Easy to Be Hard

"Easy to Be Hard" is a song written by Galt MacDermot, James Rado, and Gerome Ragni and performed by Three Dog Night, with the lead vocal part sung by Chuck Negron.^[1] The song reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969.^[2] The song appeared on their 1969 album, Suitable for Framing.^[3] The song is from the rock musical Hair and was also featured in the film.

The song was produced by Gabriel Mekler.^[4]

The song was ranked #33 on Billboard magazine's Top Hot 100 songs of 1969.^[5]

Other versions

• John Rowles released the song as a single in 1969 in the Netherlands.^[6]
• Jennifer Warnes released the song as a single in 1969. It reached peaked on the chart #128.^[7]
• Sérgio Mendes and Brasil '66 released the song as a single in 1970 in the United Kingdom.^[8]
• Cheryl Barnes released a version as a single in 1979. It reached #64 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[9]
• Three Dog Night's version was sampled on the song "Old to the New" by Nice & Smooth in 1994. Their song was also sampled on the song "A Grand Love Theme" by Kid Loco in 1997.
• Bomb The Bass sampled fragment of the song to their track "One to One Religion", available on the US release of their 1995 album Clear.
• Minneapolis rock supergroup Golden Smog covered the song on their debut EP On Golden Smog.

In media

• Three Dog Night's version was used in the 2005 The Simpsons episode, Thank God, It's Doomsday.
• Three Dog Night's version was used in the 2007 film Zodiac and is featured on the movie's soundtrack.

References

Three Dog Night Danny Hutton Cory Wells Michael Allsup Paul Kingery Pat Bautz Chuck Negron Jimmy Greenspoon Floyd Sneed Joe Schermie Jack Ryland Skip Konte Mickey McMeel James "Smitty" Smith Dennis Belfield Al Ciner Jay Gruska Ron Stockert Mike Seifrit Richard Grossman Mike Keely Scott Manzo Steve Ezzo Gary Moon T.J. Parker Richard Campbell Mike Cuneo 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) Three Dog Night: Live (1988) Live with the London Symphony Orchestra (2002) 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) The Complete Hit Singles (2004) 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 Is a Masterpiece" "It's a Jungle Out There" Book