“Joy to the World” (Three Dog Night)

This week we’re going to look at some of the top tunes of the year 1971, starting with the number-one pop single for the entire year. That tune is “Joy to the World” by the band Three Dog Night and I know you know it,

Three Dog Night released “Joy to the World” in February of 1971. It quickly rose to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, selling more than one million units in less than two months. (It went on to sell more than 5 million copies, total.) It was named the Best Selling Hit Single Record of the year by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. (It lost to the album Carpenters by the Carpenters.)

“Joy to the World” was written by Hoyt Axton, who also wrote “Never Been to Spain” for the group. Mr. Axton was a prolific songwriter, penning tunes for the Kingston Trio (“Greenback Dollar”), Ringo Starr (“No No Song”), Arlo Guthrie (“Evangelina”), and others. He came across that talent naturally; his mother, Mae Axton, wrote Elvis Presley’s big hit, “Heartbreak Hotel.”

Apparently “Joy to the World” was originally written for a cartoon program that never materialized, so Mr. Axton started shopping it around. When first presented with the song, two of the three Three Dog Nighters (Danny Hutton and Cory Wells) rejected it. The third Dog, Chuck Negron, insisted, however, saying the group needed a “silly song” to help bring the group back together after some internal travails. Negron later said that the song “wasn’t even close to being our best record, but it might have been one of our most honest.”

Interesting tidbit: the Jeremiah referenced in the first verse was a character on the aborted cartoon program for which Axton wrote the song. For a time the group debated changing that line to “Jeremiah was a prophet,” but nobody liked that, so Jeremiah remained a bullfrog and the rest is history.

Okay, enough background. Crank up the speakers and sing along:

Jeremiah was a bullfrog
Was a good friend of mine
I never understood a single word he said
But I helped him a-drink his wine
And he always had some mighty fine wine

Singin’ joy to the world
All the boys and girls now
Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea
Joy to you and me