Hard Labor

This article is about the music album. For the article on physically challenging work, see manual labour. For the penal sentence, see Penal labour. For the 2011 Brazilian film, see Hard Labor (film).

Hard Labor
Studio album by Three Dog Night
Released	March 6, 1974
Genre	Pop, rock
Length	35:51
Label	Dunhill DSD-50168
Producer	Jimmy Ienner
Three Dog Night chronology
Cyan (1973) Hard Labor (1974) Joy to the World: Their Greatest Hits (1974)
Singles from Hard Labor
"The Show Must Go On" Released: 1974 "Sure As I'm Sittin' Here" Released: 1974 "Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)" Released: 1974

Hard Labor is the eleventh album by American rock band Three Dog Night, released in 1974.

Cover artwork

The original album cover, depicting the birth of a record album (shown at right), was deemed too controversial and was soon reworked with a huge bandage covering the "birth". The cover also includes an attached "birth record sheet" of the album. The label shown on the original cover's album is the same custom label used on the actual album. The CD reissue by MCA Records in the 1990s restored the cover to its original look showing the record. Albums that had already been produced had a bandage attached to them. Subsequent albums had the bandage printed on.

Track listing

Side 1

1. "Prelude" – 1:00
2. "Sure As I'm Sittin' Here" (John Hiatt) – 4:46
3. "Anytime Babe" (Larry Weiss) – 3:07
4. "Interlude I" – 0:19
5. "Put Out the Light" (Daniel Moore) – 3:06
6. "Sitting in Limbo" (Gully Bright, Jimmy Cliff) – 4:56

Side 2

1. "I'd Be So Happy" (Skip Prokop) – 4:48
2. "Interlude II" – 0:21
3. "Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)" (Allen Toussaint) – 4:48
4. "On the Way Back Home" (Moore) – 4:16
5. "The Show Must Go On" (David Courtney, Leo Sayer) – 4:24

Personnel

• Mike Allsup - banjo, guitars
• Jimmy Greenspoon - keyboard
• Danny Hutton - lead vocals (tracks A6, B4), background vocals
• Jimmy Iovine
• Skip Konte - keyboard, ARP, chamberlin
• Chuck Negron - lead vocals (tracks A3, B1, B4, B5), background vocals
• Jack Ryland - bass
• Joe Schermie - bass
• Floyd Sneed - percussion, drums
• Cory Wells - lead vocals (tracks A2, A5, B3, B4), background vocals

Production

• Producer: Jimmy Ienner
• Engineers: Greg Calbi, Roy Cicala, Dennis Ferrante, Jimmy Ienner, Jay Messina, Tom Rabstenek, John Stronach
• Assistant engineers: Corky Stasiak
• Remixing: Roy Cicala, Jay Messina
• Arranger: Three Dog Night
• Art direction and photography: Ed Caraeff
• Design: David Larkham

Charts

Album - Billboard (United States) | RPM (Canada)

Year	Chart	Position
1974	US Top 200	20
	Canada	16

Singles - Billboard (United States)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1974	"The Show Must Go On"	US Pop Singles	4
		US Cash Box	1
		US Record World	1
		US Radio & Records	3
		Canada Pop Singles	2
		Germany Top 100	12
		Netherlands Top 100	6
	"Sure As I'm Sittin' Here"	US Pop Singles	16
		US Cash Box	18
		US Record World	22
		Canada Pop Singles	18
	"Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)"	US Pop Singles	33
		US Cash Box	26
		US Record World	24
		Canada Pop Singles	25

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)	Gold	500,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.