Chuck Negron Performs @ July 4th Festival 07/05/81
A few days before this concert, he was at Wonderland.
This was at Long Beach. Other groups which performed at this event were the Beach Boys and Pablo Cruise.
This one’s for Joy!!
A few days before this concert, he was at Wonderland.
This was at Long Beach. Other groups which performed at this event were the Beach Boys and Pablo Cruise.
This one’s for Joy!!
Chuck’s ex, the lovely Julia, who told us some inside info about Wonderland this week is also quoted.
People Magazine | Oct. 2, 1995
ON A DRIVE THROUGH DOWNTOWN L.A., Chuck Negron passes the abandoned building where he used to shoot heroin and the bank of pay phones where he once made drug deals. “One night about six years ago,” says Negron, a former singer for the group Three Dog Night, “I was talking to my dealer on the phone when a car cruised around the corner and sprayed a sheet of bullets. I ducked as far as the phone cord allowed, which wasn’t far. But I wasn’t about to let that dealer get away. The bullets didn’t faze me because I was already dead.”
That’s not much of an exaggeration. By 1990, when Negron, now 53, kicked a 23-year heroin habit, he had squandered a multimillion-dollar fortune, ruined two marriages and become an emaciated, 126-pound wraith. Negron’s downward spin was as dizzying as his rise to the top with the popular ’70s band that sold some 50 million albums and scored 10 Top 10 singles, including “Joy to the World” and “Mama Told Me (Not to Come).” It wasn’t until 1990 that Negron finally turned his life around after checking himself into a last-ditch rehab facility. “I’m not religious, but I believe God intervened,” says Negron. “I did everything I was told at the rehab center. This peace came over me, and I decided I wanted to live.” And in August he came full circle, releasing Negron, his first album in 19 years. “Chuck was nervous starting out,” says his wife, attorney Robin Silna, 39, of his comeback. “But confidence took over. He knew exactly what he wanted.” Adds Negron: “This isn’t about having a new CD. It’s about being healthy. It’s a gift.”
Life hasn’t always been generous to Negron. Born and raised in The Bronx, he was 5 when his father, Charles, a struggling nightclub singer, and his mother, Elizabeth, divorced. Unable to make ends meet, Elizabeth placed Chuck and his twin sister, Nancy, in an orphanage. Two years later she took them back, but by then her son had become a distant, distrustful child. Fortunately, he had a good voice. “I spent every afternoon playing basketball and singing old doo-wop songs,” says Negron. “And that’s what saved me.”
After graduating from high school, Negron moved to Los Angeles. There, in 1966, he met singer Danny Hutton, who soon recruited Negron along with Cory Wells as colead vocalists for Three Dog Night. Three years later they recorded their first hit, “One (Is the Loneliest Number).” By then, Negron had experimented with LSD and marijuana, which, he believes, collectively fed a predisposition to addiction. “From the get-go, friends told me I had a problem,” says Negron. “I thought I smoked occasionally, but they said, ‘No, you’re a pig.’ ”
During that time he also shifted to cocaine and downers. “I loved Seconals,” he says. “The week after I first took them, I bought 5,000. For me that was like opening the door to hell.” His addiction to pills derailed his first marriage, to Paula Servietti, a dental assistant. But rather than clean up, Negron, who was living in a Laurel Canyon mansion, turned to a new drug. “I thought it was coke,” he says about his first heroin highs. “I tried it, got sick as a dog, threw up my guts and said, ‘Get me some more.’ I spent the next 23 years chasing the feeling.”
He wasn’t alone. In 1973, Negron married Julia Densmore, the former wife of Doors drummer John Densmore. “When Chuck is asked if he ever knew anyone worse than him, he usually says me,” admits Julia, a recovering drug addict. “But we had a great marriage because every drug we got was split 50-50.” Negron’s relationship with his bandmates wasn’t as harmonious. By 1977, the year Densmore and Negron had their son Charles, the group had disintegrated, torn apart by drug-inflamed conflicts. Rather than going solo, Negron devoted his life to being a junkie. To pay for his habits, he eventually sold everything he owned, including all of his gold albums. “Bit by bit, everything eroded,” says Densmore. “We took loans against the house, and eventually our telephone and power lines were turned off.”
Densmore sobered up and left her husband in 1985. A year later, while stoned, Negron attended a party in Santa Monica and met Silna. Thinking she could rescue him, she brought him home. He stole her jewelry and cash, but she stuck with him because “he didn’t have anyplace to go.” Finally, in 1990, when he stole her car to score a fix, Silna, fed up, tracked him to a seedy L.A. motel, then dumped him. The next day, Negron, who says he was hospitalized 35 times for his addiction over a 10-year time, called to tell her he wanted to go into detox. Silna said, “No more hospitals. If you want to leave, go suck pavement.”
Desperate, Negron turned to Cry Help, a residential rehab clinic for the hopeless. “I wanted to die,” he says. “I wanted my brain to stop. I was kicking heroin, pills, everything.” But after a demanding, nine-month program that included cleaning toilets and baring his soul in group sessions, Negron came out clean and says he has stayed that way. He managed to win back Silna’s trust: They married in 1993 and have a 21-month-old daughter, Charlotte.
These days, Negron, who lives off his Three Dog Night royalties, spends a lot of time counseling addicts at Cry Help. The experience has given him a new perspective on his life as a rock cliché. “I was a taker, a self-obsessed jerk, and I hurt a lot of people,” he says. “I made millions. But what’s happening to me now is proof that I’ve been blessed more than ever before.”
PETER CASTRO
TODD GOLD in Los Angeles
Chuck’s cousin is the actor Taylor Negron. You may remember him as the pizza guy who delivered to Spicoli in Mr Hand’s class (Fast Times @ Ridgmont High).
“Three Dog Night” is an Aussie term to describe a cold night in the outback. Early settlers, hunters etc would dig a hole at night and sleep in it while out there. On cold nights, 2 dogs were needed. On VERY cold ones, it was a Three Dog Night. I had a lot of Three Dog Nights when I was getting divorced!
In “Three Dog Nightmare”, Negron describes a situation that had to make him sit back and think about his addition. He was so buzzed out on drugs that he frantically had sex with pretty much anything that would move, until his, uh, *thing* literally exploded. (Man, it hurts even telling the story, imagine how he felt). If that don’t drive one to sobriety, nothing would. :-O
The book by Nash’s bodyguard discusses the Wonderland murders, too – even though he devotes most sections that discuss Nash to the massive amounts of dirt that little Adel had on the dirty cops and attorneys he had been keeping in his pocket.
The book by Nash’s bodyguard discusses the Wonderland murders, too – even though he devotes most sections that discuss Nash to the massive amounts of dirt that little Adel had on the crooked cops and attorneys he had been keeping in his pocket.
What is the bodyguard’s name and can you give a link to his book? This is outstanding! I had not heard of this, thanks.
That’s precisely what I was referring to on an earlier post in regards to why Four On The Floor was never and will never be published.
Chuck Negron was one of a trio of singers in the band Three Dog Night. He is best known for his vocals on “Joy to the World” (Jeremiah was a bullfrog…yada yada). During his partying days in the 70s and early 80s, he was also an acquaintance of the Wonderland Gang and used to buy drugs from them. This is mentioned in his autobiography, and he did not live far from the famous house at 8763 Wonderland Avenue.
Chuck claims to have set up a drug buy for the night of the murders, but for some reason did not make it or was told to come by another day. The gang had been partying hard and may have needed rest, according to David Lind. Dave spent that fateful night at a San Fernando Valley motel consuming drugs with a hooker.
Also interesting is that in the crime scene video, one can clearly see a blood splattered album next to the first victim in the living room. The album shown is turned around and this is the back cover of “Harmony” by Three Dog Night:
If Chuck was stopping by, maybe they were getting familiar with his music? Screen capture from crime scene video.
An enlarged version. Was this the last music heard by the Wonderland Gang? Susan Launius and Barbara Richardson had not been staying at the house very long, and I bet they were jamming to this album thinking that Chuck was stopping by… were they about to meet a famous person?
Here is what the back of the album looks like:
Sources:
Inside The L.C. by Dave McGowan
that is super cool!!!!!!
Thanks. It took me forever to figure it out.
Thanks for the great blog, John. I do enjoy your writings about the topics you post about. Very in line with my curiosities. Keep up the good work, man. You have developed a great blog. Love it.
Thanks. You guys always make my day! 🙂
Yes I read that in Dave mcgowans strange but true tales of l.c. Very interesting read
Well…………….Mama told me not to come.
joii 3:34 pm on July 3, 2014 Permalink |
what happened to Sol Berlin????
Bobby 8:28 am on July 4, 2014 Permalink |
No doubt Chuck would’ve sped over to the Wonderland house as soon as he got paid for that gig! ;p
So, does anybody know if the Three Dog Night record at the crime scene was a gift from Chuck (possibly as an exchange for a discount on dope) or was it already in Joy & Billy’s collection? Such a weird coincidence that it was the ‘one’ (boom-boom!) sleeve that ended up getting splattered in blood! What a morbid collector’s item akin to the album Lennon signed for Mark Chapman. Chuck & Julia must’ve freaked when they learnt about that – really spooky synchronicity considering they nearly went over to the house on that fateful night!
Bobby 8:39 am on July 4, 2014 Permalink |
Er, slight addendum: Guess he wasn’t speeding over to the Wonderland house as I just realised that this concert was a few days after the murders… BUT, had this been before.. LOL – I think y’know what I was getting at… 🙂
Hmm, wonder who he started scoring off at this stage?…
criticextraordinaire 5:54 pm on July 4, 2014 Permalink
Yeah I kinda wonder that too. The Wonderland Gang’s Wikipedia page describes them as “most influential and feared cocaine distributorship of its time in Los Angeles”. I’ve got to think the next few months saw shortages for customers and turf wars by other dealers trying to carve up the territory.
scabiesoftherat 9:22 pm on July 4, 2014 Permalink |
This is a really stellar find, John. Great post. I can’t help but wonder what was going through Chuck’s mind while he was performing here. He seems completely at ease up there. He had to have known about it at this point. It was all over the news. If it were me, I would be scanning the wings looking for cops who were waiting to talk to me about my affiliation with such a questionable residence…but not Chuck, man! He’s out there killin’ it in his own right!…and, not to mention, he’s on the same bill with Dennis “i-lived-with-Manson” Wilson of the Beach Boys. The only thing that could make that bill better would be to have Mark Lindsay do a set. Great video. It’s now in my favorites list. (Geez. I never would have known that was a Three Dog Night album next to the couch had it not been for this blog.) That makes this performance even more serendipitous. Just a side observation about this video? You know it’s 1981 when the lead singer of a pop music combo comes out wearing a striped polo shirt that happens to be tucked in,…AND you know it’s 1981 when a girl in the crowd pulls a pack of Marlboro 100s out her cleavage. You can get a ticket for BOTH of those offenses nowadays.
John 2:57 pm on July 8, 2014 Permalink |
I tried to see if he had track marks on his arms, but no luck. He is 6’3 or 4….so in this vid he must weight a buck fifty! Maybe less.