Opinion: My gift is my song, and this one’s for you

A review of Three Dog Night’s concert at the Montbleau Casino

In 1970, a young and talented piano player from England found himself as the opening act for a band that, according to www.ThreeDogNight.com “from 1969 through 1974 achieved more top 10 hits, moved more records and sold more concert tickets than any other band”, including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and Led Zeppelin.

That’s just part of the story of the journey of Three Dog Night’s show last night at the Montbleau Casino in South Lake Tahoe.

Back in 1967, a 17-year-old songwriter named Bernie Taupin was writing songs that soon would be recognized as masterpieces, including the first charted hit for the 1970 opening act for Three Dog Night; Elton John.

“The original lyric was written very rapidly on the kitchen table of Elton's mother's apartment in Northwood Hills in the suburbs of London, if I recall, on a particularly grubby piece of exercise paper," said Taupin, writer of “Your Song”.

Last night, Three Dog Night brought their headlining show back to Caesars in Tahoe. OK, it’s not the 70s anymore, so now its the Montbleau Resort, but nonetheless, the show gave the aging crowd a chance to relive their youth as the crowd returned to their celebrity ball as they celebrated their youth and danced to the music.

Three Dog Night was formed in 1967 by three talented vocalists; Chuck Negron, Cory Wells and Danny Hutton. Negron is no longer with the band, but Wells and Hutton and original guitarist Michael Allsup we’re all in fine form last night on stage, along with long time members Paul Kingery on Bass and Pat Bautz on drums. Eddie Reasoner replaces long time member Jimmy Greenspan on keyboards after Jimmy passed away last year from Cancer.

The show had many highlights, including a soulful cover of Randy Newman’s “You Can Leave Your Hat On” as well as solid renditions of their timeless hits “Out in the Country”, “Joy to the World”, “One” and “Shambala”.

Three Dog Night has always been known for their ability to recognize the talents of other songwriters, and no example is more profound than with their 1970 album “It Ain’t Easy”, which included another Newman cover in “Mama Told Me (Not To Come)”. Their version of this song at last night’s show was spot on, but mid-song they stopped and told a story of a family friend who claimed this song would be a great rap song. After a quick attitude adjustment and change of outfits, they turned this former Number One song into a very entertaining rap song, and when they asked the crowd which version they liked better, surprisingly, the reaction was even.

On side two of “It Ain’t Easy”, they recorded “Your Song”, which was being played in Elton’s set list when he was Three Dog Nights supporting act as an unknown, undiscovered piano player and aspiring songwriter. Interestingly, Three Dog Night was considering releasing “Your Song” as their next single back then, but they chose not to so they could give Elton a chance to release it as the “B-side” to his first single, “Take me to the Pilot”, which he did in 1971. Interestingly, “Your Song” became Elton’s first hit song, it was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and over twenty years ago Elton John was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a well-deserved honor Three Dog Night still awaits.

Next Saturday night, Elton John headlines the much larger Harvey’s outdoor arena in South Lake Tahoe and Three Dog Night shares the bill with Nazareth at the Choctaw Grand Theater in Durant, OK. It would have been fitting to have Three Dog Night on the bill with Elton at Harvey’s, allowing Elton to return the favor from when Three Dog Night recorded his song “Lady Samantha” in 1969 when no one had heard of Elton John, and so he could help turn a whole new generation on to some of the most pure and Classic Rock and Roll from when Rock and Roll mattered. Elton could also help expose two new Three Dog Night songs, highlights from the show last night to a whole new generation of potential fans. The catchy lick in “Heart of Blues” and the powerful vocals from “Prayer of the Children” deserve to be heard.

Maybe next summer the local Tahoe promoters can help Elton return a much-deserved favor. Who knows, maybe Elton can even make a phone call to Cleveland to ask why Three Dog Night is not the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an honor they definitely deserve just based on statistics alone.