{{short description|1973 single by B. W. Stevenson}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox song | name = Shambala | cover = BW Stevenson Shambala.jpg | alt = | caption = Side A of the original US single | type = single | artist = B. W. Stevenson | album = My Maria | B-side = My Feet Are So Weary | released = April 1973 | format = | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = Country rock | length = {{Duration|m=2|s=28}} | label = RCA Victor | writer = Daniel Moore | producer = David Kershenbaum | prev_title = Don't Go To Mexico | prev_year = 1973 | next_title = My Maria | next_year = 1973 | misc = {{External music video | type = single | header = Audio | 1={{YouTube|yUKijjWpim8|"Shambala"}}}} }} {{Infobox song | name = Shambala | cover = Shambala_-_Three_Dog_Night.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = Three Dog Night | album = Cyan | B-side = Our 'B' Side | released = May 11, 1973 | format = | recorded = | studio = American Recording Co., Studio City, Los Angeles | venue = | genre = * Pop<ref name="Breithaupt 1996">{{cite book|title= Precious and Few - Pop Music in the Early '70s|first1=Don|last1=Breithaupt|first2= Jeff|last2= Breithaupt|date= October 15, 1996|chapter= Dancing in the Moonlight: Seventies Pop|page= 38|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|isbn=031214704X|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RMPCAwAAQBAJ}}</ref> * gospel<ref name= "Breihan 2019">{{cite web|first= Tom |last= Breihan |title= The Number Ones: Jim Croce's "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown"|website= Stereogum |date= April 11, 2019 |url= https://www.stereogum.com/2039308/the-number-ones-jim-croces-bad-bad-leroy-brown/columns/the-number-ones/|quote= Three Dog Night’s ecstatic mystic-gospel singalong “Shambala” peaked at #3 behind “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown".|accessdate= June 18, 2023}}</ref> * rock | length = {{Duration|m=3|s=25}} | label = Dunhill | writer = Daniel Moore | producer = Richard Podolor | prev_title = Pieces of April | prev_year = 1972 | next_title = Let Me Serenade You | next_year = 1973 | misc = {{External music video | type = single | header = Audio | 1={{YouTube|8vO99mmoCf0|"Shambala"}}}} }}
'''"Shambala"''' is a song written by Daniel Moore and made famous by two near-simultaneous releases in 1973: the better-known but slightly later recording by Three Dog Night, which reached No. 3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and a version by B. W. Stevenson. Its title derives from a mythical place-name also spelled Shamballa or Shambhala.
==Lyrics== The song's actual lyrics are about the mythical kingdom of Shambhala, which was said to be hidden somewhere within or beyond the peaks of the Himalayas and was mentioned in various ancient texts, including the Kalachakra Tantra and ancient texts of Tibetan Buddhism.<ref name="myths">{{cite web|url=http://www.berzinarchives.com/kalachakra/mistaken_foreign_myths_shambhala.html |title=Mistaken Foreign Myths about Shambhala — Study Buddhism |website=Berzinarchives.com |date= |accessdate=October 8, 2016}}</ref> The original location was a mystic temple in Peru, specifically, the temple of the White Lodge, according to Alice Bailey's ''A Treatise on White Magic'' (1934), cited by Moore.<ref>Casey Kasem, American Top 40, July 28, 1973. Possibly the actual citation should instead be "Shamballa or The Great White Lodge" by Dr. M. Doreal, mentioned in many on-line references.</ref>
The lyrics refer to a situation where kindness and cooperation are universal, joy and good fortune abound, and psychological burdens are lifted. The phrases "in the halls of Shambala" and "on the road to Shambala" tie for number of occurrences in the lyrics. The latter phrase perhaps alludes to the idea of Shambala not as a physical place but as a metaphor for the spiritual path one might follow.<ref name="myths"/>
== Three Dog Night version == thumb|right|1973 trade ad for Stevenson's version, mocking the creative process of the Three Dog Night version The well-known cover version of this song by the rock band Three Dog Night appeared in 1973 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, on the top 40 from the beginning of June through the end of August. It reached No. 3 in both the pop singles and adult contemporary categories,<ref name="all">{{cite web|first=Matthew |last=Greenwald |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/cyan-mw0000203947 |title=Cyan – Three Dog Night | Songs, Reviews, Credits |publisher=AllMusic |date= |accessdate=October 8, 2016}}</ref> No. 1 on the ''Cashbox'' charts,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/70s_files/19730721.html|title=Top 100|publisher=Cash Box|date=July 21, 1973|accessdate=September 2, 2013}}</ref> and also spent a week at No. 1 on popular Top 40 stations WABC New York and WLS Chicago.<ref>[https://www.musicradio77.com/Surveys/1973/surveyjul2473.html Musicradio77.com "WABC Weekly Record Survey for July 24, 1973" Retrieved April 30, 2025.]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.users.qwest.net/~oldiesloon/wls072373.htm|title=WLS 890 Hit Parade|website=Users.qwest.net|date=July 23, 1973|accessdate=July 22, 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806080336/http://www.users.qwest.net/~oldiesloon/wls072373.htm|archivedate=August 6, 2011}}</ref> The song, the first one that the group had specifically cut as a single, rather than as part of an album project,<ref>Kasem, Casey, ''American Top 40'', June 9, 1973</ref> later appeared on ''Cyan'', Three Dog Night's ninth album, and subsequently on numerous anthologies and compilation albums.<ref name="all"/><ref name="lastfm">{{cite web|url=http://www.last.fm/music/Three+Dog+Night/_/Shambala |title=Three Dog Night—Shambala |website=Last.fm |date= |accessdate=October 8, 2016}}</ref>
Although the lyrics of "Shambala" draw on a theme from Eastern mysticism, AllMusic notes the "very strong gospel feeling" of the album ''Cyan'' is most evident on this song. ''Allmusic'' calls this hit single "one of the group's finest later period records."<ref name="all"/>
In the original recording, writer Daniel Moore pronounces the first syllable of the title ("sham") as it would rhyme with "ham". The Three Dog Night and B.W. Stevenson versions pronounce that syllable to rhyme with "mom".
==B. W. Stevenson version== One week before Three Dog Night's version appeared on the charts, Texan singer-songwriter B. W. Stevenson's minute-shorter version bowed at No. 96 and later peaked at No. 66 the week of June 9.<ref>[https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1973-06-09 The Hot 100, Week of June 9, 1973 – ''Billboard''.] Retrieved December 26, 2020</ref><ref>As Stevenson was a songwriter himself, and had jointly written and composed the top-ten hit "My Maria" with Moore, some sources erroneously list Stevenson as the writer or co-writer of "Shambala". Incidentally, some sources either recognize musical similarities between these two songs or refute those that do.</ref> It also reached No. 31 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart.<ref>{{cite book|first= Joel |last= Whitburn |author-link= Joel Whitburn |year= 1993 |title= Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993 |publisher= Record Research |page=229}}</ref> This lesser-known version is often regarded as country pop or country rock and appears on collections of such. The twang of Stevenson's steel-string acoustic guitar, his Southern accent and an American folk music sound all distinguish it from the better-known Three Dog Night version.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.napathon.net/Country1.php |title=Country & Country-Rock Collection: Page 1 |website=Napathon.net |accessdate=October 8, 2016}}</ref> In South Africa, Stevenson's version actually charted higher, peaking at No. 8, compared to Three Dog Night's at No. 13.<ref>{{cite web |title=SA Charts 1965 – March 1989 (S) |url=http://www.rock.co.za/files/springbok_top_20_(S).html |accessdate=July 1, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=SA Charts 1965 – March 1989 (T) |url=http://www.rock.co.za/files/springbok_top_20_(T).html |accessdate=July 1, 2019}}</ref>
==Chart performance (Three Dog Night version)== {{col-begin}} {{col-2}}
===Weekly charts=== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- !scope="col"|Chart (1973) !scope="col"|Peak <br />position |- |Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref name="austchartbook1970">{{cite web|url=http://www.austchartbook.com.au/ |title=Australian Chart Book |website=Austchartbook.com.au |accessdate=October 4, 2016 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20160305064644/http://www.austchartbook.com.au/ |archivedate=March 5, 2016}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|53 |- {{single chart|Austria|17|artist=Three Dog Night|song=Shambala|accessdate=June 11, 2025}} |- |Canadian ''RPM'' Top Singles<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.4853.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles - July 21, 1973}}</ref> |style="text-align:center;"|4 |- |Canada ''RPM'' Adult Contemporary<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.4894&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.4894.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.4894|title=Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date=August 4, 1973 |accessdate=July 1, 2019}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|2 |- {{single chart|Germany|38|artist=Three Dog Night|song=Shambala|songid=44034|accessdate=June 11, 2025}} |- |New Zealand (''Listener'')<ref>[http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20listener&qartistid=754#n_view_location Flavour of New Zealand, 27 August 1973]</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|1 |- |South Africa (Springbok Radio)<ref>{{cite web|title=SA Charts 1965 – March 1989|url=http://www.rock.co.za/files/springbok_top_20_(T).html|accessdate=September 5, 2018}}</ref> |align="center"|13 |- {{single chart|Billboardhot100|3|artist=Three Dog Night|}} |- {{single chart|Billboardadultcontemporary|3|artist=Three Dog Night|}} |- |US ''Cash Box''<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19730721.html |title=Cash Box Top 100 7/21/73 |access-date=November 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150609220703/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19730721.html |archive-date=June 9, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|1 |} {{col-2}}
===Year-end charts=== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- !align="left"|Chart (1973) ! style="text-align:center;"|Rank |- |Canada<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.100214.pdf|title=Top 100 Singles of '73|magazine=RPM|date=December 29, 1973|access-date=April 12, 2020}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|54 |- |US ''Billboard'' Hot 100<ref>[http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1973.htm Billboard Top 100 Hits of 1973] Music Outfitters</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|31 |- |US ''Cash Box''<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/1973.html |title=CASH BOX TOP SINGLES – 1973 |access-date=November 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217005023/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/1973.html |archive-date=February 17, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|10 |} {{col-end}}
==Certifications== {{Certification Table Top}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=Three Dog Night|title=Shambala|award=Gold|type=single|relyear=1973|certyear=1973|accessdate=February 14, 2019}} {{Certification Table Bottom| nosales=true}}
==References== {{Reflist|45em}}
{{Three Dog Night}} {{Authority control}}
Category:1973 songs Category:1973 singles Category:Songs written by Daniel Moore (musician) Category:B. W. Stevenson songs Category:Three Dog Night songs Category:The New Seekers songs Category:Toby Keith songs Category:Cashbox number-one singles Category:Number-one singles in New Zealand Category:Tibetan Buddhist mythology Category:Tibetan Buddhist art and culture Category:Dunhill Records singles Category:Buddhism in music Category:Gospel songs