This is a perfect example of a song I was embarrassed to like back when it was a big hit but that I'm not the slightest bit embarrassed by today. If you Google "embarrass," the first thing that comes up is Embarrass, Minnesota. I guess I like that.
I don't have much to say about Three Dog Night. Their name is a reference to sleeping with dogs to keep warm. The colder it is, the more dogs you need, so a really cold night is a three dog night, like maybe lots of nights in Embarrass, Minnesota, which I see calls itself "The Cold Spot," and highlights the record low temperatures (-57!).
You could make other band names using the Three Dog Night format -- just an idea for the comments. You know, like: Two Coffee Morning or Ten Blogpost Day. I never bought an album by Three Dog Night. In fact, this single was probably my brother's. Anyway, "One" was written by Harry Nilsson.
One is the loneliest number that you'll ever doAnd I do have an album by Harry Nilsson, the one most people who have one Harry Nilsson album have: "Nilsson Schmilsson." ("She put the lime in the coconut....")
Two can be as bad as one
It's the loneliest number since the number one
UPDATE: Don't confuse this "One" with other "Ones." There's:
Darkness imprisoning me
All that I see
Absolute horror
I cannot live
I cannot die
Trapped in myself
Body my holding cell
That's not Harry's song. He also didn't write:
One love
One life
When it's one need
In the night
It's one love
But the song Aimee Mann sings on the "Magnolia" soundtrack: that is the right "One."
Posts
11 comments:
The number theme reminds me of the old song (or perhaps it's only a joke?) "I went to bed at 2 with a 10 and woke up at 10 with a 2."
An underrated group I would put in the same category as The Guess Who.
If you are not familiar with Aimee Mann's haunting version of "One" - it is great. I think it was on the Magnolia soundtrack. I love her melodic sense and kind of unusual voice. She is also kind of strange looking. I'm liking this 45's theme - I have a lot of embarrassing (ha ha) albums/singles.
I loved it back then, and I love it today..."the saddest experience you'll ever know..." I was kid when it first came out, but over the years I'm sure I had some of those sad experiences of "one." Nice post. I still have a box full of my old 45's and LP's, by the way, though not the ones from my childhood, like Elton John's "Benny and the Jets." Do you have that one? Love to see it up here in a post!
Burkean Reflections
Hated it then, hate it now. The monotonous whining of those stupid lyrics (how do you "do" a number?) left a permanent aural stain on my memories of the late 60s.
"how do you "do" a number?"
Oh, the imagery that question stirs up!
I don't have any extra enthusiasm for the song or the group, except that in 1971 at 14 yrs old, TDN was my first concert and first time I smoked pot.
I'd rather listen to "One" than the beaten down "Joy to the World"
Perhaps the last really big popular rock group that wrote almost none of their own material. Besides Nilsson, they did tunes by Randy Newman, Traffic, Argent, Elton John (their version of "Your Song" predates it becoming Elton's first hit), Otis Redding, Laura Nyro, The Band, Free, Spooky Tooth, Tim Hardin, etc... Not to mention the "professional songwriter" Tin Pan Alley heirs like Mann & Weil, Bonner & Gordon, and so on.
A couple of their earlier LP's were among the first dozen or so albums I ever bought, but I sold them at some used record store during the 70's. By the late 80's, however, the embarrassment had passed, and I purchased replacement copies (and a couple others I never had before) at a neighborhood rummage sale. Now proudly shelved with the other Guilty Pleasures!
Three Dog Night was an unsual and underrated band in many ways. The lineup was three vocalists without instruments who shared the stage with their band, whose players supported them live and in the studio. As already noted here, they had access to some of the best songwriters of their era.
Chuck Negron and Cory Wells came from the blue-eyed soul tradition, while Danny Hutton was a folk singer. Prior to 3DN, Hutton had a hit record in "Roses and Rainbows":
Way up in the sky
I think I see why
The birds do all their singing 'cause
Roses and rainbows are you.
At least that's how I remember the lyrics. Yes, it was sappy and happy and snappy like a Cowsills' tune, but it brought Hutton to the attention of Brian Wilson during the recording of "Good Vibrations" and the infamous "Smile" album. Nevertheless, Hutton probably had the lowest profile of the three Three Dog Night vocalists.
Unfortunately, the first thing about 3DN that pops into my mind is Chuck Negron's longtime struggle against heroin addiction. I recall being so shocked when I first heard his TV confession.
Who knew you didn't have to be a bad-ass rocker with lamentable hygiene to shoot up? Other than David Gahan of Depeche Mode, I mean. Last I heard, Negron was still clean and sober. Good for him.
JohnK: I can't stand "Joy to the World" and don't generally care about Three Dog Night. I just like "One."
Post a Comment