Best Cover Band Ever?

Months back, I wrote about a band that I felt was underrated: Hall and Oates. Recently, I’ve been listening to a band that I feel is similarly underrated: Three Dog Night. Though of a different era, Three Dog Night’s core hits are just about as catchy as those Hall & Oates classics.

I was surprised to learn that none of the members of Three Dog Night actually write music, so almost all of their songs are covers. Yet they handle these covers with such creativity that one forgets the original songwriter. Take the ubiquitous “Joy to the World.” Ever heard of Hoyt Axton? Well, he’s the country music singer-songwriter who wrote this classic.

“One,” (originally performed by Harry Nillson) is probably my favorite Three Dog Night track. It exudes such panicked hysteria as singer Chuck Negron repeatedly wails about that loneliest of numbers. And then there’s “Mama Told Me Not to Come,” a cover of a song that was originally written by Randy Newman for Eric Burdon of the Animals. One of their three Number One hits, Three Dog Night turns Newman’s original into a groovin’ soul number with a great infectious chorus. Indeed, Randy Newman himself cites this as his favorite version of the song. Though Wilson Pickett does a mean version himself…

And so I pose the question: Might Three Dog Night be the greatest cover band of all time? I’m hard pressed to think of a better one… I mean, c'mon, they have an album called Golden Bisquits! Check out the tracks below and weigh in if you'd like.

Three Dog Night – One (YSI) (filesavr)
Three Dog Night – Mama Told Me Not To Come (YSI) (filesavr)
Wilson Pickett – Mama Told Me Not To Come (YSI) (filesavr)