Suitable for Framing


Suitable for Framing is the second studio album by American rock band Three Dog Night. The album was released on the Dunhill record label on June 11, 1969 and was the first of two albums released by the band that year.
The album contains the top 20 hit singles "Easy to Be Hard", "Eli's Coming", and "Celebrate"; the latter of which featured the Chicago horn section. It is also notable for being the first album by Three Dog Night to include songs written by band members, and for its inclusion of the Elton John / Bernie Taupin song "Lady Samantha," as the duo of John/Taupin would not become widely known in the United States for another year.
The album reached the top 10 on charts in both The United States and Canada and became certified gold by the RIAA at the end of the year.

Recording, production, artwork, packaging

As with the band's self-titled debut album, Suitable for Framing was recorded at American Recording Company, was produced by Gabriel Mekler, and was engineered by Richard Podolor and Bill Cooper. The band members during the album's recording were Danny Hutton, Chuck Negron, Cory Wells, Jimmy Greenspoon, Michael Allsup, Joe Schermie, and Floyd Sneed. Engineer Richard Podolor also performed as an uncredited guitarist on the album.
The original version of Suitable for Framing was released as a vinyl LP record with a gatefold sleeve. The art direction for the original LP sleeve was done by Wayne Kimbell with photography by Ed Caraeff. The album's gatefold photo features Three Dog Night wearing greasepaint make-up, and posing with members of the Los Angeles groupie troupe The GTOs.

Critical reception

Writing for The New York Times in 1969, Robert Christgau believed Suitable for Framing suffered for the same reasons Three Dog Night succeeded:

Track listing

Side one

  1. "Feelin' Alright" – 3:39
  2. * Lead vocals shared by Hutton, Negron and Wells; includes the Chicago horn section.
  3. "Lady Samantha" – 2:53
  4. * Lead vocal: Negron.
  5. "Dreaming Isn't Good for You" – 2:16
  6. * Lead vocal: Hutton.
  7. "A Change Is Gonna Come" – 3:10
  8. * Lead vocal: Wells.
  9. "Eli's Coming" – 2:41
  10. * Lead vocal: Wells. Does not include the piano outro used in the 45 RPM mono mix of the song.

    Side two

  11. "Easy to Be Hard" – 3:11
  12. * Lead vocal: Negron. Features an uncredited string section.
  13. "Ain't That a Lotta Love" – 2:16
  14. * Lead vocal: Wells.
  15. "King Solomon's Mines" – 2:29
  16. * Instrumental, dominated by percussion tracks performed by Sneed.
  17. "Circle for a Landing" – 2:20
  18. * Lead vocal: Hutton.
  19. "Celebrate" – 3:13
  20. * Lead vocals shared by Hutton, Negron and Wells; includes the Chicago horn section.

    Personnel

The following people contributed to Suitable for Framing:

Weekly charts

Singles

TitleChart Peak
position
"Celebrate"Canadian Singles Chart8
"Celebrate"US Billboard Hot 10015

Certifications

Popular culture references
A 1971 episode of the TV detective series Columbo is titled Suitable for Framing