Daniel Anthony Hutton (born September 10, 1942) is an Irish-American singer, best known as one of the three lead vocalists in the band
Three Dog Night
Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, founded by vocalists Chuck Negron, Cory Wells, and Danny Hutton. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael Allsup (guitar), and Floyd Sn ...
. Hutton was a songwriter and singer for
Hanna-Barbera Records from 1965 to 1966. Hutton had a modest national hit, "Roses and Rainbows", during his tenure as a recording artist for Hanna-Barbera Records. Hutton is the father of two sons, Dash Hutton, the former drummer in the American rock band
Haim and Timothy V. Hutton, a bassist and producer. The sons co-own a recording studio called The Canyon Hut.
Three Dog Night
Three Dog Night was based around the vocal skills of Danny Hutton,
Chuck Negron, and
Cory Wells. In 1967, Hutton conceived the idea of a three-vocalist group, and he and Wells enlisted mutual friend Negron. The official commentary included in the CD set ''Celebrate: The Three Dog Night Story, 1965–1975'' states that vocalist Hutton's then-girlfriend
June Fairchild suggested the name after reading a magazine article about
indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...
,
in which it was explained that on cold nights they would customarily sleep in a hole in the ground whilst embracing a
dingo
The dingo (either included in the species ''Canis familiaris'', or considered one of the following independent taxa: ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage ...
, a native species of wild dog. On colder nights they would sleep with two dogs and if the night was freezing, it was a "three-dog night".
Their first
Top Ten hit was "
One
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
", in 1969. "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)" reached #1 a year later. "Joy to the World" became the group's biggest hit in 1971. The group's final #1, "Black and White", topped the Hot 100 in 1972. "The Show Must Go On" was their final Top Ten song, in 1974. They had 21 hit
singles, including 11 Top Ten hits and 12 consecutive
gold albums, from 1969 to 1975. Hutton served as the lead vocalist on "Black and White" as well as the Top Ten hit "
Liar".
Steve Huey of
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
wrote,
While often criticized as commercial, the band was noted for creative arrangements and interpretations, and their cover choices gave exposure to Harry Nilsson
Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal overdub experi ...
, Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro ( ; born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter and singer. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' (1968) and ''Ne ...
, Randy Newman
Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter, arranger, pianist, composer, conductor and orchestrator. He is known for his non-rhotic Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early America ...
, Hoyt Axton, Russ Ballard
Russell Glyn Ballard (born 31 October 1945) is an English rock singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer. Originally rising to prominence as the lead singer and guitarist of the band Argent, Ballard became a prolific songwriter and producer b ...
and Leo Sayer
Leo Sayer (born Gerard Hugh Sayer, 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter who has been active since the early 1970s. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009.
Sayer launched his career in the United Kingd ...
. Their backing musicians included guitarist Mike Allsup, keyboardist Jimmy Greenspoon, bassist Joe Schermie and drummer Floyd Sneed.
By 1976 the hits had stopped, there were several member changes (''Coming Down Your Way'' produced only one
Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...
hit and ''American Pastime'' failed to produce a charting single), Negron was taking the leads on many of their songs and Hutton left the group; Three Dog Night officially disbanded in 1977. Three Dog Night, an ABC Dunhill Records act, was managed by Reb Foster and Associates of Beverly Hills and the band's concerts were promoted by Concerts West. The band got back together in the early 1980s, and continued with Hutton and Wells along with founding members Allsup and Greenspoon. Greenspoon died on March 11, 2015, and Wells died on October 20, 2015. Hutton continues to lead Three Dog Night along with Michael Allsup and the band, touring regularly throughout the US and Canada.
Other output
Before the formation of Three Dog Night, Hutton hit #73 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 with "Roses and Rainbows" in 1965, during his tenure as a recording artist for
Hanna-Barbera Records. Hutton's "Big Bright Eyes" also charted in 1966. Hutton also sang backing vocals on the track "Sweet Sweet Surrender" with the power trio
BBA on their eponymous album released by
Epic
Epic commonly refers to:
* Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation
* Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale
Epic(s) ...
in 1973.
After Three Dog Night's initial break up, Hutton managed
punk rock
Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
bands, including
Fear
Fear is an unpleasant emotion that arises in response to perception, perceived dangers or threats. Fear causes physiological and psychological changes. It may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the ...
. He also fronted Danny Hutton Hitters, whose
cover of the
Nik Kershaw
Nicholas David Kershaw (born 1 March 1958) is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He came to prominence in 1984 as a solo artist. He released eight singles that entered the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart during the decade, i ...
song "
Wouldn't It Be Good" appeared on the
soundtrack
A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
for the 1986 film ''
Pretty in Pink
''Pretty in Pink'' is a 1986 American teen romantic comedy-drama film about love and social cliques in American high schools in the 1980s. The film stars Molly Ringwald, alongside Harry Dean Stanton, Jon Cryer, Annie Potts, James Spader, a ...
''.
Notes
References
*''Three Dog Nightmare'', Chuck Negron. Renaissance Books 1st edition (June 1999);
*''One Is the Loneliest Number: On the Road and Behind the Scenes With the Legendary Rock Band Three Dog Night'', Greenspoon, Jimmy and Bago, Mark. Pharos Books (January 1991);
External links
*
*
Three Dog Night Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hutton, Danny
1942 births
Living people
American male singers
American rock singers
Irish male singers
Irish rock singers
Irish emigrants to the United States
People from Buncrana
Musicians from County Donegal
Three Dog Night members