About The Song
On October 16, 1968, Three Dog Night released their self-titled debut on Dunhill—a record that would later be reissued and widely known as “One” after the Harry Nilsson cover became their breakout hit. Early in the running order, “Let Me Go” sits as track five, right after the harmony showcase “It’s for You.” It’s a quick pivot that hints at the band’s plan: impress you with vocal blend, then prove they could handle grittier material without losing control.
The key detail is the songwriter credit: Danny Whitten. In 1968 he wasn’t famous to the pop audience Dunhill hoped to reach. He was fronting a Los Angeles group called the Rockets, whose only album included “Let Me Go” and sold in tiny numbers. Still, that record reached Neil Young, who soon pulled Whitten (along with Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina) into the backing band that became Crazy Horse. Three Dog Night were, in effect, borrowing from a songwriter on the edge of a larger story that hadn’t unfolded yet.
That kind of early “scouting” was part of their identity. Three Dog Night’s reputation would be built on selecting outside songs—often from writers who were just starting to surface—and giving them a bigger stage. A modern retrospective even describes Whitten as a “moody” friend in their wider circle, which fits the tone of “Let Me Go”: more restless than romantic, more like a late-night conversation than a radio slogan.
The debut album itself didn’t explode immediately. It took time to reach the Billboard album chart, and Dunhill’s first single from the sessions (“Nobody,” backed with “It’s for You”) arrived in late 1968 before the group had a signature hit. In that context, “Let Me Go” reads less like filler and more like a statement that the LP mattered: they wanted listeners to hear their taste, not just their potential for singles.
On the recording, the band keeps the song compact and direct. They don’t try to reinvent Whitten’s writing into something ornate; they let it move on feel and momentum. On this album, Cory Wells is credited with lead vocals on most tracks, and “Let Me Go” fits the lane he often occupied: tougher, straighter, and built to land in one pass.
Years later, the Whitten credit gained an unavoidable weight. In 1972, after Young sent him back to Los Angeles because addiction made rehearsals impossible, Whitten died that same night; Young later spoke publicly about the shock and guilt he carried. None of that tragedy is audible in the 1968 Three Dog Night cut, but it changes the song’s map: a tune written for a little-known band, then preserved by a soon-to-be hitmaking trio, and forever tied to a songwriter whose career ended far too quickly.
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Lyric
Bless my soul I love you
Tell all the world I do
Love me so hard
Love me so hard
Love me so hard
Let me goGoin’ down to the river
Feelin’ kinda low
If I holler
If I holler
If I holler
Let me go
Ooh let me goBless my soul I love you
Tell all the world I do
Love me so hard
Love me so hard
Love me so hard
Let me goGoin’ down to the river
Feelin’ kinda low
If I holler
If I holler
If I holler
Let me go
Ooh let me go