THREE DOG NIGHT
Three Dog Night is an American rock band. They formed in 1967 with a line-up consisting of vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Mike Allsup (guitar), and Floyd Sneed (drums). The band registered 21 Billboard Top 40 hits (with three hitting number one) between 1969 and 1975. It helped introduce mainstream audiences to the work of many songwriters, including Paul Williams, Hoyt Axton, Laura Nyro, Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman, and Leo Sayer. As of 2015, they are still recording and making live appearances. (More from Wikipedia)
Phil Kelsey, previously the front man for Phil and the Frantics, and Steve Dodge – who had been the lead guitarist for another popular local band, the Vibratos – drifted around Phoenix, Los Angeles and Las Vegas; they called themselves Phil Mark Five and, with the addition of Bobby Blood on trumpet, formed a band called the Babies (not the same band as the 1970’s British band the Babys). They landed a record deal with ABC-Dunhill Records in 1969 and also toured with several major acts of that period, including Three Dog Night and Blues Image. The band released three 45’s, though none went anywhere, and they later learned that the album would not come out after all.
(August 2012)
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Kim Fowley’s first producer credit was on the song “Charge” by the Renegades, a band that was composed of Bruce Johnston, Sandy Nelson, Nick Venet – yet another future record producer, specifically at Capitol Records – and Richard Podolor, whose later credits as a record producer include “Joy to the World” by Three Dog Night.
(January 2015/1)
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In 1969, I was in a record store somewhere and saw two debut albums with similar front and back covers, Three Dog Night by Three Dog Night and Kick out the Jams by MC5, both having a swirl of images of the bandmembers, mostly in concert. They are actually quite different bands. Three Dog Night, renowned for their harmony vocals and excellent material, had a succession of hit songs in the 1970’s, including 11 that made the Top Ten, along with 12 consecutive gold albums in a six year period. Not long after the release of Three Dog Night, the Nilsson song “One” became their first hit song, and “ONE” was added to the album cover. I searched for decades to find their album as I had originally seen it, without the song name on it. I finally found a copy, just in time for Hurricane Katrina to wash it away.
(December 2016)
