Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1971
An Old Fashioned Love Song
Buy An Old Fashioned Love Song now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
"'An Old Fashioned Love Song'" is a 1971 song written by Paul Williams and performed by the American pop-rock band Three Dog Night. Chuck Negron performed the lead vocal on this track. Taken as the first single from their 1971 album, 'Harmony', the song peaked at number 4 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 chart in December 1971, becoming the band's seventh top-ten hit.Whitburn, Joel (1996). 'The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits', 6th Edition (Billboard Publications) It was Three Dog Night's first record to top the U.S. easy listening chart.Hyatt, Wesley (1999). 'The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits' (Billboard Publications) It reached number 2 in Canada. Its lyrics suggest the straightforward and melodic nature of the tune: 'Just an old fashioned love song / Comin' down in three part harmony / Just an old fashioned love song / One I'm sure they wrote for you and me'.
According to the Karen Carpenter biography 'Little Girl Blue' by Randy L. Schmidt, Williams originally intended the song for The Carpenters, who were in the middle of a string of hits with their own brand of "old fashioned love songs", including two of Williams' own compositions, "We've Only Just Begun" and "Rainy Days and Mondays". Although this was the first song Williams had written specifically for the Carpenters, Richard Carpenter rejected it, and so Williams offered the song to Three Dog Night. The Carpenters never recorded the song, but did perform it live on television with Carol Burnett a few months later.Schmidt, Randy L. 'Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter.' Chicago Review Press, Inc., 2010, p. 76.
Chart performance
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Paul Williams version
The song's composer Paul Williams recorded his own version of the song he had written, which was included on his 1971 album 'Just an Old Fashioned Love Song'. Williams later performed the song when he appeared on 'The Muppet Show' in 1976. He also sang a portion of the song for an episode of 'The Odd Couple' in 1974.
Other versions
*The Ray Conniff Singers and The Sandpipers recorded and released their respective versions later in 1971.
* The New Seekers covered the song on their 1971 album 'We'd Like to Teach the World to Sing'
*Country music singer Jeris Ross released a cover version of the song in 1972. Her rendition of the song reached number 58 on the 'Billboard' country singles chart.
*Andy Williams released a version in 1972 on his album, 'Love Theme from "The Godfather"'.
*The song was also sampled in the 1999 hip-hop song "Once Again (Here to Kick One for You)" by Handsome Boy Modeling School featuring Grand Puba and Sadat X.
*The intro to the song was also sampled by Chinese Man in their song "More", from the album "The Groove Sessions Volume 1" in 2007.
*The Kubricks released a version in 2016 for the soundtrack of 'Ice Age: Collision Course'.
See also
*List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1972 (U.S.)
References
Buy An Old Fashioned Love Song now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1971