In the annals of what is commonly referred to as the classic-rock era, Three Dog Night tapped into a red-hot nerve from 1969 to 1975, racking up a trophy case of gold singles that included “One,” “Easy to Be Hard,” “Mama Told Me (Not to Come)” and the iconic “Joy to the World,” among many more. Released in 1971, Harmony was the group’s fifth album (not including the hits package Golden Bisquits, released earlier that year, or 1969’s Captured Live at the Forum, now a lost gem). And while it found them still plugged into a familiar formula—plucking promising songs from obscurity and molding them into airwave-friendly earworms—what really comes through, especially in this remastered reissue, is the cohesiveness of TDN not just as a vocal group, but as a gritty, road-tested, seven-piece band.
The album opens with the enduring smash “Never Been to Spain,” written by Hoyt Axton and a prime vehicle for singer Cory Wells to flex his old-school soul chops. It’s the first of three successive tracks that highlight each “dog” in the group, followed by Danny Hutton’s soaring vocal on the psych-heavy “My Impersonal Life,” and Chuck Negron’s emotive, pitch-perfect “An Old-Fashioned Love Song,” penned by then-emerging hitmaker Paul Williams. There’s also a boldness, on Negron’s part, of choosing to cover Stevie Wonder’s “Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer” or Marvin Gaye’s “You,” but with the locked-tight rhythm section of drummer Floyd Sneed and bassist Joe Schermie, as well as Jimmy Greenspoon’s fluid organ runs and Michael Allsup’s hard-charging guitar riffage, the payoff is that much stronger. (And as if to accentuate the point, the all-band original “Jam” further showcases each member’s ability to writhe, roil and rumble over a badass groove.)
Expounding in his 1991 tell-all autobiography, Greenspoon referred to Harmony as his favorite Three Dog Night album. He also noted that the last song the band tracked was another Williams chestnut, “Family of Man,” a churchy funk-styled workout that became a staple of their live shows—and a fitting tribute to how their collective sound had evolved to the point where they could headline a full-blown rock tour, with the likes of Rod Stewart, T-Rex, Aerosmith and the Doobie Brothers opening, and pack arenas worldwide.
