Three Dog Night

Three Dog Night is a pop / rock group formed in Los Angeles, California in 1967. Founded by Chuck Negron, Cory Wells, and Danny Hutton - three vocalists who had achieved only minor success on their own – the group was originally known as Redwood. Initially, the three vocalists began working under the guidance of Brian Wilson (The Beach Boys), who produced early sessions and gave them several original songs. The relationship with Wilson ended when his Beach Boys bandmates forced him to switch his attention back to the album that they had been working on. Shortly thereafter, Redwood changed their name to Three Dog Night and hired a full-time band – Floyd Sneed (drums), Joe Schermie (bass), Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), and Michal Allsup (guitar) – and made their live debut in 1968. Signed to Dunhill Records, Three Dog Night released their self-titled debut that same year and scored a number 5 hit with “One.” While their albums continuously landed in the Top 20 up through 1974, Three Dog Night was one of the most consistently successful singles bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s. They scored three number 1s (1970’s “Mama Told Me Not to Come,” 1971’s “Joy to the World,” and 1972’s “Black and White”) as well as many Top 10 and Top 20 smashes including “Eli’s Coming” (1969), “Celebrate” (1970), “An Old Fashioned Love Song” (1971), “Never Been to Spain” (1971), “The Family of Man” (1972), “Pieces of April” (1972), “Shambala” (1973), and “The Show Must Go On” (1974). Behind the scenes, the musicians of the band began to leave and by 1975, drug abuse led to the dismissal of Danny Hutton. Shortly after that, Chuck Negron was arrested for drug possession and the band broke up the following year as disco music made groups like Three Dog Night commercially irrelevant. The original group reunited in 1981 and, two years later, released the It’s a Jungle EP in 1983. Chuck Negron fell back into drug abuse and was forced to leave the band. Danny Hutton and Cory Wells continued to tour and occasionally record as Three Dog Night alongside band members old and new. Cory Wells died on October 21, 2015, at the age of 74. Danny Hutton continues to lead a touring version of Three Dog Night.