Three Dog Night

Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1967, founded by vocalists Chuck Negron, Cory Wells, and Danny Hutton. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass guitar), Michael Allsup (guitar), and Floyd Sneed (drums). The band had 21 Billboard Hot 100 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 Harry Nilsson ("One"), Randy Newman ("Mama Told Me Not to Come"), Paul Williams ("An Old Fashioned Love Song"), Laura Nyro ("Eli's Comin'") and Hoyt Axton ("Joy to the World", "Never Been to Spain").

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 & Chong 1978 film 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...