Decades after their heyday in the 1960s and ’70s, Three Dog Night remains one of the most recognizable names in rock history.

But founding member and vocalist Danny Hutton, 82, said the band’s manager didn’t much like the group’s nickname.

“The name has nothing to do with the music,” Hutton told Advance/SILive.com in a phone interview. “But our manager was very angry when we chose that name.”

Three Dog Night, featuring Hutton, will be performed at the St. George Theater on Saturday.

‘Circus act’

Three Dog Night refers to the Australian Aboriginal practice of sleeping with dogs for warmth. The coldest nights required three dogs to feel comfortable.

The band’s manager didn’t really like the name, Hutton said.

“’They’re going to think you’re a circus act,’” Hutton said they told the band. “And the word ‘dog’ at that time was not used. Everyone thought it was something derogatory. And now everyone uses dog as a nickname. It’s almost, you know, ‘Hey, dog.'”

harmony first

Hutton formed Three Dog Night in 1967 with singers Chuck Negron and Cory Wells.

Hutton had emerged in the music business as a singer and producer in the 1960s, including with Hanna-Barbera Records.

Hutton said he always put three-part vocal harmonies in his songs and had that in mind when he formed the band that would become Three Dog Night.

“I like that triad sound,” Hutton said. “And then I specifically went to look for two other guys.”

He said: “Our goal has always been to just serve the music, serve the song and do it well. A lot of harmony. So even if you don’t speak the language, you’ll hear a lot of harmony, a lot of hooks. And that is important to me.”

The group was initially called Redwood and was scheduled to be produced by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, who was a close friend of Hutton, and who would sign with the group’s Brother Records.

But the other Beach Boys wanted Wilson to focus only on the Beach Boys, Hutton said.

Hutton, Negron and Wells joined a full band and recorded 21 Top 40 hits, including three chart-topping songs: “Mama Told Me (Not to Come),” “Joy to the World” and “Black and White,” the latter of which featured Hutton on lead vocals.

Three Dog Night performed songs by up-and-coming songwriters of the era who would later become icons, including Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman, Laura Nyro and Paul Williams.

Three Dog Night’s first gold record, “One,” had been on a Nilsson album but was not a hit for him.

“We took the song out, rearranged it, and made it a hit,” Hutton says.

But Hutton said Three Dog Night should not be considered a “cover band.”

“We resurrected songs,” he said. “And that formula was great. I mean, Randy Newman gives you a song. Are you going to do one of your songs?

crime of the century

Hutton also has a link to what was once known as “the crime of the century.”

Hutton was born in Ireland and later came to Boston with his family. His mother, Kathleen, ran a boarding house in the city.

The boarding house gained notoriety when resident Elmer “Trigger” Burke attempted to kill Joseph “Specs” O’Keefe, one of the participants in the Great Brink Robbery of 1950, the largest robbery in United States history at the time.

O’Keefe had been bragging about his role in the “crime of the century” and Burke was brought in to silence him. Burke wounded O’Keefe after a chase, but O’Keefe survived.

“Then the police knocked on my mom’s door and she had to come down and she was on the front page of the Boston Globe pointing at (Burke),” Hutton said.

Hutton’s mother received police protection, but soon decided to move the family to California.

No politics

Despite being a band rooted in the turbulent 1960s and currently touring during a divisive time in America, Hutton said Three Dog Night is not a political band.

“Our goal is to get everyone into the theater or wherever we’re playing and forget about the outside world,” he said.

He said: “I couldn’t be happier with the band. You will leave in a good mood.”