Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, founded by vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells and Chuck Negron.

This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael Allsup (guitar) and Floyd Sneed (drums). The band had 21 Billboard Top 40 hits between 1969 and 1975, with three hitting number one. Three Dog Night recorded many songs written by outside songwriters, and they helped to introduce mainstream audiences to writers such as Randy Newman ("Mama Told Me Not to Come"), Paul Williams ("An Old Fashioned Love Song"), and Hoyt Axton ("Joy to the World", "Never Been to Spain").

 "Black and White" has been recorded by Pete Seeger, Sammy Davis Jr, Greyhound, The Maytones and Three Dog Night. The lyric has been the basis of an illustrated book by David Arkin, which was first published in 1966. More recent editions feature a new introduction by Pete Seeger.

Name origin

The commentary included in the CD set Celebrate: The Three Dog Night Story, 1965–1975 states that vocalist Danny Hutton's girlfriend, actress June Fairchild (best known as the "Ajax Lady" from the Cheech and Chong movie Up In Smoke) suggested the name after reading a magazine article about Aboriginal Australians, in which it was explained that on cold nights they would customarily sleep while embracing a dingo, a native species of wild dog. On colder nights they would sleep with two dogs and, if the night were freezing, it was a "three dog night".

Musician Van Dyke Parks, an arranger at Warner Bros Records, disputed the above story and said he coined the name. On 10 September 2018, he wrote on Twitter, "I wuz [sic] nuts about Hutton's girlfriend. Quite a dancer. Yet, she didn't read Mankind magazine, nor have an inkling of anthtopology [sic] and the cold aboriginal nights that inspired my suggestion."

History

Background

The three vocalists, Hutton (who got his start with Hanna-Barbera Records in 1964), Negron and Wells (who landed a recording contract with Dunhill Records) first came together in 1967. They initially went by the name Redwood and made some recordings with Brian Wilson while the Beach Boys were working on the album Wild Honey.

Redwood was briefly poised to be one of the first artists signed to the Beach Boys' Brother Records. According to Beach Boy Mike Love, "[Brian] had them in the studio for several days, and he was really funny. They didn't meet up to his expectations. ... They'd go in and they wouldn't sing well enough for him. ... but they went off and made billions." Wilson attempted to produce an album for Redwood, but after the recording of three songs, including "Time to Get Alone" and "Darlin'", this motion was halted by his bandmates, who wanted Brian to focus on the Beach Boys' contractual obligations. According to Negron, due to the commercial failure of Smiley Smile and Wilson's waning commitment to his band, "the other Beach Boys wanted Brian's immense songwriting and producing talents used strictly to enhance their own careers". Negron then noted that he would have done the same thing if in the Beach Boys' position.

Shortly after abandoning the Redwood moniker in 1968, the vocalists hired a group of backing musicians – Ron Morgan on guitar, Floyd Sneed on drums, Joe Schermie from the Cory Wells Blues Band on bass, and Jimmy Greenspoon on keyboards – and soon took the name Three Dog Night. Morgan left the band before its first album was recorded and subsequently joined the Electric Prunes. Michael Allsup was quickly recruited to replace Morgan on guitar.

Members

Current members

• Danny Hutton – vocals (1967–1975, 1981–present)
• Paul Kingery – vocals, guitar, bass (1982-1983 as substitute; 1985–1988, 1996–present)
• Pat Bautz – drums, vocals (1993–present)
• David Morgan – vocals (2015–present)
• Howard Laravea – keyboards (2017–present)
• Timothy Hutton - bass, vocals (2021–present)

Former members

• Cory Wells – vocals, rhythm guitar (1967–1976, 1981–2015; his death)
• Chuck Negron – vocals (1967–1976, 1981–1985)
• Michael Allsup – guitar (1967–1974, 1981–1984, 1991–2021)
• Jimmy Greenspoon – keyboards (1968–1976, 1981–2015; his death)
• Floyd Sneed – drums (1968–1974, 1981–1984; died 2023)
• Joe Schermie – bass (1968–1973; died 2002)
• Jack Ryland – bass (1973–1975; died 1996)
• Skip Konte – keyboards (1973–1976)
• Mickey McMeel – drums (1974–1976)
• James "Smitty" Smith – guitar (1974–1975)
• Dennis Belfield – bass (1975–1976)
• Al Ciner – guitar (1975–1976)
• Jay Gruska – vocals (1976)
• Ron Stockert – keyboards (1976)
• John Mrowiec – drums (1976-77)
• Jeff Seifrit – bass (1981–1982)
• Richard Grossman – bass (1982–1984)
• Rick Seratte – keyboards (1985)
• Mike Keeley – drums (1985–1993)
• Scott Manzo – bass (1985–1988, 2004)
• Steve Ezzo – guitar (fill-in for Allsup 1983–1984, 1985)
• Gary Moon – bass, vocals (1988–1989)
• T.J. Parker – guitar (1988–1989)
• Richard Campbell – bass, vocals (1989–1996)
• Eddie Reasoner – keyboards (2015–2017; substitute – 2014–2015)
• Mike Cuneo – guitar (1989–1991)