Hard Labor

Hard Labor
Hard Labor
Studio album by Three Dog Night
Released	March 6, 1974
Recorded	1973
Genre	Pop, rock
Length	35:51
Label	Dunhill DSD-50168
Producer	Jimmy Ienner
Three Dog Night chronology
Singles from Hard Labor
	"The Show Must Go On"; Released: 1974; "Sure As I'm Sittin' Here"; Released: 1974; "Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)"; Released: 1974;

Hard Labor is the eleventh album by American rock band Three Dog Night, released in 1974.

Cover artwork[]

The original album cover, depicting the birth of a record album (shown at right), was deemed too controversial and was first included with a manila file folder covering most of the cover. This was soon reworked with a huge Band-Aid covering the "birth". Subsequent printings had the Band-Aid printed directly on the cover. The cover also includes an attached "birth record sheet" of the album. The CD reissue by MCA Records in the 1990s restored the cover to its original look showing the record.

Track listing[]

Side 1[]

"Prelude" - 1:00
"Sure As I'm Sittin' Here" (John Hiatt) – 4:45
"Anytime Babe" (Larry Weiss) – 3:07
"Put Out the Light" (Daniel Moore) – 3:06
"Sitting in Limbo" (Gully Bright, Jimmy Cliff) – 5:03

Side 2[]

"I'd Be So Happy" (Skip Prokop) – 4:48
"Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)" (Allen Toussaint) – 4:48
"On the Way Back Home" (Moore) – 4:16
"The Show Must Go On" (David Courtney, Leo Sayer) – 4:24

Personnel[]

Mike Allsup - banjo, guitars
Jimmy Greenspoon - keyboard
Danny Hutton - lead vocals (tracks A6, B4), background vocals
Jimmy Iovine
Skip Konte - keyboard, ARP, chamberlin
Chuck Negron - lead vocals (tracks A3, B1, B4, B5), background vocals
Jack Ryland - bass
Joe Schermie - bass
Floyd Sneed - percussion, drums
Cory Wells - lead vocals (tracks A2, A5, B3, B4), background vocals

Production[]

Producer: Jimmy Ienner
Engineers: Greg Calbi, Roy Cicala, Dennis Ferrante, Jimmy Ienner, Jay Messina, Tom Rabstenek, John Stronach
Assistant engineers: Corky Stasiak
Remixing: Roy Cicala, Jay Messina
Arranger: Three Dog Night
Art direction and photography: Ed Caraeff
Design: David Larkham

Charts[]

Chart (1974)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)^[1]	61
Japan Oricon	50
US Top 200	20^[2]
Canada	16

Singles - Billboard (United States)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1974	"The Show Must Go On"	US Pop Singles	4^[3]
		US Cash Box	1
		US Record World	1
		US Radio & Records	3
		Canada Pop Singles	2
		Germany Top 100	12
		Netherlands Top 100	6
		Belgium Ultratop	23
		Japan Oricon Singles Chart	77
	"Sure As I'm Sittin' Here"	US Pop Singles	16^[4]
		US Cash Box	18
		US Record World	22
		Canada Pop Singles	18
	"Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)"	US Pop Singles	33^[5]
		US Cash Box	26
		US Record World	24
		Canada Pop Singles	25

Certifications[]


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)^[6]	Gold	500,000^{^}
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References[]

^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 309. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
^ Three Dog Night, Hard Labor Chart Position Retrieved February 16, 2015
^ Three Dog Night, "The Show Must Go On" Chart Position Retrieved February 16, 2015
^ Three Dog Night, "Sure As I'm Sittin' Here" Chart Position Retrieved February 16, 2015
^ Three Dog Night, "Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)" Chart Position Retrieved February 16, 2015
^ "American album certifications – Three Dog Night – Hard Labor". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 14, 2019.

[aus-1] Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 309. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

[2] Three Dog Night, Hard Labor Chart Position Retrieved February 16, 2015

[3] Three Dog Night, "The Show Must Go On" Chart Position Retrieved February 16, 2015

[4] Three Dog Night, "Sure As I'm Sittin' Here" Chart Position Retrieved February 16, 2015

[5] Three Dog Night, "Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)" Chart Position Retrieved February 16, 2015

[United_StatesThree_Dog_NightHard_LaboralbumCertRef-6] "American album certifications – Three Dog Night – Hard Labor". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 14, 2019.

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hide v t Three Dog Night
Danny Hutton Michael Allsup Paul Kingery Pat Bautz Eddie Reasoner David Morgan Cory Wells Chuck Negron Jimmy Greenspoon Floyd Sneed Joe Schermie Skip Konte Al Ciner Gary Moon Richard Campbell
Studio albums	Three Dog Night (1968) Suitable for Framing (1969) It Ain't Easy (1970) Naturally (1970) Harmony (1971) Seven Separate Fools (1972) Cyan (1973) Hard Labor (1974) Coming Down Your Way (1975) American Pastime (1976) It's a Jungle (1983)
Live albums	Captured Live at the Forum (1969) Around the World with Three Dog Night (1973)
Compilations	Golden Bisquits (1971) Joy to the World: Their Greatest Hits (1975) The Best of 3 Dog Night (1982) Celebrate: The Three Dog Night Story, 1965–1975 (1993) 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Three Dog Night (1999)
Singles	"Nobody" "Try a Little Tenderness" "One" "Easy to Be Hard" "Eli's Coming" "Celebrate" "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)" "Out in the Country" "One Man Band" "Joy to the World" "Liar" "An Old Fashioned Love Song" "Never Been to Spain" "The Family of Man" "Black & White" "Pieces of April" "Shambala" "Let Me Serenade You" "The Show Must Go On" "Sure As I'm Sittin' Here" "Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)" "Til the World Ends" "Everybody's a Masterpiece" "It's a Jungle Out There"
Other songs	"Darlin'" "Time to Get Alone"
Discography