70s U.S. Bands: Three Dog Night Quiz

Answer: True

The most common explanation of the name is that indigenous Australians, on cold nights, would sleep in holes in the ground and snuggle up next to a dingo, which is a species of wild dogs native to Australia. On colder nights they would sleep with two dogs, or when it was REALLY cold, it would be a "Three Dog Night".

The origin of the name group-wise is a matter of controversy. One claim is that the name was conceived by June Fairchild who was the girlfriend of one of the founding members, Danny Hutton.

She allegedly came up with the name after seeing an article about this subject in a magazine. Another claim is that the name was conceived by Van Dyke Parks, a producer/arranger, and acquaintance of Hutton, who says he came up with the name while reading an issue of "Mankind" magazine, while visiting with Hutton.

Answer: Chuck Negron, Danny Hutton, Cory Wells

Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron formed the original group in 1968 in Los Angeles and signed a contract with Dunhill Records. They had originally made some recordings in late 1967 with producer/composer/vocalist Brian Wilson. (Yes, THAT Brian Wilson).

The original name of the group was Redwood. The group went nowhere, and in 1968, they hired a group of backup musicians to help create the sound all Three Dog Night fans are familiar with. They were Michael Allsup on guitar, Joe Schermie on bass, Jimmy Greenspoon on keyboards, and Floyd Sneed on drums.

Answer: Harry Nilsson

"One" was written by Harry Nilsson and originally appeared on his 1967 album called "Aerial Ballet". Three Dog Night covered the song in 1969 and turned it into a number five hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts.

Answer: Joy To The World

"Joy to the World" was written by Hoyt Axton in 1970 and released as a single but the song went nowhere. Three Dog Night took the song, famous for its opening line "Jeremiah was a bullfrog", and propelled it not only to number one on the charts U.S. charts for six weeks, but to the number one song on the charts for the entire year of 1971.

The song has made it onto Billboard Magazine's list of the "Greatest Hits of All Time" at position number 100.

Answer: Mama Told Me Not To Come

"Mama Told Me Not To Come" was a song written by Randy Newman originally intended for Eric Burdon, who was recording his first solo album called "Eric Is Here", in 1966. The song was not released as a single at that time. Newman recorded his own version in 1970 on an album called "12 Songs", but the most famous and most popular version was that of Three Dog Night later that same year. One little known trivial fact: This song was the first number one song on Casey Kasem's legendary American Top 40 weekly radio countdown when the show debuted in 1970.

Answer: Easy To Be Hard

All the songs listed were part of the show. "Easy to Be Hard" is the song done by Three Dog Night. Off the "Suitable for Framing" album, it was a number four hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1970. "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" was by The Fifth Dimension, "Hair" was by The Cowsills, and "Good Morning Starshine" was done by Oliver.

Answer: Black and White

"Black and White" was a song originally penned in 1954 by two men named David Arkin and Earl Robinson. It was alledged to have been inspired by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision concerning racial segregation in schools. The original version had a verse which specifically referred to that sad chapter in U.S. history.

The first recording of the song was by Sammy Davis Jr. in 1957. The most popular version, with the reference verse removed, was the Three Dog Night version, which became a number one U.S. Billboard Hot 100 hit for them in 1972.

Answer: An Old Fashioned Love Song

"An Old Fashioned Love Song" was first recorded by Williams in 1971 for his album of the same name. Three Dog Night got a hold of this song and took it to number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts late that same year. Williams also wrote another of the group's hits called "Out In The Country' which peaked at number 15 in 1970 and also "The Family Of Man" which became another Top 20 hit for the group in 1972.

He was responsible for a number of other hits in the 1970s such as the Carpenters' "Rainy Days and Mondays" and "We've Only Just Begun".

Answer: Naturally

"Seven Separate Fools" was an album which appeared in late 1972 and early 1973 and became their highest charting album at number six and also their last Top 10 album. "Harmony" and "It Ain't Easy" both checked in at number eight, and oddly, "Naturally" was the lowest charting album of the four listed, although it did contain their biggest hit ever, "Joy To The World".

Answer: Uncontrolled substance abuse

Unfortunately Negron had substance abuse problems dating back to the 1970s as did other members of the group. The group had actually disbanded in part due to this, but reunited in 1981. In 1985, a tour had to be canceled in order for Negron to check into a rehab center for treatment of his continuing substance abuse problem, after which they returned to touring.

However, in 1985 Negron has a relapse of the problem, and was asked to leave the band permanently because of his violation of the band's agreement that they all had entered into concerning substance abuse.

After this, Negron never again performed with the band.