Spotlight on Three Dog Night

You'd think that music lovers who purchased more than 50 million records couldn't be wrong about one of the great American rock 'n' roll bands. 

Three Dog Night, behind the powerful and versatile vocals of Chuck Negron, Danny Hutton, and Cory Wells,  recorded 21 consecutive Top 40 hits and 12 straight gold albums. 

From 1969 until 1975, this group had three No. 1 songs ("Mama Told Me Not to Come," "Joy to the World," and "Black & White") as well as eight more tunes that reached the Top 10 ( No. 3 "Shambala," No. 4 "Easy to be Hard," No. 4 "An Old Fashioned Love Song," No. 4 "The Show Must Go On," No. 5 "One,"   No. 5 "Never Been to Spain," No. 7 "Liar" and No. 10 "Eli's Coming"). 

The band in its heyday also featured outstanding musicians including keyboardist Jimmy Greenspoon, guitarist Michael Allsup, and drummer Floyd Sneed. 

Three Dog Night struck gold by covering songs by relatively unknown (at the time) but now famous composers such as Randy Newman ("Mama Told Me Not to Come"), Paul Williams ("Out in the Country" and "An Old Fashioned Love Song"), Laura Nyro ("Eli's Coming"), Hoyt Axton ("Joy to the World" and "Never Been to Spain"), and Leo Sayer ("The Show Must Go On") as well as "One" from the rock musical "Hair."

Three Dog Night -- minus Chuck Negron -- still tours. And Negron is one the road as well.  I've seen them in concert, and even have one of their live in concert DVDs with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. 

Despite selling 50 million records, this legendary group is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And never been nominated despite being eligible since 1994. 

If you believe Three Dog Night deserves to be in the Rock Hall, you might want to sign this petition. And you might want to "like" the band on Facebook. 

And I hope those who determine the Rock Hall members will open their eyes and realize that 50 million in sales is worthy of induction.

In the meantime, here are their No. 1 songs:

"Mama Told Me Not to Come"

"Black & White"

"Joy to the World"

Until the next time...

Memory Lane

The other night I attended the Happy Together Tour at the Kentucky State Fair that featured several oldies acts from the 1960s. 

Most of those in attendance were oldies -- like me. A few folks brought their (grand) children. It was a fun time, for the most part, especially watching folks sing and dance to the music. A very brief rain didn't spoil the festivities.

Mark Lindsay performs during the Happy Together Tour.

The performers were Flo and Eddie of The Turtles, Gary Puckett (and the Union Gap), Gary Lewis (and the Playboys), Chuck Negron (Three Dog Night) and Mark Lindsay (Paul Revere and the Raiders).  All the guys are in their 60s and 70s. 

Needless to say, some of the singers don't have the pipes they had back in their heyday, but they still gave it their best to entertain the crowd. And even if they couldn't hit the highs or lows, for me, the songs were playing inside my head so I didn't mind it. 

For me, and I'm sure for many of the other baby boomers, the concert was a stroll down memory lane with songs such as "Joy to the World," "Young Girl," "This Diamond Ring," "Indian Reservation," and, of course,  "Happy Together."

Thanks for the memories.

Until the next time...