| recordings |
|---|
| 1925-08 | John Hardy | | Ernest Stoneman | ?:?? |
| 1928-05-10 | John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man | | The Carter Family | 2:56 |
| 1941-01-15 | John Hardy | | Duke Ellington & His Orchestra | 2:23 |
| 1961-09-16 | John Hardy | instrumental and live | The Country Gentlemen | 3:08 |
| 1961-12-04 | John Hardy | | Bill Monroe | 2:42 |
| 1962 | John Hardy | live | Frank Wakefield and Sid Campbell | 1:12 |
| 1962 | John Hardy | instrumental and live | The Dillards | 1:41 |
| 1963 | John Hardy | cover | Joni Mitchell | 2:25 |
| 1964-01-10 | John Hardy / Closing Theme | live | Jerry Garcia | 1:26 |
| 1964-10-21 | John Hardy | cover and live | Joni Mitchell | 3:04 |
| 1966-12-12 | John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man | instrumental | Flatt & Scruggs with Doc Watson | 2:17 |
| 1966-12-12 | John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man | | Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs & The Foggy Mountain Boys | 2:16 |
| 1971 | John Hardy | | High Country | 2:31 |
| 1983-11 | John Hardy | | Don Reno | 2:46 |
| 1983 | John Hardy | | Tony Rice | 3:29 |
| 1987-06 | John Hardy | cover | Bob Dylan & Grateful Dead | 3:20 |
| 1987-06 | John Hardy (John Hardy Was a Desperate Man) | cover | Grateful Dead & Bob Dylan | ?:?? |
| 1987-06 | John Hardy (John Hardy Was a Desperate Man) | cover | Grateful Dead & Bob Dylan | ?:?? |
| 2018-12-02 | John Hardy | live | Billy Strings | 4:00 |
| 2019-08-30 | John Hardy | live | Billy Strings | 2:12 |
| 2021-02-21 | John Hardy | live | Billy Strings | 4:58 |
| 2021-11-12 | John Hardy | live | Billy Strings | 4:21 |
| 2021-12-04 | John Hardy | live | Billy Strings | 4:16 |
| 2021-12-11 | John Hardy | live | Billy Strings | 5:21 |
| 2022-02-03 | John Hardy | live | Billy Strings | 5:37 |
| 2022-02-16 | John Hardy | live | Billy Strings | 4:36 |
| 2022-03-05 | John Hardy | live | Billy Strings | 3:58 |
| 2022-04-23 | John Hardy | cover and live | Billy Strings | 4:14 |
| 2022-04-30 | John Hardy | live | Billy Strings | 4:38 |
| 2022-08-05 | John Hardy | live | Billy Strings | 4:06 |
| 2022-08-12 | John Hardy | live | Billy Strings | 4:34 |
| 2022-09-28 | John Hardy | live | Billy Strings | 4:25 |
| 2022-10-13 | John Hardy | live | Billy Strings | 6:15 |
| 2022-11-03 | John Hardy | live | Billy Strings | 3:42 |
| 2023-03-17 | John Hardy | live | Billy Strings | 4:32 |
| 2025-06-13 | John Hardy | live | Billy Strings | 3:45 |
| 2026-04-11 | John Hardy | live | Billy Strings | 4:07 |
| 2026-08-04 | John Hardy | live | Billy Strings | 10:06 |
| 2026-10-09 | John Hardy | live | Billy Strings | 4:19 |
| John Hardy | | Tony Trischka, Bill Keith & Béla Fleck | 2:28 |
| John Hardy | instrumental | Tom Adams | 3:20 |
| John Hardy | | Bill Frisell | ?:?? |
| John Hardy | cover | Bobby Bare | 4:22 |
| John Hardy | | Martin Simpson | 3:45 |
| John Hardy | cover | Buell Kazee | 2:37 |
| John Hardy | | Silver Apples | 2:24 |
| John Hardy | live | Norman Blake | 5:41 |
| John Hardy | | Dink Roberts | 1:07 |
| John Hardy | | Hobart Smith | 1:29 |
| John Hardy | instrumental | Alan Munde | 3:09 |
| John Hardy | live | Bob Paisley and the Southern Grass | 2:49 |
| John Hardy | | Comet Bluegrass All-Stars | 3:48 |
| John Hardy | cover and live | Northern Lights & Vassar Clements | 3:59 |
| John Hardy | live | Norman Blake | 5:37 |
| John Hardy | cover | Rod McKuen | 2:38 |
| John Hardy | | The Tony Rice Unit | 5:52 |
| John Hardy | | The Tony Rice Unit | 4:30 |
| John Hardy | | Tony Rice | 3:30 |
| John Hardy | | Ola Belle Reed, Alex Campbell, John Miller | 2:42 |
| John Hardy | | Del McCoury and The Dixie Pals | 3:07 |
| John Hardy | | Tommy Jarrell & Fred Cockerham | 3:57 |
| John Hardy | cover | Joan Baez | 3:04 |
| John Hardy | live | Acoustic All-stars | 8:13 |
| John Hardy | | Dock Boggs | 2:06 |
| John Hardy | cover | George Thorogood & the Destroyers | 3:29 |
| John Hardy | | Mike Seeger | 2:45 |
| John Hardy | | Foghorn Stringband | 5:20 |
| John Hardy | cover | The Renfro Valley Pioneers | 3:15 |
| John Hardy | | Pete Seeger | 3:33 |
| John Hardy | | George Thorogood & the Destroyers | 3:29 |
| John Hardy (live) | live | Joan Baez & Bill Wood | ?:?? |
| John Hardy (Was a Desperate Little Man) | | Shaun Cromwell | 5:18 |
| John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man | | Petra Haden and Bill Frisell | 2:41 |
| John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man | | The Carter Family | 2:55 |
| John Hardy Was A Desperate Little Man | | The Carter Family | 2:56 |
| The Story of John Hardy | | Doug Sahm & The Sir Douglas Quintet | 2:41 |
