"A Love Song" is a song written by Kenny Loggins and Dona Lyn George, first released by the folk-rock duo

Loggins and Messina Loggins and Messina was an American rock- pop duo consisting of Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina, who achieved their success in the early to mid-1970s. Among their well-known songs are "Danny's Song", "House at Pooh Corner", and "Your Mama Don't D ...

in 1973 on their album '' Full Sail''. Country artist

Anne Murray Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian singer. Her albums, consisting primarily of pop, country, and adult contemporary music, have sold over 55 million copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray was the fir ...

(who'd taken her recording of another Loggins & Messina recording, "Danny's Song", to the top-ten in late 1972) covered the song later that year for her album of the same name. Released in December 1973, Murray's version became a major crossover hit early in 1974. In her native

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, it topped all three singles charts: the overall Top Singles chart, the Country Tracks chart and the Adult Contemporary chart. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the song peaked at No. 5 on the ''

Billboard magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

'' Hot Country Singles chart and just missed the Top 10 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at No. 12. The song fared even better there in the adult contemporary market — it became Murray's third chart-topper on ''Billboards American Hot Adult Contemporary Singles chart. (In Canada, it was her seventh No. 1 on both the country and adult contemporary charts.) This was Murray's second Loggins & Messina cover, having charted with her version of their " Danny's Song" the previous year. At the

17th Annual Grammy Awards The 17th Annual Grammy Awards were presented March 1, 1975, and were broadcast live on American television. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1974. Award winners *Record of the Year **John Farrar (producer) & Olivia New ...

in 1975, Anne Murray won the first of her three Grammy Awards for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for this song. The song also appears on Murray's 2007 album Anne Murray Duets: Friends & Legends, performed as a duet with the K. d. Lang. Later versions include Dar Williams, Jonathan Rayson and Kenny Loggins.

Personnel on Loggins & Messina version

* Kenny Loggins – lead vocals, classical acoustic guitar * Jim Messina – harmony vocals, acoustic guitar,

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

* Jon Clarke –

bass flute The bass flute is a member of the flute family. It is in the key of C, pitched one octave below the concert flute. Despite its name, its playing range makes it the tenor member of the flute family. Because of the length of its tube (approximate ...

alto flute The alto flute is an instrument in the Western concert flute family, the second-highest member below the standard C flute after the uncommon flûte d'amour. It is the third most common member of its family after the standard C flute and the ...

* Al Garth –

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

* Larry Sims – bass, backing vocals * Merel Bregante – drums, backing vocals *

Michael Omartian Michael Omartian (born November 26, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, keyboardist, and music producer. He produced number-one records in three consecutive decades. He has earned 11 Grammy Awards nominations and won three. He sp ...

– piano * Milt Holland –

shakers The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, more commonly known as the Shakers, are a Millenarianism, millenarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian sect founded in England and then organized in the Unit ...

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three Edge (geometry), edges and three Vertex (geometry), vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, an ...

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

s, pandeiro

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

1974 singles Songs written by Kenny Loggins Kenny Loggins songs Loggins and Messina songs Anne Murray songs RPM Top Singles number-one singles Capitol Records singles 1973 songs Song recordings produced by Brian Ahern (producer) {{1970s-pop-song-stub