''It Ain't Easy'' is the fourth album 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 Wale ...

band

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

, released in 1970.

Title and packaging

According to lead singer

Chuck Negron Charles Negron II (born June 8, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter. He is best known as a founding member and lead vocalist of the rock band Three Dog Night. Early life Chuck Negron was born on June 8, 1942, in Manhattan, New York City, to ...

's book ''Three Dog Nightmare'', the album's working title was ''The Wizards of Orange'', with a cover featuring the band's members wearing orange make-up and posing in the nude. The band's record company, ABC/ Dunhill, rejected the original album title and cover art, although some configurations of their first "greatest hits" album, 1971's '' Golden Bisquits'', would later be packaged using ''It Ain't Easys original cover photo.

Critical reception

Reviewing in '' Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981),

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

wrote: "Admitting it won't gain me any of the hip cachet I crave, but I admired and enjoyed this group's first LP. I found the second mediocre and the live job that followed it wretchedly excessive, but this one—their fourth in just fourteen months—gets back: exemplary song-finding and not too much plastic-soul melon-mouthing or preening vocal pyrotechnique. Highlights: the hit version of

Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter, arranger, pianist, composer, conductor and orchestrator. He is known for his non-rhotic Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early America ...

's '

Mama Told Me Not to Come "Mama Told Me Not to Come", also written as "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)", is a song by American singer-songwriter Randy Newman written for Eric Burdon's first solo album in 1966. Three Dog Night's 1970 cover topped the US pop singles chart. Tom ...

,' with just the right admixture of high-spirited schlock to turn it into the AM giant it deserves to be, and a departure from pre-

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

times called "Good Feeling (1957)."

Track listing

Side one

#"Woman" (

Andy Fraser Andrew McIan Fraser (3 July 1952 – 16 March 2015) was an English musician and songwriter, best known as the bassist and co-composer for the rock band Free, which he helped found in 1968 when he was 15. He also founded the rock band Sharks af ...

Paul Rodgers Paul Bernard Rodgers (born 17 December 1949) is an English-Canadian singer. He was the lead vocalist of numerous successful rock bands, including Free (band), Free, Bad Company, The Firm (rock band), the Firm and The Law (English band), the L ...

) – 4:40 #"Cowboy" (

) – 3:42 #"It Ain't Easy" ( Ron Davies) – 2:46 #"

Out in the Country "Out in the Country" is a song written by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols and performed by Three Dog Night. It was produced by Richard Podolor, and was featured on their 1970 album, '' It Ain't Easy''. In the US, "Out in the Country" peaked at ...

" ( Roger Nichols,

Paul Williams Paul Williams may refer to: Authors * Paul Williams (Crawdaddy) (1948–2013), American music and science fiction journalist; founder of ''Crawdaddy'' and the Philip K. Dick Society * Paul Williams (Irish journalist) (born 1964), Irish journalis ...

) – 3:08 #"Good Feeling (1957)" (Alan Brackett, John Merrill) – 3:46

Side two

#"Rock and Roll Widow" (

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 ...

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 Buffal ...

, Mike Allsup,

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 i ...

, Joe Schermie,

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 ...

) – 2:56 #" Mama Told Me (Not to Come)" (Newman) – 3:18 #"

Your Song "Your Song" is a song written by musician Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was John's first international Top 10 chart single. "Your Song" was first released by American rock band Three Dog Night in March 1970 ...

" (

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

Bernie Taupin Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English lyricist and visual artist. He is best known for his songwriting partnership with Elton John, recognised as one of the most successful partnerships of its kind in history. Taupin co-wrote th ...

) – 4:01 #"Good Time Living" (

Barry Mann Barry Mann (born Barry Imberman; February 9, 1939) is an American songwriter and musician, and was part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil. He has written or co-written 53 hits in the UK and 98 in the US. Early ...

Cynthia Weil Cynthia Weil (October 18, 1940 – June 1, 2023) was an American songwriter who wrote many songs together with her husband Barry Mann. Weil and Mann were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987, and in 2011, they jointly received the ...

) – 4:06

Personnel

Musicians

– lead vocals (tracks A1, A3, B2, A4-group unison), background vocals *

– lead vocals (tracks A2, A5, A4-group unison), background vocals *

– lead vocals (track B3, A4-group unison), background vocals *Mike Allsup –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

*Joe Schermie –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

– keyboards

Production

* Producer:

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

Engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

: Bill Cooper *

Arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

* Roadie,

lighting Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylight. ...

: Dennis Albro *Roadie,

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

: Lee Carlton *

Cal Schenkel Calvin "Cal" Schenkel (born January 27, 1947, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania) is an American illustrator, graphic designer, animator and comics artist, specializing in album cover design. He was the main graphic arts collaborator for rock musician F ...

– design *

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 ...

– photography

Charts

Album – ''Billboard'' (United States)Three Dog Night, Chart Positions
Retrieved February 16, 2015 Singles – ''Billboard'' (United States)

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:It Ain't Easy (Three Dog Night Album) Three Dog Night albums 1970 albums Albums produced by Richard Podolor Dunhill Records albums MCA Records albums Probe Records albums