Three Dog Night sprinkles new songs among set of classics

The grandstand at Arena Park was packed with 2,586 people Saturday for what was the last night of the SEMO District Fair and a performance by Three Dog Night.

It is not exactly the same Three Dog Night that first recorded songs like "Joy to the World" and "Mamma Told Me Not to Come" with lead singer Chuck Negron, but it's close.

The current band features founding members Cory Wells and Danny Hutton on lead vocals, original keyboardist Jimmy Greenspoon and guitarist Michael Allsup. Bassist Paul Kingery and drummer Pat Bautz joined the group when it reformed in 1981.

At its Saturday night performance, Three Dog Night mostly performed the songs the original band had recorded before breaking up in 1977.

But they also threw in some songs that were recorded in the past few years, like "Sault Ste. Marie," which had an infectious toe-tapping beat and great guitar playing by Allsup.

It was Three Dog Night's original hits that people wanted to hear, though. And why not? The group has songs that people either remember from their youth or have grown up listening to on the radio.

So it is not surprising that songs like "One" and "An Old-Fashioned Love Song" received more applause.

Wells even sang "You Can Leave Your Hat On," which he introduced by telling the audience, "In '74 we recorded a song and had high hopes for it, but nothing happened. Six years later, Joe Cocker made a hit out of it and so did Tom Jones."

While songs like "You Can Leave Your Hat On" sound just as good as when they first came out, some other songs have not aged so well. The song "Liar," for example, sounded dated, and a guitar solo -- although executed well -- did not help.

Founding members Wells and Hutton did a good job sharing lead vocal duties among them, as well as providing the occasional banter, usually making fun of their age.

At one point, Hutton told the audience, "It's time to go back to the early '70s. You do remember the early '70s, don't you? Well, we don't."

Judging by the number of people attending the show, it seemed that if they do not exactly remember the early '70s themselves, they certainly remember and still like the music.

kalfisi@semissourian.com

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