Floyd Chester Sneed (November 22, 1942 – January 27, 2023) was a Canadian drummer, best known for his work with the band

Three Dog Night Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, with founding members consisting of vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael ...

. Born on November 22, 1942, in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

, Sneed grew up in a musical family (his parents were both musicians at their church) and became interested in drums at an early age. His first drum kit was a gift from his older sister Maxine, who at the time was married to the musician-actor

Tommy Chong Thomas B. Kin Chong (born May 24, 1938) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, musician, activist. He is known for his marijuana-themed Cheech & Chong comedy albums and movies with Cheech Marin, as well as playing the character Leo on Fox's ' ...

. He was in a band called the "Calgary Shades" that included his pianist older brother Bernie Sneed (1940–2016). He soon began performing in the

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

area as part of Chong's band, Little Daddy and the Bachelors. In 1966, Sneed formed his own band and moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

. In 1968, he met a trio of vocalists (

Danny Hutton 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. Hutton was a songwriter and singer for Hanna-Barbera Records from 1965 to 1966. Hutton had a ...

, Chuck Negron, and

Cory Wells Cory Wells (born Emil Lewandowski; February 5, 1941 – October 20, 2015) was an American singer, best known as one of the three lead vocalists in the band Three Dog Night. Early life Wells came from a musical family and began playing in Buffalo ...

), who had a contract with

Dunhill Records Dunhill Records was started in 1964 by Lou Adler, Jay Lasker, Pierre Cossette and Bobby Roberts as Dunhill Productions to release the music of Johnny Rivers on Imperial Records. It became a record label the following year and was distribut ...

and were looking for backing musicians. Sneed joined their new band, Three Dog Night, which became a commercial success in the late 1960s and early to mid 1970s. Sneed sang backup on only one song with the band; he did the deep vocal on "

Joy to the World "Joy to the World" is an English Christmas carol. The carol was written in 1719 by the English minister and hymnwriter Isaac Watts, and its lyrics are an interpretation of Psalm 98 celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Today, the carol is us ...

", singing the lyric "I wanna tell you." After Three Dog Night broke up in 1977, he continued to work with other groups, including an extended tour with

The Ohio Players ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

. He and other backing musicians from Three Dog Night worked together in a short-lived group named SS Fools. He reappeared briefly with the reincarnated Three Dog Night in the mid-1980s. In 1990, he had a minor role playing a drummer in a Chong film, '' Far Out Man''. In 2002, he toured and recorded with the band K.A.T.T., and also formed his own band called Same Dog New Tricks. Sneed and original Three Dog Night bassist

Joe Schermie Joseph Edward Schermetzler (February 12, 1946 – March 26, 2002), known as Joe Schermie, was an American musician, best known as the bass player for the 1970s American rock-pop group Three Dog Night. Biography Schermie was born in Madison, ...

appeared on the cooking show ''Food Rules starring Tom Riehl'' in 2000. This was Schermie's last television appearance.

Sneed regularly appeared in concert on percussion and drums with former Three Dog Night lead singer Chuck Negron through the 1990s and 2000s, and is credited on Chuck Negron's Live In Concert released in 2001. Sneed was descended from the original black settlers to Alberta's

Amber Valley, Alberta Amber Valley is an unincorporated community in northern Alberta, Canada, approximately north of Edmonton. Its elevation is . Originally named Pine Creek, Amber Valley was among several Alberta communities settled in the early 20th century by early ...

– their migration to Canada under

Clifford Sifton Sir Clifford Sifton, (March 10, 1861 – April 17, 1929), was a Canadian lawyer and a long-time Liberal politician, best known for being Minister of the Interior under Sir Wilfrid Laurier. He was responsible for encouraging the massive amount ...

's campaign to entice U.S. farmers to settle in the

prairies Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as th ...

. Sneed died on January 27, 2023, at the age of 80.

References

* Bruce Jeansonne, "Featured Drummer" article in ''Vintage Drummer'', vol 1 issue 4, fall 200
Floyd Sneed

External links

* * * * 1942 births 2023 deaths Black Canadian musicians Canadian rock drummers Canadian male drummers Three Dog Night members Canadian people of American descent Canadian people of African-American descent Musicians from Calgary {{Drummer-stub