It Ain't Easy (Three Dog Night album)

It Ain't Easy
Studio album by Three Dog Night
Released	March 31, 1970
Recorded	1969–70
Studio	American Recording Co., Studio City, California
Length	32:24
Label	Dunhill, MCA, Probe
Producer	Richard Podolor
Three Dog Night chronology
Captured Live at the Forum (1969) It Ain't Easy (1970) Naturally (1970)
Original "Wizards of Orange" Cover
Singles from It Ain't Easy
"Mama Told Me (Not to Come)" Released: May 1970 "Out in the Country" Released: 1970

It Ain't Easy is the fourth album by American rock band Three Dog Night, released in 1970.

Title and packaging

According to lead singer Chuck Negron'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 Easy's original cover photo.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
Christgau's Record Guide	B[1]
Tom Hull	B[2]

Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau 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's 'Mama Told Me Not to Come,' 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 times called "Good Feeling (1957)."[1]

Track listing

Side one

1. "Woman" (Andy Fraser, Paul Rodgers) – 4:40
2. "Cowboy" (Randy Newman) – 3:42
3. "It Ain't Easy" (Ron Davies) – 2:46
4. "Out in the Country" (Roger Nichols, Paul Williams) – 3:08
5. "Good Feeling (1957)" (Alan Brackett, John Merrill) – 3:46

Side two

1. "Rock and Roll Widow" (Danny Hutton, Chuck Negron, Cory Wells, Mike Allsup, Jimmy Greenspoon, Joe Schermie, Floyd Sneed) – 2:56
2. "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)" (Newman) – 3:18
3. "Your Song" (Elton John, Bernie Taupin) – 4:01
4. "Good Time Living" (Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil) – 4:06

Personnel

Musicians

• Cory Wells – lead vocals (tracks A1, A3, B2, A4-group unison), background vocals
• Chuck Negron – lead vocals (tracks A2, A5, A4-group unison), background vocals
• Danny Hutton – lead vocals (track B3, A4-group unison), background vocals
• Mike Allsup – guitar
• Joe Schermie – bass guitar
• Floyd Sneed – drums
• Jimmy Greenspoon – keyboards

Production

• Producer: Richard Podolor
• Engineer: Bill Cooper
• Arranger: Three Dog Night
• Roadie, lighting: Dennis Albro
• Roadie, sound: Lee Carlton
• Cal Schenkel – design
• Ed Caraeff – photography

Charts

Album – Billboard (United States)[3]

Year	Chart	Position
1970	Pop Albums	8

Singles – Billboard (United States)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1970	"Mama Told Me (Not to Come)"	Pop Singles	1
	"Out in the Country"	Pop Singles	15
		Easy Listening	11

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[4]	Gold	500,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: T". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 16, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
2. Hull, Tom (November 2013). "Recycled Goods (#114)". A Consumer Guide to the Trailing Edge. Tom Hull. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
3. Three Dog Night, Chart Positions Retrieved February 16, 2015
4. "American album certifications – Three Dog Night – It Ain't Easy". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 14, 2019.