Easy to Be Hard

"Easy to Be Hard"
Single by Three Dog Night
from the album Suitable for Framing
B-side"Dreaming Isn't Good For You"
ReleasedAugust 2, 1969
GenreRock
Length3:10
LabelDunhill Records 4203
Songwriter(s)Galt MacDermot, James Rado, Gerome Ragni
Producer(s)Gabriel Mekler
Three Dog Night singles chronology
"One"
(1969)
"Easy to Be Hard"
(1969)
"Eli's Coming"
(1969)

"Easy to Be Hard" is a song from the 1967 rock musical Hair. It was written by Galt MacDermot, James Rado, and Gerome Ragni, who put the musical together in the mid-1960s. The original recording of the musical featuring the song was released in May 1968 with the song being sung by Lynn Kellogg, who performed the role of Sheila on stage in the musical. The song was first covered by American band Three Dog Night on their 1969 album Suitable for Framing,[1] with the lead vocal part sung by Chuck Negron,[2] and was produced by Gabriel Mekler.[3]

Three Dog Night's version of the song reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969,[4] and was ranked number 33 on Billboard's Hot 100 songs of 1969.[5]

A decade later, in 1979, the film version of Hair, directed by Miloš Forman was released, with "Easy to Be Hard" sung by Cheryl Barnes.

  1. ^ Three Dog Night, Suitable for Framing Retrieved February 26, 2014
  2. ^ Three Dog Night "Easy to be Hard" OnTV on YouTube; retrieved February 26, 2014
  3. ^ Three Dog Night, "Easy to Be Hard" single release Retrieved February 26, 2014
  4. ^ Three Dog Night, "Easy to Be Hard" Chart Positions Retrieved February 26, 2014
  5. ^ "Billboard Top 100 – 1969". Archived from the original on May 3, 2015. Retrieved February 26, 2014.