“Easy to Be Hard” is today’s classic song of the day. It comes to us from the musical Hair and the group Three Dog Night.
Hair was a big deal. When it opened in 1967, it was the first so-called “rock musical” and led the way for other more modern takes on the traditional Broadway musical. It reflected the times, introducing audiences to hippie culture and the sexual revolution—and even featured a bit of on-stage nudity. It also featured lots of great music, including four songs that, when covered by other artists, got a lot of radio play and sold a lot of records. Those songs were “Hair” (a hit for the Cowsills), “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” (a hit for the 5th Dimension), “Good Morning Starshine” (a hit for Oliver), and today’s classic song of the day.
In Hair, “Easy to Be Hard” is sung by the character of Sheila, lamenting the fact that the character of Berger, for whom she has feelings, is more in love with himself than he is with her. In the original off-Broadway production, the role of Sheila was played by Jill O’Hara, who was also the female lead in Promises, Promises. In later productions, Sheila was played by the likes of Diane Keaton, Jennifer Warnes, Ellen Foley, and Kristin Bell.
Off the stage, “Easy to Be Hard” was recorded by many artists, most notably Three Dog Night, with Chuck Negron singing lead. Their version, released as a single on in August of 1969, shot all the way to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the Cashbox Top 100.
“Easy to Be Hard,” like all the songs in Hair, was written by Galt MacDermot, James Rado, and Gerome Ragni. On the original cast recording, it was sung by Lynn Kellogg, who first played Sheila on Broadway.
My favorite cover of “Easy to Be Hard,” however, was sung by Jennifer Warnes, who played Sheila in the original West Coast production. Ms. Warnes’ released her version as a single in 1969, and it’s today’s daily bonus track of the day, so give it a listen.
