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He is a singer born in Manhattan, New York, and raised
in The Bronx. While he was
growing up he performed with several doo-wop groups from his area and when
he was fifteen he was a member of The Rondells. With
them he appeared at the Apollo Theatre and made his first recording. At the same time he was an avid
basketball player and following his years at High School he moved south
after he was awarded an athletic scholarship in Santa Maria, California, and
was later recruited by California State University. During his years in California he
got a recording contract from Columbia and recorded two singles as Chuck
& The Sorenson Brothers which were successful locally. He was then signed up by Columbia as
Chuck Negron-Rondell around 1965 and in 1967 he met up with the singers Cory
Wells and Danny Hutton.
Together they formed the group Three Dog Night. They became one of the most successful
bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s over the next few years and topped
the charts with over 20 Top 40 chart hits and several No. 1s. Their numerous chart entries include
the hit singles "An Old Fashioned Love Song", "Black and
White", "Joy to the
World ", "Mama Told Me (Not To Come)", "Shambala"
and "The Show Must Go On" and to date they have sold in excess of
90 million records. The group
decided to disband in 1977 after years of recording and touring and by this
time he was dealing with an addiction to heroin. After several years he was involved in the reunion of
the group in 1981, leaving around 1985 to tackle his drug problem. Following many attempts at
rehabilitation he finally kicked the habit in 1991 and in 1992 started
taking musical studied in voice.
In 1994 he went decided to go out on his own as a solo artist and in
1995 recorded his debut album Am I Still in Your Heart, following it
with Joy to the World in 1996, the 1999 Long Road Back and
the 2001 Chuck Negron – Live in Concert. Also in 1999 he turned his hand to writing and published
his autobiography Three Dog Nightmare this was followed up by his Three
Dog Nightmare: The Continuing Chuck Negron Story. In 2005 he released the award
winning DVD The Chuck Negron Story: Biography of an Entertainer and
in 2006 appeared as a “Special Guest of Blood, Sweat & Tears” after his
management company got the rights to use the name of the band. He currently performs more than 70
shows as a solo artist annually and assists the charity Cri-Help for people
suffering from addiction.
Joy to the
World (Hoyt
Axton )
Old
Gold OG-9795-B (UK 45)
Sources:
- http://www.negron.com/
- http://www.myspace.com/chucknegronformerlyofthreedognight
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Negron
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Dog_Night
- http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:mucyxdyb8olk~T1
- http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:wifwxq8gldhe~T4
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