THREE DOG NIGHT – CORY WELLS DANNY HUTTON
No pop vocal group personified “The Golden Era Of Seventies Pop” better then Three Dog Night. From 1969 to 1975, with the vocal harmonies of singers Danny Hutton, Chuck Negron, and Cory Wells, Three Dog Night released twenty-one hit singles. The vocal trio was so successful, that by late 1975, they had sold nearly fifty million albums, which was an unprecedented feat for an American vocal group at the time.
The success of writer/director Cameron Crowe’s film “Almost Famous”, has brought Seventies music en vogue with the international pop scene. And with international hit singles such as, “Mama Told Me (Not to Come)”, “One”, “Old Fashioned Love Song”, “Joy to the World”, “Liar”, “Eli’s Coming”, “Shambala”, “Easy To Be Hard”, “Never Been To Spain” and “The Family of Man”, Three Dog Night played an integral role during the era. “We were right in the center of the scene,” says founding member Danny Hutton during an exclusive interview. “We were right there, I mean the movie “Almost Famous” was about us!”
Their quest to recapture the magic of the era lead Hutton and fellow member Cory Wells on a recent pilgrimage to Abbey Road Studios in London, where many recordings by the Beatles, took place between 1962 and 1969. “The vibe was there and the timing was right for us to go to London and work on our classic songs in a new way,” says Wells. “It proved to be musical magic for us.” The result of the Three Dog Night Abbey Road recording sessions is a new disc titled, “Three Dog Night With The London Symphony Orchestra”.
In addition to the music disc, Hutton and Wells have also released a DVD of Three Dog Night performing their music with a full symphony orchestra. The DVD is titled, “Three Dog Night Live with The Tennessee Symphony Orchestra” and was recorded at the Renaissance Center in Dickson, Tennessee, outside of Nashville, Tennessee.
Today, All three original Three Dog Night vocalists remain active on the international pop music scene. While Danny Hutton and Cory Wells continue to tour as the modern lineup of Three Dog Night, Chuck Negron performs with his own touring band. In the following interview Hutton and Wells discuss the magic that made their songs so memorable, their new London Symphony Orchestra recording and why the music remains popular over thirty years after their debut album, “Three Dog Night” was released in 1969.
(Q)- The “Golden Era of Seventies Pop”, from 1969 until 1975, was an era in which Three Dog Night achieved popularity on an unprecedented scale.
Was the pace at which the group recorded and toured nonstop?
Danny Hutton- Yes. Looking back, we worked straight through those years almost without any time off.
(Q)- Just how rapid was the work done in the recording studio during the recording of the music that would become and album?
Danny Hutton- To give you an idea of just how fast the pace was back then, the first album was completed in a manner of days! Then, the second album took a month and that was only because we had to go out and find new songs. We were always working.
(Q)- Why did the two of you decide to travel to London to work with The London Symphony Orchestra at the famous Abbey Road Studios?
Cory Wells- It was a concept that we had for about a year and we wanted to regenerate the hit singles we had from the Seventies that we had without changing the songs. It is not an original concept, The Moody Blues did it previously. So we decided to go there and when we did that and we decided to record all the classic songs and add two new songs.
(Q)- In looking back on the era, those original Three Dog Night songs were recorded under what today would be viewed as rather rudimentary conditions in the recording studio with basic recording equipment.
Cory Wells- A lot of our music was recorded in the pre-synthesizer era. A lot of things we did in the recording studio people didn’t realize at the time were pretty advanced for the time. I don’t think we’ve ever gotten the credit that we deserve for that fact.
(Q)- What was the recording studio “system” like in the Seventies whenever Three Dog Night would record a song?
Cory Wells- We had a system in which we brought songs in that we thought had potential or songs that we really liked. So I would bring in songs and Danny would bring in songs and we’d sort out what we thought had potential to become a big hit single and then we’d strip that down and start with the basic track and build up the song from there. We were part of the entire process.
(Q)- Did you ever receive credit for that involvement on the classic hit songs?
Cory Wells- No we never did get any credit for that.
(Q)- Why?
Cory Wells- Because our success happened so quickly and was so fast and we were very young and naive. We didn’t realize the extent of what we were doing. We wanted to just get the work done and make it the best that it could be. We had an attitude that it didn’t matter who or whom the songs came from. We didn’t realize that others would be getting all the credit for our work. Then later they would be getting large sums of money for it.
(Q)- In your opinion, some thirty years after the songs were Top Forty hit singles, why does the original material translate well into the mix of the music recorded with The London Symphony?
Cory Wells- The songs lend themselves to this kind of thing because the songs are very melodic, the melodies are beautiful and the symphony music enhances that aspect.
(Q)- What was the experience like for you working with The London Symphony Orchestra at the famous Abbey Road Studios that the Beatles utilized for their legendary work?
Cory Wells- I was thrilled to death to be there.
(Q)- Did you ever feel a moment when the creative spirit of the Beatles spirit was present?
Cory Wells- I don’t know if the Beatles spirit was actually there in the studio. However, I happened to see Studio 2, which they recorded in. To be inside of the room where all of this amazing creativity was present was something. The Beatles were, “The Rodgers & Hammerstein” of the Sixties. (Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.) So just to be in that studio and to feel that vibe was great.
Danny Hutton- The creative spirit of the Beatles probably is in the mix of the new music because we were in the studio and we actually used some of the musicians who played on some of the original Beatles recordings. Some of the guys from The London Symphony Orchestra were a part of the Beatles recording sessions.
(Q)- What about the recording sessions overall?
Cory Wells- Working on the original songs all those years ago was an involved process. However in working with The London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios was not at all difficult. Because the conductor wrote all the charts (music score) out first and then he had the symphony ready prior to our arrival. So when we came into the studio with a fifty-two piece orchestra it was amazing! They were so professional it was simply amazing! You’ve got to remember that this is the same orchestra that has just won the Grammy Award for the “Star Wars” movies. So they are very good.
Danny Hutton- The musicians in The London Symphony are so good that it worked out amazingly well.
(Q)- Why was the DVD recorded in the USA?
Cory Wells- We went to London to record the project, we recorded at Abbey Road and that was the end of that project. Then later when we decided to make a DVD of the music live in concert, going back to London was out of the question. So, here we were with this beautiful place (venue) outside of Nashville being offered for us to use. So we traveled to Nashville and recorded with The Tennessee Symphony Orchestra. And we recorded a DVD of that evening’s performance.
(Q)- Why do the original Three Dog Night songs still remain popular around the the world?
Danny Hutton- It was a combination of songs, the timing was right and I think we performed well. Since we didn’t write most of the songs, I can see the songs from the outsider’s point of view and I think those are really good songs. The songs cover so many areas musically. The song lyrics are either about relationships or about good times and feeling good. People like that combination. And I think that when we started, we had chops, we weren’t faking it. When we went into the recording studio we didn’t have a record producer fixing our sound in the mix.
(Q)- You’re still recording and touring. Why?
Danny Hutton- I love it that’s why. We haven’t gone away, we still tour the world and play about one hundred dates a year. It’s a more organic process today.
(Q)- Is there plans for a disc of all new songs by Three Dog Night?
Danny Hutton- As soon as we have enough great songs we’ll do another album. I just don’t want to go into the studio and just do another album of (musical) notes. That’s what I think a lot of albums today are.