Three Dog Night, The #52 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Two

 

(Continued from Part One)

 "Never Been To Spain" is another solid winner, a #3 song in Canada that peaked at #5 in the U.S.

 

"The Family Of Man" reached #5 in Canada and #12 in the U.S.

 

In 1972, the group released Seven Separate Fools, another Top 10 and Gold album.  "Black & White" charted at #1 on both the Adult and Popular charts in the U.S. and also hit #1 in Canada and New Zealand.  It sold over one million copies.

 "Pieces Of April" made it to #6 on the Adult chart but only #19 overall, making it one of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.

Three Dog Night released the live album Around the World with Three Dog Night, which was certified Gold.

 

Jack Ryland replaced Schermie in 1973, when TDN also added another keyboardist, Skip Konte.  The band released the album Cyan.  "Shambala" raced to #1 in New Zealand, #3 in Canada and #4 in the United States and sold over one million units.

"Let Me Serenade You" is another great track on the album. 

 

In 1974, James "Smitty" Smith and drummer Mickey McMeel replaced Allsup and Sneed.  The album Hard Labor made it eight consecutive Gold studio albums.  The unique single "The Show Must Go On", written and first recorded by Leo Sayer, reached #2 in Canada and #4 in the U.S., selling over one million copies.






 

Three Dog Night also enjoyed a minor hit with "Sure As I'm Sittin' Here".

Three Dog Night released Joy to the World:  Their Greatest Hits, yet another Gold album.

Smith didn't last long, replaced the next year by Al Ciner, who previously played with Rufus and the American Breed.  Ryland also left and was replaced by Dennis Belfield, also a member of Rufus.  TDN released the album Coming Down Your Way in 1975.

The group released American Pastime the next year.

Hutton left in 1976, with the group bringing in Jay Gruska for live performances.  Yet another Rufus member, Ron Stockert, came into the fold when Konte left.  Three Dog Night played their final show at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles on July 26, 1976.

In 1981, all of the original members except Schermie reunited for the EP It's a Jungle, released in 1983.  The album did not sell.  The three vocalists continued to tour with a revolving door of musicians until 1985, when the group fired Negron because of drug problems.

In 1999, Three Dog Night participated in the 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection project, releasing The Best of Three Dog Night.

Hutton and Wells endured, again touring with various backing musicians, and recorded singles from time to time, but have not released a studio album since 1976.

Schermie died and on March 11, 2015, Greenspoon died from cancer at the age of 67.  Cory Wells died of sepsis on October 21, 2015 at age 74.

Three Dog Night enjoyed 21 hits, with 11 becoming major hits in the Top 10 and three going to #1.

According to the newspaper The Examiner, Three Dog Night has sold over 90 million records.

In an age of the singer/songwriter, critics didn't appreciate the pure magic of Three Dog Night music.  But critics don't buy a lot of albums.  That magic manifested in the sheer delight of three-part harmony and their adaptions which brought recognition to songwriters previously unheard of.