''Suitable for Framing'' is the second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Three Dog Night Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, with founding members consisting of vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael Allsup ...

. The album was released on the Dunhill

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

on June 11, 1969 and was the first of two albums released by the band that year (see

1969 in music List of notable events in music that took place in the year 1969. __TOC__ Specific locations * 1969 in British music * 1969 in Norwegian music Specific genres * 1969 in country music *1969 in jazz Events Summary Perhaps the two most famo ...

). The album contains the top 20 hit

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

s "

Easy to Be Hard "Easy to Be Hard" is a song from the 1967 rock musical ''Hair''. It was written by Galt MacDermot, James Rado, and Gerome Ragni, who put the musical together in the mid-1960s. The original recording of the musical featuring the song was release ...

", " Eli's Coming", and " Celebrate"; the latter of which (along with the album's opening track "

Feelin' Alright Feeling Alright may refer to: *"Feelin' Alright?", a 1968 song by Traffic, made famous by a 1969 version by Joe Cocker retitled "Feeling Alright"; also recorded by many other artists * "Feelin' Alright" (Len song), 1999 song by Canadian alternative ...

") featured the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

horn section A horn section is a group of musicians playing horns. In an orchestra or concert band, it refers to the musicians who play the "French" horn, and in a British-style brass band it is the tenor horn players. In many popular music genres, the te ...

. It is also notable for being the first album by Three Dog Night to include songs written by band members, and for its inclusion of the

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

Bernie Taupin Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English songwriter, singer and visual artist. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with musician Elton John, a songwriting partnership that is one of the most successful in history. Tau ...

song "

Lady Samantha "Lady Samantha" is a song by English musician Elton John with lyrics by Bernie Taupin. It was released on 17 January 1969 as his second single, six months before his first album, '' Empty Sky'', came out. It appeared on its 1995 reissue as a b ...

," as the duo of John/Taupin would not become widely known in the United States for another year. The album reached the top 10 on charts in both The United States and Canada and became certified gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

at the end of the year.

Recording, production, artwork, packaging

As with the band's self-titled debut album, ''Suitable for Framing'' was recorded at American Recording Company, was produced by

Gabriel Mekler Gabriel Mekler (2 December 1942 – 4 September 1977) was an American songwriter, musician, and record producer who attained fame in the 1960s, helming albums for Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night, and Janis Joplin. He also collaborated with R&B sing ...

(who produced other Dunhill artists including Steppenwolf), and was engineered by

Richard Podolor Richard Allen Podolor (January 7, 1936 – March 9, 2022) was an American musician, record producer and songwriter. His career started as a session musician in the 1950s, and he was best known as the producer of Three Dog Night. Life and caree ...

(who would later become the group's producer) and Bill Cooper. The band members during the album's recording were

Danny Hutton Daniel Anthony Hutton (born September 10, 1942) is an Irish-American singer, best known as one of the three lead vocalists in the band Three Dog Night. Hutton was a songwriter and singer for Hanna-Barbera Records from 1965 to 1966. Hutton had a ...

(

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Chuck Negron Charles Negron II (born June 8, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter. He is best known as one of the three lead vocalists in the rock band Three Dog Night, which he helped form in 1968. Early life Chuck Negron was born on June 8, 1942, in M ...

(vocals),

Cory Wells Cory Wells (born Emil Lewandowski; February 5, 1941 – October 20, 2015) was an American singer, best known as one of the three lead vocalists in the band Three Dog Night. Early life Wells came from a musical family and began playing in Buffalo ...

(vocals),

Jimmy Greenspoon James Boyd Greenspoon (February 7, 1948 – March 11, 2015) was an American keyboard player and composer, best known as a member of the band Three Dog Night. Early life and education Greenspoon was born in Los Angeles, California, and raised in ...

(

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

s),

Michael Allsup Michael Rand Allsup (born March 8, 1947) is an American guitarist, best known as a member of the rock and roll band Three Dog Night. Background Allsup's parents were originally from Oklahoma, but relocated to the small town of Empire, Californ ...

(

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s),

Joe Schermie Joseph Edward Schermetzler (February 12, 1946 – March 26, 2002), known as Joe Schermie, was an American musician, best known as the bass player for the 1970s American rock-pop group Three Dog Night. Biography Schermie was born in Madison, ...

( bass), and

Floyd Sneed Floyd Chester Sneed (November 22, 1942 – January 27, 2023) was a Canadian drummer, best known for his work with the band Three Dog Night. Born on November 22, 1942, in Calgary, Sneed grew up in a musical family (his parents were both musicia ...

(

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

). Engineer Richard Podolor also performed as an uncredited guitarist on the album. The original version of ''Suitable for Framing'' (Dunhill DS 50058) was released as a vinyl LP record with a gatefold sleeve. The

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

for the original LP sleeve was done by Wayne Kimbell with

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

Ed Caraeff Ed Caraeff (born April 18, 1950) is an American photographer, illustrator and graphic designer, who has worked largely in the music industry. He has art directed, photographed and designed more than 400 record album covers from 1967 to 1981 for ...

. The album's gatefold photo features Three Dog Night wearing greasepaint make-up, and posing with members of the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

groupie The term groupie is a slang word that refers to a fan of a particular musical group who follows the band around while they are on tour or who attends as many of their public appearances as possible, with the hope of meeting them. The term is usu ...

troupe

The GTOs ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

Critical reception

Writing for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' in 1969,

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

believed ''Suitable for Framing'' suffered for the same reasons ''Three Dog Night'' succeeded:

Track listing

Side one

" (

Dave Mason David Thomas Mason (born 10 May 1946) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic. Over the course of his career, Mason has played and recorded with many notable pop and rock mu ...

) – 3:39 #* ''Lead vocals shared by Hutton, Negron and Wells; includes the Chicago horn section.'' #"

" (

) – 2:53 #* ''Lead vocal: Negron.'' #"Dreaming Isn't Good for You" (

) – 2:16 #* ''Lead vocal: Hutton.'' #" A Change Is Gonna Come" (

Sam Cooke Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred ...

) – 3:10 #* ''Lead vocal: Wells.'' #" Eli's Coming" (

Laura Nyro Laura Nyro ( ; born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' (1968 ...

) – 2:41 #* ''Lead vocal: Wells. Does not include the piano outro used in the 45 RPM mono mix of the song.''

Side two

" (

Galt MacDermot Arthur Terence Galt MacDermot (December 18, 1928 – December 17, 2018) was a Canadian-American composer, pianist and writer of musical theater. He won a Grammy Award for the song " African Waltz" in 1960. His most-successful musicals were ''Hai ...

James Rado James Alexander Radomski (January 23, 1932 – June 21, 2022), known professionally as James Rado, was an American actor, playwright, director, and composer, best known as the co-author, along with Gerome Ragni, of the 1967 musical ''Hair''. He ...

Gerome Ragni Gerome Ragni (born Jerome Bernard Ragni; September 11, 1935 – July 10, 1991) was an American actor, singer, and songwriter, best known as one of the stars and co-writers of the 1967 musical '' Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical''. On Jun ...

) – 3:11 #* ''Lead vocal: Negron. Features an uncredited string section.'' #"Ain't That a Lotta Love" (Willie Dean "Deanie" Parker,

Homer Banks Homer Banks (August 2, 1941 – April 3, 2003) was an African American songwriter, singer and record producer. Although best known by many for his songwriting for Stax Records in the 1960s and 1970s, some of his own releases from the 1960s are co ...

) – 2:16 #* ''Lead vocal: Wells.'' #"King Solomon's Mines" (

) – 2:29 #* ''Instrumental, dominated by percussion tracks performed by Sneed.'' #"Circle for a Landing" (

Don Preston Donald Ward Preston (born September 21, 1932) is an American jazz and rock keyboardist. He is known for working with Frank Zappa from the mid 1960s to the mid 1970s. Biography Preston was born into a family of musicians in Detroit and began st ...

) – 2:20 #* ''Lead vocal: Hutton.'' #" Celebrate" (Gary Bonner, Alan Gordon) – 3:13 #* ''Lead vocals shared by Hutton, Negron and Wells; includes the Chicago horn section.''

Personnel

The following people contributed to ''Suitable for Framing'': *

– lead vocals (tracks A1, A4-A5, B2, B5), background vocals *

– lead vocals (tracks A1-A2, B1, B5), background vocals *

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

(tracks A1, A3, B4-B5),

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

* Mike Allsup –

– bass *

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

–

s *

Walter Parazaider Walter Parazaider (born March 14, 1945) is an American woodwind musician best known for being a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He plays a wide variety of wind instruments, including saxophone, flute, and clarinet. He also occasionally ...

–

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

on "Celebrate" and "Feelin' Alright" *

Lee Loughnane Lee David Loughnane (pronounced LOCK-nain; born October 21, 1946) is an American trumpeter, flugelhorn player, vocalist, and songwriter, best known for being a founding member of the rock band Chicago. Early life and education Lee David Loughna ...

–

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

on "Celebrate" and "Feelin' Alright" *

James Pankow James Carter Pankow is an American trombone player, songwriter and brass instrument player, best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago. Early life, family and education Born in St. Louis, Missouri of German and Irish descent, Pa ...

–

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

on "Celebrate" and "Feelin' Alright" *

– producer *

– guitar (uncredited), engineer *Bill Cooper –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Singles

Certifications

References

{{Authority control Three Dog Night albums 1969 albums Albums produced by Gabriel Mekler Dunhill Records albums Stateside Records albums MCA Records albums