About The Song
“Let Me Serenade You” is a 1973 single by Three Dog Night that distills their early-’70s formula—strong outside songwriting, smooth vocal blend, and radio-ready production—into a compact three minutes. Written by John Finley, the track appeared on the band’s album Cyan and was released on Dunhill/ABC (catalog 4370) on November 3, 1973, with “Storybook Feeling” on the B-side. It arrived as the follow-up to their spring smash “Shambala,” giving the album a second mainstream push at the end of the year.
The song’s roots reach back to the late 1960s. Finley had first recorded it with the Canadian-American band Rhinoceros under the original title “I Will Serenade You” on their self-titled 1968 LP. Where that version leans earthy and organ-soaked, Three Dog Night’s reading tightens the groove and brightens the attack, favoring crisp guitars, clean keys, and a firm backbeat. The rewrite in the title mirrors the arrangement shift: less bar-band haze, more polished pop-soul glow.
Cyan was released on October 9, 1973, produced by Richard Podolor at American Recording Co. in Studio City. Podolor—long a steady hand behind the band—arranged the track with Three Dog Night, keeping the focus on melody and momentum rather than production fireworks. The album itself blends outside material and band-penned tunes, and sequencing “Let Me Serenade You” on Side B alongside “Shambala” helps the record pivot between contemplative romance and widescreen uplift.
One signature of the group is the way its three frontmen trade colors. On this cut, Cory Wells takes the lead, his warm, lightly grainy tenor carrying the lyric with unhurried poise while Chuck Negron and Danny Hutton supply stacked harmonies. The credits also flag Gordon DeWitty’s organ on the track—a silky layer that nods back to the song’s Rhinoceros origins even as the mix stays taut and contemporary.
Lyrically, the tune offers a simple promise: let the singer “serenade” the beloved and set worries aside. There are no baroque metaphors here—just plainspoken affection shaped into a refrain that lodges quickly. That clarity is part of why the cover connected: Three Dog Night present the sentiment in an immediately legible frame, trimming excess and letting the hook do the work. It’s grown-up pop that trusts melody and phrasing over flash.
On the charts, the single did exactly what it was built to do. “Let Me Serenade You” climbed to No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., giving the band another Top-20 entry during a remarkably consistent run, and it fared even better in Canada, reaching No. 11 on RPM’s national survey. While it didn’t match “Shambala”’s Top-3 peak, the record reinforced Cyan’s momentum and kept Three Dog Night in heavy rotation across AM playlists through the close of 1973.
The song’s afterlife has been steady. It appears on compilations like Joy to the World: Their Greatest Hits, and its author’s pedigree has drawn other interpreters—Melissa Manchester included—underscoring the tune’s sturdy bones. Heard today, “Let Me Serenade You” plays like a quintessential Three Dog Night moment: a writer’s gem sharpened in the studio and delivered with three-voice assurance, equal parts tenderness and lift.
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Lyric
I will serenade you, all along the way
I will serenade you, anyway you say
Take you to the country, I’ll take you to the shore
Show you to my garden, I know you’ll make it grow.If you let me serenade you
You know that’s what you come for,
So that I will serenade youAnd when the walls begin to fall
Can’t hold back the joy
That love will conquer all.Every moment, every day,
If you want to hold me, I will stay
Let me serenade you, I will serenade you
If you want to hold me, I will stay