Three Dog Night

One Summer day a few years ago, I was on Jury Duty here in Southern California. During a break one afternoon, I was chatting with another prospective juror, and we got to talking about family. I told him about my daughter who was, and is, in the entertainment industry. He said he had one son, and I asked what his son did. He told me that his son had been the lead guitarist for Three Dog Night. I was more than a little astonished and silent at first, and all I could think to say was - “... you mean THE Three Dog Night?,” as if there was another one. He smiled and said “Yes, the Three Dog Night.” That is the closest I’ve ever come to meeting any members of the band that I consider one of the best musical artists of the 1970s.

I don’t hear Three Dog Night on classic rock radio as often as they deserve. I’m not sure whether they’ve almost been forgotten. But for my part, I think they deserve to be preserved in their proper place in pop music history. They played a huge role in pop music in the late 60s and early 70s. I hope you’ll enjoy taking a closer look, and listen….

1 - Artist Origin

Originally formed in Los Angeles in 1968, the legendary music icons quickly became known for their more than 20 Top 40 hits in a mere 6 year period.

According to Jason Klose, writing for The Centre Daily Times, “Born in Buncrana, Donegal, Ireland, in 1942, Danny Hutton came to the United States at the age of 4. After living in Boston for several years, Hutton and his family relocated to Los Angeles when he was 12. Beginning his childhood in Ireland gave Hutton the early exposure that would prove beneficial to developing his craft and eventual career in music.”

“Everybody creates their own music in Ireland; it’s kind of the national spirit there,” he said. “All of my aunts and uncles played and sang, and my mother sang and played mandolin. We’d have these family gatherings and everybody would get up and sing or recite a poem or play an instrument. So I’ve been around it all my life.”

Hutton eventually began his musical career as a producer and writer for Hanna-Barbera Records in 1964. His job was to get all the happening acts he could find on the street. When he couldn’t find an act, Hutton would go into the studio and write a song, sing the lead on it, and then sing the three-part harmonies. Hutton soon became a singer and songwriter and scored a modest national hit in 1965 with Roses and Rainbows, a song that was featured in an episode of the The Flintstones, with Hutton cast in the cartoon singing on television.

The trio Redwood, later Three Dog Night, who were produced by Brian Wilson (Beach Boys) — *The trio* *Redwood, later* *Three Dog Night*, *who were produced by Brian Wilson (Beach Boys)*

In time, the pieces for Three Dog Night began to come together in 1967, as Hutton met Wells and auditioned Negron — forming a vocal trio named Redwood, produced by the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson. “Eventually our manager helped us get the guys to form the group, so we became more of a band instead of a vocal trio,” Hutton said. “People don’t realize that at the time it was very different to have three lead singers — nobody had done that. And the guys in the band were such good musicians, and they all could sing too. When we did the vocals for the choruses, it was a pretty mighty sound.”

Released in 1969, Celebrate, one of Three Dog Night’s signature songs, prominently features all three singers taking turns on lead vocals. Then came a song written and originally recorded by Harry Nilsson, 1969's One, which became the breakthrough hit for Three Dog Night.

Note: Perhaps a quick explanation of the origin of their name…. It is said that in the culture of Australian Aborigines, on cold nights they would customarily sleep in a hole in the ground while embracing a dingo, a native species of dog. On colder nights they would sleep with two dogs and, if the night was freezing, it was a "three dog night.” Hence the band name Three Dog Night.

2 - Hits & Highlights

How phenomenally popular was Three Dog Night? The first four albums from the group led by its trio of singers–Danny Hutton, Chuck Negron and Cory Wells – were released in the span of just 18 months, and yielded 10 Top 40 hits. 1969’s Try A Little Tenderness was the first, reaching # 29. The second, the Nilsson-penned One, went to # 5 and was the group’s first gold (sales of 1,000,000 copies pre-1976). A cover of the musical Hair’s Easy To Be Hard reached # 4; Nyro’s Eli’s Coming # 10, and the infectious Celebrate # 15.

In 1970, Three Dog Night scored its first # 1 with its gold rendition of Randy Newman’s Mama Told Me (Not To Come). Out In The Country, co-written by Paul Williams, peaked at # 15. There was no stopping them now! After this, One Man Band hit # 19. 1971 opened with Joy To The World (written by Axton), a gold single that stayed # 1 for six weeks, and became the group’s signature song and whose opening line “Jeremiah was a bullfrog” remains an enduring symbol of ‘70s pop culture. The # 7 Liar followed. Also that year, the gold An Old Fashioned Love Song, written by Williams, was a pop # 4 and, from Axton Never Been To Spain a # 5. Williams also co-wrote the # 12 The Family Of Man which charted early the next year. Heard too in 1972 were the gold Black And White (# 1) as well as Pieces Of April (# 19), which introduced then-unknown songwriter Dave Loggins.

Two more singles went gold: Shambala (# 3, 1973) and The Show Must Go On (# 4, co-written by Leo Sayer, 1974). It’s almost exhausting! You couldn’t turn on the radio without hearing them. They were everywhere. And the music was (still is) great!

3 - Impact & Legacy

Led by lead vocalists, (as detailed above) Danny Hutton, Cory Wells and Chuck Negron, the band registered 21 consecutive Billboard Top 40 hits between 1969 and 1975, a record that still stands today. Three of those hits made it to the number one spot. The group earned 12 gold albums, sold more than 40 million records, and helped to introduce mainstream audiences to the songwriting work of many up and coming songwriters.

Though they didn’t typically write their own songs, Three Dog Night didn’t just cover other artists’ hits either; rather they arranged the songs in their own way that suited the band and their three lead voices. They championed other songwriters by taking their songs, seeing the potential in them, and then essentially making the songs their own.

“I don’t think we ever covered anybody — I always called it resurrecting,” Hutton said. “Being a great songwriter doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with being a good arranger. Sometimes we would get songs that weren’t hits and we’d resurrect them and get the arrangements right and turn them into hits.”

The band actually empowered young songwriters and put them on the map. Each selection on their 2004 Complete Hit Singles, including 11 Top 10s, seven of them gold singles, were recordings of songs by then up-and-coming singer-songwriters Randy Newman, John Hiatt, Harry Nilsson, Laura Nyro, Paul Williams and Hoyt Axton. As Three Dog Night surged into music history, they brought along a whole host of emerging talent in their wake. That’s a legacy!

4 - Spotify Links & Videos

As their website points out, still today their recordings have endured the fickleness of pop, waves of ’70s nostalgia and the test of time. More than 40 years after the group disbanded as a hit machine, came the first single CD U.S.-issued retrospective to include all 21 of the band’s Top 40 singles: Three Dog Night – The Complete Hit Singles released May 25, 2004.

While eight of these titles landed on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart when originally released, all twenty-one hit the Hot 100. Many of their songs defined “pop anthem” and made Three Dog Night one of the world’s most popular bands. They stayed together until 1977.