was called a "sublime bit of pop drama" by Pitchfork Media music critic Joe Tangari.

{{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)

|accessdate = 2009-10-24}}

Other versions

Bobby Darin included "Don't Make Promises", as well as four other Tim Hardin songs, on Darin's 1966 If I Were a Carpenter album.{{cite web|url = {{Allmusic|class=album|id=r5113|pure_url=yes}}|title = If I Were a Carpenter - Overview|publisher = Allmusic (Macrovision Corporation)|accessdate = 2009-10-24}} In 1967, the song was covered by Marianne Faithfull, Scott McKenzie, Rick Nelson, and Gary Lewis & the Playboys.[http://allmusic.com/album/listen-r1940970 Gary Lewis & the Playboys, Listen!] Retrieved October 1, 2011 Later versions were performed by Cliff Richard (1967) on Don't Stop Me Now!, Gary Puckett & The Union Gap as the B-side to "Woman, Woman" (1968), Three Dog Night (1968), Circus (1969), Z. Z. Hill (1969), Helen Reddy (1971), Joan Baez (1995), Chris Smither (1999), Paul Weller (2004), and 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.{{cite web|url = {{Allmusic|class=album|id=r1085991|pure_url=yes}}|title = The Lost 1967 Album: Rarities, Vol. 1 - Overview|publisher = Allmusic (Macrovision Corporation)|accessdate = 2009-10-24}} Dave Alvin recorded the song for his 2009 release Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women.