If you read this account of the Three Dog Night history, Van Dyke Parks all but takes credit for not only the name of the band but also claims to be their producer in those early days...he was close with Danny Hutton and this account was a tribute for Danny...and that could very well have been part of the story but it is told more often that Brian Wilson was the band's early "producer" and all but got them together to make records as a trio (so I thought).
Hmmm. Conflicting stories? Brian's work with Redwood or the name Redwood isn't even mentioned.
VDP's piece is here:
http://www.fufkin.com/columns/fufkin/whatever_hutton.htmI wanted to repost this because I think some things contained in this article/link are being overlooked, namely that Van Dyke seems to be claiming that he, *not Brian*, produced the band which became Three Dog Night.
Some facts seem to have slipped through the cracks, it was either Van Dyke or Brian that got "Redwood-Three Dog Night" up and running...which is it, and was it a case of Brian producing them first then Van Dyke later taking over as producer? Because - please correct if I'm missing something - we have recordings which Brian produced for Redwood-TDN, but I wasn't aware of any similar recordings where Van Dyke was credited.
And Van Dyke's account of Danny's solo career seems to have a different tone than other accounts, especially the influence that Danny's vocal arranging and recording styles on his solo single had on Brian and others. I honestly thought for years that Danny's hit just kind of came and went without much fanfare, and it was an asterisk to his career where TDN was the main body of work. Yet Van Dyke seems to be saying the record was more influential than that, naming both The Beatles' "Help" and Brian Wilson as those who were influenced. Interesting.
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