One

ONE
 
 
“One”  is a song written by Harry Nilsson.  The song is known for its opening line “One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do”.  “One” was released as the second single from Three Dog Night’s eponymous first album.  It became their first of seven gold records over the next five years.  The song reached number five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and spent three weeks at number two on the Cash Box Top 100.  It also reached number four in Canada.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
In 1969, I was in a record store somewhere and saw two debut albums with similar front and back covers, Three Dog Night by Three Dog Night and Kick out the Jams by MC5, both having a swirl of images of the bandmembers, mostly in concert. They are actually quite different bands. Three Dog Night, renowned for their harmony vocals and excellent material, had a succession of hit songs in the 1970’s, including 11 that made the Top Ten, along with 12 consecutive gold albums in a six year period. Not long after the release of Three Dog Night, the Nilsson song “One” became their first hit song, and “ONE” was added to the album cover. I searched for decades to find their album as I had originally seen it, without the song name on it. I finally found a copy, just in time for Hurricane Katrina to wash it away.
 
(December 2016)