Three Dog Night delivered a bushelful of hits from the late ’60s through the mid-’70s, often doing so by showcasing the work of top songwriters of the era such as Laura Nyro, Hoyt Axton, and Harry Nilsson. With “Mama Told Me (Not to Come),” they gave that same exposure to a Randy Newman song and rode it all the way to the No. 1 spot on the pop charts.
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What is the song about? What did Newman have in mind when he wrote the song? And what changes did Three Dog Night make to turn it into such a smash? Let’s open up a window, let in some fresh air, and take a look back at this enduring hit.
Newman’s Original
Newman made his bones writing songs for hire and doing sessions as a piano player throughout the ’60s. Soon he was making records on his own. His earliest efforts didn’t sell a ton, in part because Newman’s tendencies towards irony and melancholy didn’t exactly scream pop smash. But critics were noticing (famed Village Voice reviewer Robert Christgau was an early Newman adopter), and other artists raided the albums for cover material.
“Mama Told Me (Not to Come),” written by Newman, first showed up in 1966 via a cover version by Eric Burdon of The Animals. The songwriter recorded his own version for the 1970 album 12 Songs. It’s a restrained take, with Newman underplaying the vocals and indulging in some nice instrumental interplay on piano with Ry Cooder on slide guitar.
Newman told the Los Angeles Times the impetus for the song was his own discomfort at social gatherings. “Well, I’ll tell you, I never liked parties much,” he said. “I remember the first thing I went to when I was like 11: boys and girls at somebody’s house or something, real loud, kids were smoking. It was alien. I can still hear the ringing in my ears.”
He also admitted that he was making a commentary on the fact that parties of that era were drastically changing. His recording was so laid-back that “Mama Told Me (Not to Come)” might have been destined for obscurity. But the song, and Newman in turn, were about to get a huge boost in notoriety thanks to a stubborn champion from a band who ran in the same Southern California circles as the songwriter.
Who Let the Dog In?
Three Dog Night were in the midst of an incredible stretch of pop success (five straight Top 20 hits) as they settled in to make their 1970 album It Ain’t Easy. They didn’t really write their own material, but had thrived by finding gems from unheralded songwriters and putting a pop/rock sheen on them to bring them to the masses.
Cory Wells, the band’s main lead singer, had heard “Mama Told Me (Not to Come),” and believed it could fit with this formula. His other band members weren’t so sure. It’s a good thing Wells was persistent, because he eventually convinced Three Dog Night to take a shot at the song.
The band developed a herky-jerky arrangement, added some new elements (like the way the refrain is repeated with the words son and no tacked on it), and used Jimmy Witherspoon’s playful electric piano to be the instrumental centerpiece. But the real standout was Wells’ hammed-up lead vocal. He wheezed and wretched his way through the lyrics, making you wonder if the narrator might have indeed partaken of the stuff offered him instead of getting out of there.
What is the Meaning of “Mama Told Me (Not to Come)”?
Three Dog Night played up the humor in the song that Newman might have assumed the audience would get anyway. The opening lines put the narrator in a kind of nightmarish scenario (at least for him): Want some whiskey in your water? Sugar in your tea?/What’s all these crazy questions they’re asking me?
As the song progresses, he desperately begs for the mercy of an open window to spare him from the smell of stale perfume and the cigarette that ’bout scared me half to death. Things get worse before they get better, as his girlfriend winds up passed out on the floor. He finally admits that he doesn’t belong there: I don’t wanna see no more.
Every time the chorus comes around, it reminds him of Mama’s sage words still ringing in his ears: That ain’t the way to have fun. “Mama Told Me (Not to Come)” delivered the first No. 1 for both Three Dog Night as artists and Randy Newman as a songwriter. And it remains relevant today for anyone with a little social anxiety and a lot of skepticism about party refreshments.
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