Three Dog Night still rockin' after all these years

Three Dog Night

Three Dog Night will bring a '60s and '70s soundtrack to the Tivoli Theatre tonight, Jan. 19, but don't be surprised if you hear a few newer songs mixed in with the golden oldies.

The band's "35th Anniversary Hits Collection," released in 2004, featured a pair of new tracks, "Sault Ste. Marie" and "Overground"; 2009 brought two more singles, "Heart of Blues" and "Prayer of the Children."

But the musicians know what you've come to hear. "Mama Told Me (Not To Come)," "Joy to the World," "Black and White," "Shambala," "One" and "An Old Fashioned Love Song" are the classics that have propelled the band through more than four decades of performing.

The run started in 1968 with their self-titled debut. Through 1975, they would earn 21 consecutive Top 40 hits and 12 consecutive gold albums.

Here are five fast facts you maybe didn't know or might have forgotten about Three Dog Night, gleaned from various web sources.

1. The original lineup included three lead vocalists - Danny Hutton, Chuck Negron and Cory Wells - along with Michael Allsup on guitar, Jimmy Greenspoon on keyboards, Floyd Sneed on drums and Joe Schermie on bass. Hutton and Allsup are still with the band.

2. Their eight-year run of hits included three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100: "Mama Told Me (Not To Come)," "Joy to the World" and "Black and White."

3. Some of their biggest hits helped introduce mainstream audiences to several prominent songwriters, including Paul Williams, Hoyt Axton, Laura Nyro, Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman and Leo Sayer.

4. Before being signed to Dunhill Records, Hutton, Negron and Wells (with different backing musicians) went by the name Redwood and recorded a few tracks with the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson.

5. The band changed its name after being told of a magazine article describing how Australian Aborigines slept with their dogs for warmth on cold nights, the coldest being a "three-dog night."