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. He was a songwriter and singer for Hanna-Barbera Records from 1965 to 1966.[1] He had a modest national hit, "Roses and Rainbows", during his tenure as a recording artist for Hanna-Barbera Records.
Early life
Hutton was born in Buncrana, Ireland. When he was five, his mother, Kathleen,[2] took him and his siblings (Vincent, 16, and Patricia, 10[2]) to Boston, where most of his extended family already lived.[3] His family was poor, and Hutton's father "bailed" on him.[3]
Kathleen ran a Victorian rooming house, and young Danny had to answer the public phone on the first floor. At one point, the family housed Elmer "Trigger" Burke, who was going under the alias Mr. Mahoney.[2] When Burke attempted to murder Joseph "Specs" O'Keefe, one of many men to partake in the Great Brink's Robbery, Kathleen was brought into the local police station to identify Burke.[3] He escaped after dressing as a woman. Because Kathleen was the one who identified him, the family were under police protection 24/7 for the next six months.[2]
When Hutton was 11 or 12, Kathleen, unable to cope with this new life of authority protection and constant paranoia, announced that the family were moving to Hollywood.[2][3]
Hutton's first car was a 1950 Jaguar convertible that cost him only $800. After graduating from high school, Hutton took a gap year and travelled to Paris, London, and Liverpool. He then took a ferry to Belfast, and while there, he bought a guitar. Afterward, he cycled back to his birthplace, Buncrana.[3] Hutton stayed in Ireland for a month.[2] After returning to the US, he worked at Walt Disney Records, unloading records out the back of delivery trucks.[4]
Early career
Hutton was asked to join Hanna-Barbera Records and to write and perform all the vocals and instruments for his self–penned songs for the company, which would then release them under fake names and hire bands to perform them, pretending to be the "band" on Hutton's works.[4]
"I was hired as the hip, young guy on the street who knows where all of the action is. My job was to find talent and record. I ended up doing a lot of the recording myself. I did this one song, ‘Roses and Rainbows,’ and after I did it, wrote it, recorded it and produced it, they said, ‘You know what? We’re going to send you out as an artist.’ And I had never really performed. I was shocked. They sent me out on tour with Sonny and Cher."[2]
Hutton hit #73 on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Roses and Rainbows" in 1965 during his tenure as a recording artist for Hanna-Barbera Records. His song "Big Bright Eyes" also charted in 1966. He sang backing vocals on the track "Sweet Sweet Surrender" with the power trio BBA on their eponymous album released by Epic in 1973.
Hutton left Hanna-Barbera Records because he got "completely screwed by them" and moved to Brother Records, where he became friends with Brian Wilson.[2]
Three Dog Night was based around the vocal skills of Danny Hutton, Chuck Negron, and Cory Wells. In 1967, Hutton conceived the idea of a three-vocalist group, and he and Wells enlisted mutual friend Negron. Lead vocals on songs were shared between Hutton, Negron, and Wells. Hutton sang lead on the least amount of songs; these included "Black and White", "Celebrate" (verse one only), "Liar", "One Man Band", "The Family of Man" (verse one only), and "Your Song".
The official commentary included in the CD set Celebrate: The Three Dog Night Story, 1965–1975 states that Hutton's then-girlfriend June Fairchild suggested a name for the band after reading a magazine article about indigenous Australians,[5] in which it was explained that on cold nights they would customarily sleep in a hole in the ground whilst embracing a dingo, a native species of wild dog. On colder nights, they would sleep with two dogs; and if the night was freezing, it was called a "three-dog night".[6] Musician Van Dyke Parks has disputed this claim, however, and says he, not Fairchild, came up with the name from the magazine.
The band's first Top Ten hit was "One" in 1969. "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)" reached #1 a year later. "Joy to the World" became the group's biggest hit in 1971. The group's final #1, "Black and White", topped the Hot 100 in 1972. "The Show Must Go On" was their final Top Ten song in 1974. They had 21 hit singles, including 11 Top Ten hits and 12 consecutive gold albums from 1969 to 1975. Hutton served as the lead vocalist on "Black and White" as well as the Top Ten hit "Liar".
By 1976 the hits had stopped, there were several member changes (Coming Down Your Way produced only one Top 40 hit and American Pastime failed to produce a charting single), Negron was taking the leads on many of the band's songs, and Hutton left the group. Three Dog Night officially disbanded in 1977. Three Dog Night, an ABC Dunhill Records act, was managed by Reb Foster and Associates of Beverly Hills, and the band's concerts were promoted by Concerts West.
The band got back together in the early 1980s and continued with Hutton and Wells along with founding members Allsup and Greenspoon. Greenspoon died on March 11, 2015, and Wells died on October 20, 2015. Three Dog Night started a tour in August 2021 that did not include Allsup, leaving Danny as the sole original member. Hutton continues to lead Three Dog Night, touring regularly throughout the US and Canada.
Hutton and his wife, Laurie, have two sons, Dash Hutton (born February 13, 1995)—the former drummer in the American rock band Haim—and Timothy V. Hutton (born 1991), a bassist and producer.[2] Laurie has another son, Ty (born 1985), from another marriage.[2] The sons co-own a recording studio called The Canyon Hut.
Three Dog Nightmare, Chuck Negron. Renaissance Books 1st edition (June 1999); ISBN1-58063-040-5
One Is the Loneliest Number: On the Road and Behind the Scenes With the Legendary Rock Band Three Dog Night, Greenspoon, Jimmy and Bago, Mark. Pharos Books (January 1991); ISBN0-88687-647-8
