Black and White by Three Dog Night (1954)

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Black and White Cover (1954)

Black and White is a song written by David I. Arkin and Earl Robinson and was first recorded by Pete Seeger in 1956. [1]

The song reached its success from the pop version in 1972 by Three Dog Night and on the peak of both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Easy Listening charts, for positioning number one. Billboard ranked the Black and White as the 63 song for 1972. [2]

Three Dog Night

Background

The song was inspired by 1954’s segregation of public schools. The decision was made by the United States Supreme Court of Brown v. Board of Education. [3]

In 1955, Earl Robinson and David I. Arkin (Alan’s father), who had been blacklisted during McCarthyism’s era, worked together writing “Black And White. The song is about a new world where black and white kids could learn together in harmony. [4]

Black Empowerment

“Black and White” was originally written in the 1950s when racial tensions were on the peak in the United States. In 1972, Three Dog Night released Black and White their version and Civil Rights Era, just exiting in America while race relations were still not ideal. The band’s version was not centered on racial equality as much as the original one. Rather, the song talks more about idealizing of Black and People living together peacefully and joyfully. [5]

In 1954, case Brown Vs. Board Of Education, the Supreme Court found that school racial segregation were unconstitutional, and became a celebration for the embattled American left. Two blacklisted folk song writers during the era of McCarthyism collaborate to write a song, Earl Robinson and David I. Arkin (Alan’s father), “Black And White” in 1955. The song was about a new world where a black and white kids could learn together in the same school in harmony. [6]

During an interview, Earl Robinson, the Black and White's writer, recalled the moment where he met Three Dog Night:

"When I eventually met Three Dog Night," says Robinson, "they told me, 'We knew this was going to be a hit immediately.' Of course, both they and (Greyhound) changed the style from the way we originally wrote it. They made it like an 'A-A-B-A-B-A' song," he explains, "whereas we write it as five verses with quite a bit more content. To give you an idea, the second verse of our version runs, '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.'

"They condensed the most communicable parts of it into a single song number," continues Robinson. "You might call it a more unified whole, although Dave and I liked our arrangement better than theirs. But of course, we were delighted that they did it, because the Robinson family ate for a year afterwards."

"I got called by CBS in the late '50s or early '60s," Robinson says, " "I was on CBS often in the early '40s, but it had been a long time since they called me. You see, I had gone through the blacklist (in the McCarthy era). At any rate, now they wanted to clear a song of mine that they called 'The Ink is Black.'

"And what were they doing with it? Well, it was to be part of a film about an American sort of Peace Corps in French Guinea helping the locals build a recreation hall. They were using this song to teach them how to speak English. And it appeared in the film several times with a blackboard and a pointer. And it went, 'The ink is black/The page is white...'". [7]

Part of lyrics from the Black and White by Three Dog Night :

The world is black,

the world is white.

It turns by day, and then by night.

The child is black,

the child is white.

The whole world looks upon the sight,

a beautiful sight. [8]

However, the song covered by Three Dog Night does not include the original lyrics of the song opened with verse, which is in reference to the court. The Three Dog Night's version was making it more universal and less historically specific. [9] :

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. [10]

References