The 20 Songs That Can Represent The Career Of Three Dog Night

A Series of Classics

Founded in 1967, Three Dog Night had a series of hits between 1969 and 1975. They’re known for hiring outside help when it came to writing songs but it’s no big deal because they successfully introduced several songwriters to their mainstream audience. Guitarist Michael Allsup told Rolling Stone, “Sometimes I get worried about our group. It’s like, ‘Hey, man, we gotta start getting stuff out, so people can relate to us as being creative, because people don’t realize the creativeness that goes into arranging, ’cause they don’t hear the stuff before we get it, and they write us off.'”

Here are twenty of their best songs:

20. Never Been to Spain

Originally by Hoyt Axton, Three Dog Night covered it for their seventh album “Harmony.”

19. One Man Band

It was a bigger hit in Canada peaking at #6 while it only peaked at #19 in the US.

18. Celebrate

It features the horn section from fellow rock group Chicago.

17. The Family of Man

Written by Paul Williams and Jack Conrad, it charted but it didn’t crack the top 10.

16. Try a Little Tenderness

When the band covered the song, they based it on Otis Redding’s version and it was certified gold by the RIAA.

15. Let Me Serenade You

Originally titled “I Will Serenade You”, Three Dog Night’s rendition was included on their tenth LP “Cyan.”

14. Sure As I’m Sittin’ Here

It’s their final top 20 hit.

13. Eli’s Coming

Vocalist Cory Wells called it a “great, upbeat, ‘come-and-see-me’ record, a number that people would turn out to see in concert.”

12. Easy To Be Hard

Chuck Negron took over the lead vocal duties and he truly shined in this piece.

11. Mama Told Me Not To Come

When Three Dog Night recorded it, they made it more rock ‘n roll which the listeners loved. Written by Randy Newman who enjoyed the royalty checks he got, Wells said Newman called him to say “I just want to thank you for putting my kids through college.”

10. Liar

Aside from recording songs penned by songwriters outside the band, they also liked to do cover versions. And the thing is, they knew how to take a song and make it their own.

9. Pieces of April

Written by Dave Loggins, they scored another hit with this.

8. Till the World Ends

Another Dave Loggins composition, it was featured on their 1975 LP “Coming Down Your Way.”

7. The Show Must Go On

With Negron on the mic, their rendition topped the US Cash Box and peaked at #4 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

6. Shambala

Written by Daniel Moore, he told SongFacts: “Three Dog Night heard the song through a publisher, Lindy Blaskey, who was working at ABC Dunhill Publishing. He called me and was very excited because he had gotten such a positive reaction from Three Dog Night and their producer Richie Podler. Anyway, they cut it, it was their single and it was a hit. Bless all of their hearts.”

5. Out in the Country

This was released during the first year of Earth Day, making it one of the first records to be about environmental advocacy.

4. Old Fashioned Love Song

Songwriter Paul Williams revealed to SongFacts that “it’s the quickest I ever had a song come out of me. And it sounds like it. It’s a really simple song, I wrote it in like 20 minutes. And it was a big hit.”

3. Black and White

It’s about racism and inspired by the United States Supreme Court decision that racial segregation in public schools is illegal.

2. One

Another one of their gold records, it was the opening track of their debut album.

1. Joy to the World

The band used to describe it as a “kid’s song”, it’s opening line “Jeremiah was a bullfrog” became popular and some of the words don’t make much sense. Interestingly, Three Dog Night didn’t think much of the song until it became a huge hit.