Now that we’ve hit the first “best of” album, I think this would be a good time to mess with the format. Going into detail about each song gets a little long-winded, especially if there’s not much to say. So I’m just going to zero in on what matters to me, and provide more overall reviews.
(Preview Songs)
3 Dog Night is one of the few artists I inherited from my parents. My dad has one or two of their LPs, and I remember getting into them a little in high school. Then I heard the band was performing at Riverfest, La Crosse, Wisconsin’s annual summer festival. I forget if you had to get tickets or not, but anyway I made it to the show. Then I discovered that apparently this was the “reunion” band, and only one or two members were from the original band. Probably it was the tambourine player. It’s kind of like those stories about how every plank of wood on a ship gets replaced eventually. So when does it become a new ship?
But if you want to talk about listening to the original creators of the music, the deepest cut was yet to come. When the family got the “Best of” album, I quickly discovered - thanks to the staggering number of different people the songs were credited to - that 3 Dog Night did not really write their own music. For me, this immediately put them in the same company as Britney Spears and The Backstreet Boys.
So for awhile I was through with 3 Dog Night. But dang it if that music isn’t pretty good despite its questionable origins. Who doesn’t get a tingle in their spine when they hear, “Jeremiah was a bullfrog?” Who doesn’t feel the immediate need to shimmy and shake? 3 Dog Night had some great pop/rock, and their music drips with an element that is scarce in my hipster-dominated collection: fun. The only drab spots to me generally happen when they try to be socially conscious. This is one of those instances where I agree with what someone has to say, but what they are saying comes across as simplistic or insipid. So I won’t say too much about “Black And White” or “Family of Man.”
I love the eerie, haunting verses “Old Fashioned Love Song,” and the ending chorus where the singer stretches out “Just....an...old song.” I have memories of listening to “Mama Told Me Not To Come” as a teenager, trying to figure out just how much of a drug trip is implied in the party the singer’s mama warned him about. The way the singer’s voice scratches and sneers through the verses adds to the creepiness of the wasted party, and yet somehow makes the song that much more fun. “Try A Little Tenderness” has been sadly co-opted by Eddie Murphy as the donkey in “Shrek.” So it is hard for me to hear it and sever the song from the movie. Nice use of roller rink organ at the beginning, though.
But if you want to talk about songs forever absorbed by other pop culture, nothing compares to “Shambala,” a song central to LOST’s episode “Tricia Tanaka Is Dead,” one of the greatest and most fun episodes of the series. Which is why the song is a natural fit for the episode. Listen to this song and try not to want to boogie and sing along. There’s more than a little hippie in 3 Dog Night, but of all the hippie notions, learning to simply enjoy life and join in the dance is one of the most universally respected - and yet neglected.
I got way into “Never Been To Spain” at some point in late high school or early college. I think it has to do with the quiet early verses and the way it builds. Plus something about the place and name-checking appeals to me. That and, I dig the idea of experiencing something mystically and from afar, and having that be true in its own way. Kind of like the Bronte sisters writing great romances without ever experiencing one.
“Pieces of April” is another song I considered a late discovery (which basically means it wasn’t on the radio or my dad’s LPs). It’s also one of the sadder 3 Dog Night songs. The idea of accepting a broken past, and taking the good parts with you into the future - that just has a lot of resonance with me. “I’ve got pieces of April; it’s a morning in May.” As a country boy myself, “Out in the Country” hits me in all the right places. I love the city, but yeah, if I don’t get out in the country in a while, I just about can’t stand it. This celebration of all things free and natural and rejuvenating stays with me in a way most songs - even the ones I love - don’t.
“The Show Must Go On” and “One Man Band” are both fun songs oriented on performing (metaphorically), but if you are going to talk about songs that involve the audience in the lyrics, nothing beats “Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues).” I love the quasi-soul in his voice, and the way he starts with the listener being down on his music. And how great is the line, “Play something I can sink my teeth in like jello.” The lyrics are silly and fun, as is the music. But the strange intensity of the singer on the verses as he’s trying to play right, I dunno - those verses the ying to the chorus’s silly yang.
One of the songs that was definitely on my dad’s LP was “Eli’s Coming.” From the organ at the start to the driving beat through the chorus, I love this song’s intensity. With the drums thundering forward, and the playful piano and danceable beat, I think this one could make a great song for Show Choirs. There, I said it.
“One” was also on that LP; in fact I’m pretty sure it was the first track. Which is kind of an obvious choice, don’t you think? Anyway, this is one of their most famous songs, and for good reason. One *is* the loneliest number. Plus, dig the piano and the bass on the verses, and the guitar shredding on the chorus. Plus the vocal part is pretty great, even the falsetto. I even love how the prechorus cuts out early the last time to a layered and intense conclusion.
“Celebrate” closes off “The Best of 3 Dog Night,” and it’s far from my favorite, but it is fun. I really like the vocal parts on this song. Normally I’m not that big into harmonies, but I like it here. And of course there’s the end: “Celebrate! Celebrate! Dance to the music!” Complete with clapping along, right there in the track. If you aren’t tempted to clap along, you should probably go get yourself checked out. Your heart may be in trouble.
Here’s my final thought: 3 Dog Night had a lot of great songs, and they’re fun to listen to. Why complicate it more than that? Hurray for simple fun!
Next up: Eve 6’s self-titled album, and creepy images from childhood (think “Jesus Nitelite").
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