I began this journey with the post in which I published an old letter to the editor by Linda Coney. I used Three Dog Night’s version of Mama Told Me Not To Come as a framing device. The song comes from It Ain’t Easy; its cover features a gaudy Sixties room with gaudy wallpaper. I was hooked and decided to use it in this space.

Little did I know that the original album artwork had been rejected because it was so controversial. Three Dog Night? Controversial? Who knew?

It Ain’t Easy was supposed to be The Wizards Of Orange. The cover featured Three Dog Night naked but with the naughty bits obscured. The original cover later resurfaced on a CD reissue.

I’d never heard of this mishigas. Obviously, I need to brush up on my pop-rock trivia.

We begin with the gaudy room cover:

Here’s the naked cover:

That’s so orange that I want a mimosa. Chuck Negron naked has driven me to drink but not a Negroni.

The album is not quite as juicy as that story but it’s a good one. Here it is via Spotify: