“Pieces of April” (Three Dog Night)

Your forgotten early ’70s song of the day is “Pieces of April” by Three Dog Night. It was released in November of 1972 and peaked early the following year at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100. (It scored higher on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart, rising all the way to #6.) The song was included on the group’s 1972 album, Seven Separate Fools.

Three Dog Night was tremendously big in the late ’60s-early ’70s, much bigger than their somewhat lagging lasting influence would indicate. They had 21 singles in the Top 40, three of which (“Mama Told Me Not to Come,” “Joy to the World,” and “Black and White”) hit #1. They also had 9 albums on the Top 40 albums chart, three in the Top 10. They sold out big concerts across the country and, from what I was told, put on a good show, too. (Their drummer, the inimitable Floyd Sneed, was a monster player—and played a set of clear acrylic Zickos, which were way cool back then.)

One of the things that made Three Dog Night great was their choice of songs. They picked tunes from some of the industry’s top songwriters. You just can’t go wrong singing songs by Hoyt Axton (“Joy to the World” and “Never Been to Spain”), Randy Newman (“Mama Told Me Not to Come”), Harry Nilsson (“One”), Laura Nyro (“Eli’s Coming“), and Paul Williams (“Out in the Country,” “The Family of Man,” and “An Old Fashioned Love Song”). I never knew which of the three singers were singing which song, but with tunes of this quality it almost doesn’t matter.

“Pieces of April” has always been one of my favorite songs by the group. It was written by Dave Loggins (Kenny’s second cousin), who wrote and had a hit of his own with “Please Come to Boston” in 1974. There’s nothing earth-shattering about the song; it’s just a pleasant little tune, written in the key of A with mainly I, IV, and V chords, but they’re put together nicely. The lyrics are about remembering springtime and an early love, and I particularly like the chorus (and that line about a “memory bouquet”):

I’ve got pieces of April
I keep them in a memory bouquet
I’ve got pieces of April
It’s a mornin’ in May

Here’s what composer Dave Loggins said about the song:

“I wrote it at a very special time of my life. Special, because I met the ‘love of my life’ and had recently lost her. By chance, we were together for three consecutive Aprils and then she left me for good. Today, I don’t know where she is or how her life turned out. May is symbolic of the present, April was, and still remains a sweet yesterday. I have never really gotten over ‘April’ and the ‘pieces’ still remain. Those sweet Aprils… It’s my favorite song, too.”

I’ve always thought Three Dog Night was an underappreciated group. I even wrote an article for the Classic Rock History website that said pretty much that, and you can read it here.

Three Dog Night originally called it quits in 1976, at least in part due to the drug use of singers Danny Hutton and Chuck Negron. The boys have reformed the band in a few different configurations along the years, but what’s past is past. Speaking of past, Cory Wells passed away in 2015 due to skin cancer. Chuck Negron is still performing and recording today, as a solo artist. And Danny Hutton continues to perform under the name of Three Dog Night, although he’s the only original member (save for original guitarist Mike Allsup) still appearing onstage.