After Stax found album sales of Home to be disappointing, Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett were released from their contract after just this one album. “Hard to Say Goodbye,” the second single pulled from Home, was ironically released as a single in late ’69, after Stax and the Bramletts had already parted company. Guess it must not have been so “Hard to Say Goodbye” after all.

Introduced by guitar and flute, which intertwine as they dance throughout the arrangement, “Hard to Say Goodbye” features Delaney in the lead with Bonnie in backup harmony, giving voice to lyrics that whisper with regret. Competent and professional, “Hard to Say Goodbye” could have been a late ‘60s ballad by the band Chicago or a late ‘70s ballad by the Jefferson Starship led by the voices of Marty Balin and Grace Slick. It is a nice enough little tune but not much more.

Like “Been a Long Time Coming,” “Hard to Say Goodbye” was written by the Bramletts and jointly produced by Don Nix and “Duck” Dunn. And just like their previous single, it too failed to enter either the R&B or Pop singles charts.

Delaney & Bonnie recorded for a few different labels after Stax. Their first album for Atco Records featured guitarist and admirer Eric Clapton; this proved a mixed blessing because although it most likely drew sales from the “Clapton is God” crowd, Clapton also took most of the Bramletts’ band with him when he left to form Derek & the Dominoes.

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