The Bell Bottom Bulletin Checks in with Chuck Negron
Even after selling 60 million albums and with a dozen gold records hanging on his wall, Chuck Negron is still in awe of rock and roll and the place in its history that Three Dog Night holds. Chuck and the band will make their Flower Power Cruise debut when the ship sails in 2019, but he’s already counting down the days.
“When I started, it was the beginning of rock and roll,” Chuck recalls, his voice brimming with excitement as he tells his story. “As a teenager, I fell in love with this new music that my generation embraced. To think that I would be a part of that in a historic manner never occurred to me.”
Just a few short years after discovering this “new music,” Three Dog Night soared to the top of the charts with their rock anthems and atypical love songs. “One” played like a sweet song of romance but with achingly lonely lyrics. “Mama Told Me Not To Come” was defiant and groovy at the same time. “Joy To The World” was a no-holds-barred romp. Their versions of “Shambala” and “Try A Little Tenderness” showed that they could take on any song. Three Dog Night landed in the Top 40 an astounding 21 times in less than 10 years. But history was still in the making, because when it came to their live concerts, nothing – and no one – could compare.
“We were, in fact, better live than we were on record and that’s what brought the band over the top,” Chuck explains. “We changed the way people looked at rock and roll.” Their tours filled stadiums like never before. Between 1969 and 1974, few acts sold as many concert tickets as Three Dog Night and by 1972, the band was handily out-grossing Elvis Presley and the Rolling Stones. Their concerts were not just huge in scale, but also were dedicated to bringing the best experience to fans, with top-of-the-line sound equipment, video screens (a rarity in those days) and opening acts that had a slew of their own hits.
“It’s a very intoxicating, very powerful thing,” Chuck says with sincerity, describing what it’s like when an entire stadium sings along to “Joy To The World.” He freely admits that it can get very emotional. “There were nights I would just catch someone’s eye and they were crying and singing and it just touched my heart. Concerts are a wonderful, exciting thing and the audience can end up giving you as much as you’re giving them.” To this day, Chuck remains in awe of the support of his fans. “It’s a very, very wonderful thing. There have been nights where I’d look out and the stands are moving because people are just grooving to the beat so much.”
Which is why he loves the experience that the Flower Power Cruise brings to both himself and his fans. “The cruise is much different for everyone than when people just go to concerts,” he explains. “Fans get to really see us, get to say hi, get autographs and do a lot of picture taking,” he adds, smiling. “It’s nice. And they get to see us up close and personal doing these songs.”
But most of all, Chuck Negron is looking forward to taking the stage and delivering the kind of concert that have kept fans coming back to shake up the stands for five decades.