An official commentary included in the CD set Celebrate: The Three Dog Night Story, 1965-1975 states that vocalist Danny Hutton’s then-girlfriend June Fairchild thought of the name when she read a magazine article about indigenous Australians, in which it was explained that on cold nights they would customarily sleep in a hole in the ground while embracing a dingo, a native species of wild dog. On colder nights they would sleep with two dogs, and if a night was especially cold, it was a “Three Dog Night"
This story is refuted by Van Dyke Parks. According to an essay on Danny Hutton at his website:
"Danny sought my help when he had a dream for Three Dog Night. I've been under the impression that I'd discovered the name, but Danny tells me 'tain't so. He says the name was discovered by June Wilson [Fairchild]. I doubt it. I remember "Mankind" magazine as bathroom-reading matter in Danny's Weepah Way house in Laurel Canyon. There was a picture of an aboriginal Australian at night, curled up in the cold with three dogs. Somehow, I suspect that June Wilson just wasn't "into" anthropology. I may be wrong, but it's true, the group became "Three Dog Night" because I refused to promote a group with the name "Tricycle." I thought it was puerile!
[Upon further reflection]: I'm correct on [naming] Three Dog Night. It was me. No doubt about it. Everyone else was inhaling!" ((youtube id="0y5SSilhN-8&feature=related"))((/youtube)) 
The band started in 1968 with three lead vocalists — Danny Hutton, Chuck Negron, and Cory Wells — who landed a recording contract with Dunhill Records in Los Angeles. They had made some early recordings in 1967 with Beach Boys producer, composer, vocalist, and instrumentalist Brian Wilson, and initially went by the name Redwood. Shortly after abandoning the Redwood moniker, the vocalists hired a group of backing musicians — Michael Allsup on guitar, Floyd Sneed on drums, Joe Schermie (from the Cory Wells Blues Band) on bass, and Jimmy Greenspoon on keyboards — and soon became one of the most successful bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Three Dog Night earned 13 gold albums and recorded 21 Billboard Top 40 hits, 7 of which went gold. Their first gold record was "One" (U.S. #5), which had been written and recorded by Harry Nilsson. They had three U.S. number one songs: "Mama Told Me Not to Come" (which was also their only Top 10 hit in the UK), "Joy to the World", and "Black and White". Dunhill Records claimed 40 million LP units sold by them during that time period.
Their covers of songs by Randy Newman ("Mama Told Me Not to Come"), Laura Nyro ("Eli's Coming" (U.S. #10)), Russ Ballard of Argent ("Liar" (U.S. #7), Hoyt Axton ("Joy to the World"), Elton John and Bernie Taupin ("Lady Samantha" & "Your Song"), John Hiatt ("Sure As I'm Sittin' Here" (U.S. #16), and Leo Sayer ("The Show Must Go On" (U.S. #4) were the first major hits for songs by these singer/songwriters. According to the commentary in the above-mentioned CD set, Elton John later credited their cover of "Your Song" with being a major factor in catapulting him to stardom. They also popularized songs by Paul Williams ("An Old Fashioned Love Song" (U.S. #4) and ("Out in the Country" (U.S. #15).
Joe Schermie was let go in early 1973 after disagreements with the band and was replaced by Jack Ryland. The band then became an eight-piece with the induction of another keyboard player, Skip Konte (ex-Blues Image). In late 1974, Allsup & Sneed left to form a new band, S.S. Fools, with Schermie. New members James "Smitty" Smith and Mickey McMeel were recruited, but by 1975 Smith was replaced by Al Ciner (formerly of the bands Rufus and The American Breed) and Ryland by Rufus bass player Dennis Belfield.
By 1976 the streak of hit records had ended and Hutton was succeeded in a short-lived lineup by Jay Gruska. Another former Rufus member, Ron Stockert, was recruited as second keyboardist after Konte left that same year. After a summer concert tour was cut short, the group ended up playing what would end up being their final show (at the time) at the Greek Theater in LA on July 26th, 1976. The group's end was brought about, at least partly, due to the drug addiction problems of band members Hutton, Negron & Greenspoon (as related in Chuck Negron's autobiography Three Dog Nightmare and Jimmy Greenspoon's book One is the Loneliest Number).((youtube id="UiKcd7yPLdU&feature=related"))((/youtube))((youtube id="dFypAB7nYGA&feature=related"))((/youtube))
In 1981, Three Dog Night reunited and went on, in 1983, to release the ska inspired It's A Jungle, an EP released on the small Passport Records label which garnered some airplay on the New Wave circuit. The EP failed to sell, partially because many of the copies ended up sitting in a warehouse in New Jersey after Passport went bankrupt. The reunion featured all of the original members, except Joe Schermie who was succeeded by Mike Seifrit(1981-1982), then by Richard Grossman(1982-1984). Two guitarists, Paul Kingery and Steve Ezzo, came into the band in 1982-1984 to sub for Allsup since a family emergency prevented him from making all the scheduled concert dates.
In 1985 a spring/summer tour was postponed to allow Negron time to check into a rehab to combat his recurring drug problem. Greenspoon took the opportunity to clean up his act too. Then, with new members: Kingery (vocals, guitar), Scott Manzo (bass, backing vocals) and Mike Keely (drums, percussion), the band returned to the road. (Allsup was forced to leave altogether and Sneed had been let go as well by late 1984). Unfortunately, Negron suffered a relapse during the tour and was fired by the band in December 1985. 
The group continued on fronted by Wells & Hutton. In 1986 they contributed the song "In My Heart" for Robotech: The Movie. There were a few more shuffles in personnel in the 80s & early 90s; T.J. Parker (guitar) and Gary Moon (vocals, bass) replaced Kingery and Manzo in 1988, then Parker & Moon were out and Mike Cuneo and Richard Campbell were in in 1989. Allsup, having resolved most of his family troubles, happily returned to the group in the spring of 1991. Pat Bautz succeeded Keely as drummer in 1993 and Kingery returned in 1996, as bass player this time, after Campbell left.
In 1993, Three Dog Night performed for The Family Channel show Spotlight on Country, filmed in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
As of 2008, they are still very active. The current lineup features founding members Wells and Hutton on lead vocals, Greenspoon, Allsup, Paul Kingery on bass and vocals and Pat Bautz on drums. Three Dog Night continues to perform an average of 85 concert dates a year.
Original bassist Joe Schermie died on March 26, 2002 of a heart attack.
Sky Television has launched a new ad campaign (Oct 2007) in the UK. The advert, promoting the company's aspirations to be seen as an environmentally friendly company, uses 'Joy To The World' as its backing track.
A new studio album, the group's first in 32 years, is expected to be released shortly. Producer Richie Podolor came out of retirement to produce some of the new album tracks. The album is expected sometime in 2008. Although an EP of five new songs was recorded and released in 1983, and two new songs were issued on the Live with the London Symphony Orchestra album, Three Dog Night has not recorded a full-length album since 1976's American Pastime.((youtube id="R8bXs9Er3iw&feature=related"))((/youtube))((youtube id="dm6qw_yeo6o&feature=related"))((/youtube))
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