Old Enough to Forget

Three Dog Night has been one of those nifty pleasures for me over the last couple of years. As a kid they were on the radio all the time ... at least it seemed that way up to around 1974 or so, then they weren't on the radio anymore. I'd always liked music and my little AM radio was always on. When Harmony came out in 1971, I remember really liking "An Old Fashioned Love Song", although at the time I had no idea that's what the album was called. Of course over the decades time has a way of blurring and over the last couple of years I've picked up a number of their albums I've really enjoyed. The records have come to me out of sequence, and I want to find the classic hits and then allow the deeper album tracks some time to breathe. I'm still in awe of the band. The fact that Three Dog Night wasn't centred on a lone front man is a source of wonder. Cory, Chuck and Danny were amazing singers and the band was so good. Mike Allsup, the guitarist, is so...

Recorded live in front of over 18,000 fans September 12, 1969, in Los Angeles, the album captures the band as they run through some of their earlier hits, and a number of covers ... they're all covers , but man, the band would make the songs their own. I found this quite a while ago, and it was in better shape than it first appeared. From what I've read, this is an original pressing, which was cool. At this stage in their career, the band had only released two albums, and to come out with a live album so soon must have seemed a little weird. Apparently Steppenwolf was recording a number of their shows for a potential live album, and Three Dog Night was opening for them the night this was recorded. As both bands were on Dunhill and they were recording the show anyway, they just got extra tape and captured the opening act as well. Turns out that was a pretty smart move, as the album was a hit and would go gold. What makes this so cool is that it really is a performance captured l...

Well lookie what the cat dragged in from the bins today (I was going to say dog, but I have some pride). Three Dog Night's 1973 release Cyan . The record still had its original shrink wrap (mostly intact), and the heavy inner sleeve was almost like a second album cover. The vinyl was in need of a cleaning, but it looked good. Not sure why it was in the bin, but I wasn't complaining. The cover features seven dashing men in their early '70s finery. I was looking forward to sitting and listening to this one. "Shambala" remains one of my favourite songs and was the reason I picked this up - that and it was only a buck. Yeah, I am cheap. The first thing that jumped out at me as I held the sleeve, reading along as the band played, was that despite the lyrics and artwork, there was a distinct lack of actual credits. Half a page is used for the production and engineering credits, and equal space to the team who provided art direction and design. There is one small credit ...