Black and White (Pete Seeger song)

Song by Three Dog Night

"Black and White"

Single by Three Dog Night
from the album  Seven Separate Fools
B-side| "Freedom for the Stallion"
Released| August 1972
Genre| Pop
Length| 3:51 (album)
3:24 (single)
Label| Dunhill
Songwriter(s)| David I. Arkin, Earl Robinson
Producer(s)| Richard Podolor
Three Dog Night singles chronology
| "The Family of Man"
(1972)  | "Black and White"
(1972)  | "Pieces of April"
(1972)

|
|

"Black and White" is a song written in 1954 by David I. Arkin (lyricist and father of actor Alan Arkin) and Earl Robinson (music). It was first recorded by Pete Seeger featuring an African-American child, in 1956 from the album Love Songs for Friends & Foes.

The most successful recording of the song was the pop version by Three Dog Night in 1972, when it reached number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Easy Listening charts. Billboard ranked it as the number 63 song for 1972.[1] Danny Hutton sang the lead vocals with a children's chorus adding their voices to the song. This was the opening theme to the pilot episode of Mrs. Munger's Class.

## Early recordings

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Following Seeger's version, the song's co-writer Earl Robinson released his own recording in 1957, on the Folkways album A Walk in the Sun and other Songs and Ballads. (The album title refers to a song written for the 1945 film A Walk in the Sun.[2]) Sammy Davis Jr. released his version also in 1957.[3]

Reggae groups the Maytones, from Jamaica, and Greyhound, from the UK, both recorded the song in 1971, the latter achieving a top ten hit on the UK Singles Chart at No. 6.[4][5]

Having heard the Greyhound version, Three Dog Night covered the song and included it on their 1972 album Seven Separate Fools.[6] Their version, which featured a group of children, peaked at number one on the U.S. Pop chart on September 16, 1972, and topped the Easy Listening chart on October 7.[7] Billboard ranked it as the number 63 song for 1972.[1] The album version featured a freely spoken recitation by Danny Hutton in the coda section of the song.

### Other versions

[edit]

Inner Circle recorded a cover for their 1989 album Identified.[8][9]

## Meaning

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The song was inspired by the United States Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which outlawed racial segregation of public schools.

The original lyrics of the song opened with this verse, in reference to the court:

> Their robes were black, their heads were white,
>  The schoolhouse doors were closed so tight,
>  Nine judges all set down their names,
>  To end the years and years of shame.

However, the versions of the song recorded by Greyhound and subsequently by Three Dog Night did not include this verse, making the song more universal and less historically specific.

## Chart history

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### Weekly charts

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Three Dog Night version

| Chart (1972–73)  | Peak
position

|

Australia Kent Music Report[10] | 21
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[11] | 8
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[12] | 1
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary[13] | 1
New Zealand (Listener)[14] | 1
US Billboard Hot 100[15] | 1
US Billboard Adult Contemporary[16] | 1
US Cash Box Top 100[17] | 1

### Year-end charts

[edit]

| Chart (1972)  | Rank

|

Canada (RPM)[18] | 12
US Billboard Hot 100[19] | 63
US Cash Box [20] | 42

## Certifications

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Region  | Certification | Certified units/sales

|
|

United States (RIAA)[21] | Gold  | 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

## See also

[edit]

* List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1972 (U.S.)
* List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1972 (U.S.)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1972
2. ^ Earl Robinson. "A Walk in the Sun and Other Songs and Ballads". Retrieved February 19, 2015.
3. ^ "Second Hand Songs database, Decca records 45: Sammy Davis Jr., 'Songs for Americans to live by', rec. 20 Feb. 1957". SecondHandSongs.. This has not been reissued and is now a rare collector's item.
4. ^ "Black and White". 21 July 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-12-14 – via www.youtube.com.
5. ^ Trojan Records box set, The Trojan Story (1972, reissued 1980)
6. ^ "Liner notes". Ultimate Seventies: 1972. Time Life Records.
7. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1996). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (6th ed.). Billboard Publications.
8. ^ "Inner Circle – Black & White". Discogs. 1989.
9. ^ "Inner Circle – Identified". Discogs. 1989.
10. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (doc). Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
11. ^ "Three Dog Night – Black & White" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
12. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 4208." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
13. ^ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1972-10-28. Retrieved 2019-07-01.
14. ^ "flavour of new zealand – search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
15. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 – ISBN 0-89820-089-X
16. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 240.
17. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, September 30, 1972". Archived from the original on September 13, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
18. ^ "RPM's Top 100 Singles of '72". RPM. January 13, 1973. p. 20.
19. ^ "Musicoutfitters.com". Archived from the original on 2017-04-27. Retrieved 2018-01-13.
20. ^ "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 30, 1972". Archived from the original on September 28, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
21. ^ "American single certifications – Three Dog Night – Black & White". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 14, 2019.

## External links

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* Version by The Maytones on YouTube

* v
* t
* e

Three Dog Night

* Danny Hutton
* Michael Allsup
* Paul Kingery
* Pat Bautz
* Eddie Reasoner
* David Morgan

* Cory Wells
* Chuck Negron
* Jimmy Greenspoon
* Floyd Sneed
* Joe Schermie
* Skip Konte
* Al Ciner
* Gary Moon
* Richard Campbell

Studio albums|

* Three Dog Night (1968)
* Suitable for Framing (1969)
* It Ain't Easy (1970)
* Naturally (1970)
* Harmony (1971)
* Seven Separate Fools (1972)
* Cyan (1973)
* Hard Labor (1974)
* Coming Down Your Way (1975)
* American Pastime (1976)
* It's a Jungle (1983)

Live albums|

* Captured Live at the Forum (1969)
* Around the World with Three Dog Night (1973)

Compilations|

* Golden Bisquits (1971)
* Joy to the World: Their Greatest Hits (1975)
* The Best of 3 Dog Night (1982)
* Celebrate: The Three Dog Night Story, 1965–1975 (1993)
* 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Three Dog Night (1999)
* The Complete Hit Singles (2004)

Singles|

* "Nobody"
* "Try a Little Tenderness"
* "One"
* "Easy to Be Hard"
* "Eli's Coming"
* "Celebrate"
* "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)"
* "Out in the Country"
* "One Man Band"
* "Joy to the World"
* "Liar"
* "An Old Fashioned Love Song"
* "Never Been to Spain"
* "The Family of Man"
* "Black & White"
* "Pieces of April"
* "Shambala"
* "Let Me Serenade You"
* "The Show Must Go On"
* "Sure As I'm Sittin' Here"
* "Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)"
* "Til the World Ends"
* "Everybody's a Masterpiece"
* "It's a Jungle Out There"

Other songs|

* "Darlin'"
* "Time to Get Alone"

* Discography

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz work

|

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