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Here's
a copy of an email that was forwarded to me by our fan club
President, Madonna Nuckolls. It's in regards to the Rose
Bowl parade on January 1st, 1972.
(Received on January
6, 2002)
Madonna:
I
had a Three Dog Night encounter on New Year's day 1972 that
I would like to share with you. In the late 60's and early
70's, on break from high school or college, I spent most of
my vacation working for a company which built floats for the
Pasadena, California Tournament of Roses aka the Rose
Parade. Most of my time was spent doing an assortment of
activities which prepared the floats for decorating and
assisting the decorating volunteers once they arrived. On
New Year's Eve I would turn in my work gloves and put on my
official Tournament of Roses float driver armband. Along
with scores of other hardy souls, I assumed my position on a
hard slab of plywood next to a recycled automobile engine
under a 60 foot monstrosity not intended for long road
trips. Nonetheless, we would spend the better part of New
Year Eve and early into New Year's Day moving these floral
leviathans some 15 miles or so from the construction site to
the parade formation area. Then we would try to get a few
hours sleep on the cold, hard ground under the float hoping
to be able to stay awake throughout the parade. A four hour
trip down a crowded boulevard breathing exhaust fumes can
really test one's fortitude.
New
Year's Day 1972 was special. Three Dog Night were at the top
of their game. Florist Transworld Delivery aka FTD asked
them to ride on their float in the 1972 Tournament of Roses.
And I had the good fortune to be selected as one of the two
drivers on that float. I don't recall when I became aware we
would be carrying such important guests. The first glimpse I
got of them was when a limousine pulled up to the float in
the middle of the night. A young man jumped out with longish
hair and those 70's kind of clothes, embroidered shirts and
bell bottom pants, looking all in all like a rock star. Not
being completely familiar with all the members of the group
I said to him "Who are you?." He replied Michael Allsup. I
remember thinking that his hair looked almost red. He took a
look around, showed an interest in his chariot and,
apparently satisfied, climbed back in his limo to report
back to the others who were in a rented mansion just up the
street. Just after dawn, several limo's arrived and out
piled the whole group.
I
recall that they all appeared to be quite unaccustomed to
being out in public at that early hour of the day. Danny or
Cory, I cannot recall which one, apparently flew in just the
evening before from London, or so I was told, and was
clearly done in. He spent most of the time before parade
time sitting quite literally in a bed of roses. The hard
core fans began to arrive as well as some causal passerby's
who got wind of the important celebrities in their midst.
One young fan with her mother were there bright and early
with a birthday present for Chuck, as I recall. This earned
her a hug and a word or two of thanks.
Once
the parade started I cranked up the music. Three of Three
Dog Night's popular tunes were played over and over again
for four hours. Joy to the World was one but I can't recall
the other two. I had fairly limited vision but I could see
the crowd's reaction as they, at first, weren't aware of who
was on the float. You could compare it to a crowd doing the
wave at a sporting event. As the realization came, probably
due to the music, the voices grew louder and then the
screams started. More than once a young lady ran up to the
float to get a touch or maybe a kiss if she was fast enough.
Rumor
has it that the members of the group were in a holiday
giving state of mind and shared their cheer with the crowd
in the form of some sort of illicit herb pitched to the
occassional spectator. I did not see this happening myself
but my more mature and better positioned lead driver
indicated he witneseed this event and was himself the
beneficiary of some of their holiday cheer.
True
or not, we got to the end of the parade without incident and
parked our float on the grounds of the local community
college. The area was surrounded by a chain link fence. By
now the crowds were following and pressing against the fence
for a close look. The Parade staff handed out the customary
box lunches and we, Three Dog Night and two everyday Joe's,
sat down on the grass against the chain link and ate our
lunch. Through the chain link came many fingers and ooh's
and aaahhh's. As they went off in their limo's and we
staggered to our pick-up truck, we knew we had just had our
15 minutes of fame.
Just
had to share. Bought a Three Dog Night greatest hits CD
today and shared the music and the memories with my kids.
They knew the music of course. Joy to the World is a popular
sing-a-long in my kid's school. I am grateful I had the
opportunity to share this wonderful memory with them.
Jeff
Garbutt
Folsom,
CA
Wasn't
that a nice e-mail? Concerning the part about "sharing our
cheer with the crowd in the form of some sort of illicit
herb pitched to the occassional spectator." I kind of doubt
that. More than likely it was the reverse. People tossing it
up to us on the float. I can see us laughing about it, then
maybe tossing it back or even tossing it to one of the
drivers. Who knows? A long time ago. It was a sign of the
times, that is a fact.
Here's a
color photo (that
Jeff Garbutt sent me)
of the Grand Prize winning FTD Florist float that we were
riding. I'm just out of view behind Schermie's
hat.
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