In Memoriam: Three Dog Night's Cory Wells
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Last week while returning from vacation, I heard on the JayBeau Jones Show on Sirius XM 70's On 7 that Three Dog Night co-founder Cory Wells had passed away Tuesday, October 20th, at age 74.
Wells, along with Danny Hutton and Chuck Negron, formed Three Dog Night in 1968 and first hit the Billboard Top 40 in March 1969 with "Try A Little Tenderness", written in 1932 by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly and Harry M. Woods. It was a popular song years later recorded by artists such as Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Rod Stewart, Frank Sinatra, and Etta James, to name a few. The group had three #1 hits from 1969-1975: Mama Told Me (1970), Joy To The World (1971), and Black & White (1972). In all, the group charted 21 songs on Billboard with other great songs such as One (1969), Liar (1971), An Old Fashioned Love Song (1971), and Shambala (1973). The group helped the careers of many prolific singer/songwriters such as Elton John, Harry Nilsson, Laura Nyro, Hoyt Axton, and Randy Newman. Mama Told Me (Not To Come), written by Randy Newman, was one of the best-selling songs for the group with over a million copies sold. Throughout their career, the group recorded on the Dunhill/ABC record label (ABC Records was later sold to MCA Records which is now Universal Music Group).
When Wells, Hutton, and Negron formed the band, they needed a name, until one day Hutton's girlfriend at the time gave them an idea: while reading a magazine about the aborigines in Australia, these tribal people would take a dog to keep them warm at night. So a real cold night would be a "Three Dog Night". That name stuck and helped the band become very successful!
Born in Buffalo NY to a single mom, Wells was a street wise kid and influenced by R&B music and artists. After high school, he served in the Air Force and formed a band there. After his military service, he returned to Buffalo for a short time before moving to California and forming his own band there. They became the house band for a nightclub in Los Angeles where they met Sonny & Cher. That resulted in Wells going on tour with them and that's when he met Danny Hutton.
Their timing was also good as local radio was changing with the advancement of FM Radio over AM Radio when it came to music formats. Their songs were played on great stations like WABC/WNBC New York, KHJ/KRLA Los Angeles, WLS/WCFL Chicago, KLIF Dallas, KILT Houston, and CKLW Windsor ON/Detroit MI. But FM Radio was growing fast as you could hear songs crystal clear and in stereo! As it happened, their entry in music history coincided locally with the re-launch of 103.7 KVIL-FM (along with KVIL-AM 1150) and legendary personality/morning man Ron Chapman, who dominated Dallas/Fort Worth radio for over three decades (KVIL-FM today is a CBS Radio owned and operated station, the copyright holder of this blog).
Wells is survived by his wife of 50 years, Mary; daughters, Coryann and Dawn Marie; and five grandchildren.
One of my favorite songs by the group only hit #17 on Billboard in 1973 but it makes you feel good and has a tendency for you to crank up the volume loud! Here it is, written by John Finley: "Let Me Serenade You"