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Chuck
and Jimmy were secretly doing heroin, while cocaine
permeated all our lives, except Cory's and Skip's.
Looking back, I was not even aware of the heroin
problem. I thought it was "downers," such as
barbiturates. It was that, but a whole lot more.
Danny was also in a dangerous condition and for a
period of time, was unable to perform. Jay Gruska
had taken his place in the interim
period.
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For
days at a time, I would hang out at Ike and Tina
Turner's studio, Bolic Sound, in Inglewood, CA. My
marriage was falling apart and I was overcome with
my unhappiness, due to the situation in the band.
We were operating on "automatic," and the
transmission was going south fast. In the previous
few years, I had made more money than I could
relate to and thought I was being reasonable with
my spending, but that was a misconception on my
part. I was feeling more and more alienated from a
band that was the love of my life. There were
business disagreements that also forged a wedge
between us during an increasingly erratic period.
I was hearing from Joe Schermie,
asking me and Floyd to quit and come join him.
Ultimately, the drug abuse, financial issues and
the "hunger" for the music structure of working
with Joe, got the best of me. I rendered my
resignation.
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A
1974 publicity shot of Three Dog
Night
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Legal
disputes followed that pitted Floyd, Joe and me, against
Danny, Chuck and Cory, but to all our credit, we were able
to settle it ourselves without the court's having to
intervene and make a determination for us. In retrospect,
the demise of 3DN in the mid 70's, aside from drug abuse and
member changes, may have been inherent to the structure of
the band. That is, when it came time to renegotiate the
band's catalogue of music, there was a struggle between
those that were signed directly to the record company, and
those that were signed to an internal agreement. An almost
unavoidable situation, when you think about it. The drug
abuse fueled the discontent, like only it can do. I
personally know nothing of the rigors of heroin abuse. Only
years later did I hear of it through the experiences of
Jimmy and Chuck. I thank God that I never used it myself.
Thanks to a healthy fear of needles from my childhood, in
the early days of modern dentistry, I never had a desire to
experiment with anything that required needles. However,
cocaine abuse made me, and others, effectively impossible to
work with in the band. Not a cop-out or an excuse, just the
facts. We were a mess and our attitudes were becoming
progressively more confrontational. Danny and Chuck were
"toast" due to substance abuse. Podolor and Cooper were
gone. Our original management, Reb Foster Associates, was
gone. Schermie was gone, and soon, Floyd and I would also be
gone.
The
last gig I did with the band was in late 1974, at the
Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles. I had tears in my
eyes that last night onstage, and could hardly speak after
we ended the concert. I did NOT want to leave the band, but
had already made my stand and had set things in motion. My
resignation had been accepted. It was just awful leaving the
group. Really awful. It broke my heart. Yes, Floyd and I
were excited to start playing music with Joe Schermie again,
but leaving "3 Dog" was not something to celebrate. Not at
all. We never felt that way about it.
In
the preface to this book, I apologized if there wasn't
enough reference made to drugs and the downside of rock n
roll. When I began writing, it was my intent to make very
little mention of it. As you can see, I fell short of being
true to that concept. I have found it unavoidable to write
of those times in earnest, without including some of the
drug abuse issues that existed. After reading this book, I
hope it's not the main thing that you take with you. That
would be a shame, to dilute the good that exists between us,
our music and all of you. It is my wish that you continue to
enjoy the music and the humor that is Three Dog Night, as
you get to know us even better.
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