Now we come to one of my favorite groups of the Seventies, Three Dog Night. They got together in 1967. At first it was just three people, Danny Hutton, Cory Wells and Chuck Negron (all vocals). Soon, they added four more, Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael Allsup (guitar), and Floyd Sneed (drums). So this was a seven man band which was large for a rock band.

I can’t find any corroborative evidence online, but back in the Seventies, we all knew where the band got its name. The story goes that in Alaska, it gets really cold at night. So cool, that sometimes you have to sleep with the dogs to keep warm. On a chilly night you might have one dog with you. If it gets colder, you add another dog, and when it’s really freezing out, that, my man, is a three dog night. Now, I can’t prove it, but I believe that is where they got their name.

“Mama Told Me (Not to Come)” was written by the great Randy Newman. The guys of Three Dog Night did not write their own material, instead getting music from well known and some new songwriters. Randy Newman had been around for a while, but this was the first time one of his songs reached number one. The guys also recorded numbers written by Harry Nilsson, who would have his own number one in 1972 (“Without You.”) and Elton John, who was about to break on the scene and become a superstar himself and Leo Sayer, who would have his own number one in 1976 (“You Make Me Feel Like Dancin’).

“Mama Told Me (Not to Come)” was originally written for Eric Burdon (of the Animals) and recorded on one of his albums, but it never became a hit. The guys of Three Dog Night didn’t want to record it at first, thinking it wasn’t very commercial. After all, this was the Seventies and they were singing about being afraid of whiskey and marijuana. That would certainly turn people off. But, finally they agreed to record it and it became their first number one.

At the time this came out, it was one of my favorite songs. It’s easy to sing along with and the message is great. Sometime, late in the Twentieth Century, I had occasion to be in Las Vegas and was able to see Chuck Negron in person. He sang all the Three Dog Night songs. It was great. He was truly the voice of Three Dog Night.

“Mama Told Me (Not to Come)” debuted on the pop charts on June 6, 1970 and spent two weeks at number one. The group would have two more number one in their career which lasted through 1975.