Song:Joy To The Wotld
Album:The Complete Hit Singles
Three Dog Night was one of the most popular groups of the early 70s. They had a total of eleven top ten hits and three number one hits including Joy To The World. That was probably their biggest hit. In 1966, Danny Hutton was hired as house producer for Hanna-Barbera Records. The famed animation studio was in the record business for a couple of years in the 60s. Cory Wells had moved to Los Angeles from Buffalo with his band The Enemys. Hutton produced a couple of the band's singles on MGM. When the group split up, Wells moved to Arizona to form The Cory Wells Blues Band. Hutton convinced Wells to return to Los Angeles to help him with a new band with three lead vocalists. Hutton met Chuck Negron at a party. Wells had a contract with Dunhill Records. Hutton had become friends with Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson. The original plan was for Wilson to produce the new band to be called Deadwood. When that didn't work out, the band name was changed to Three Dog Night. Apparently it's an Aussie term for using dogs as blankets on a cold night. Most of the rest of the band including guitarist Michael Allsup, bassist Joe Schermie and drummer Floyd Sneed were all from The Cory Wells Blues Band. Keyboard player Jimmy Greenspoon was from The New Dimensions. Neither Hutton, Wells or Negron were songwriters. So song selection was key to the success of Three Dog Night. And producer Richard Podolor was a big part of that as well. He was the guitarist for drummer Sandy Nelson. Three Dog Night's first top ten hit was the Harry Nilsson song One in 1969. This was followed by the Laura Nyro song Eli's Coming which also reached the top ten. They had their first number one hit with Randy Newman's Mama Told Me Not To Come. And this was topped by Joy To The World which was number one for six weeks in 1971. It seems that Hutton and Wells didn't like the song when songwriter Hoyt Axton pitched it to them. They thought it was a kid's song. But Negron thought the group needed a silly song for the album Naturally and he sings the lead vocal. Apparently the group was surprised by the song's success. Hoyt Axton had a long career as a singer, songwriter and actor and his mom wrote Heartbreak Hotel for Elvis Presley. Three Dog Night's other number one hit was Black and White in 1972 which was first recorded by Sammy Davis Jr. in 1957. Three Dog Night went through personnel changes with some of the backing musicians. But the end of the band came due to Chuck Negron's heroin addiction. And he was arrested for cocaine possession in 1975. This would be a long running problem for Negron until he got clean in 1991. Three Dog Night split up in 1976. You can get all their hits on this comp. Cory Wells recorded a solo album in 1978 and Danny Hutton became a manager and occasional musician. Three Dog Night reformed in 1981. Negron was fired in 1985 but Wells and Hutton continue to lead the band today. Three Dog Night were criticized in the 70s for being too commercial. But the music holds up well so maybe they were better than was thought at the time. Here's Three Dog Night performing Joy To The World. This video is not on Youtube and there was no description. But my guess is this performance is from the 1971 Grammy Awards broadcast.
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