"An Old Fashioned Love Song" is a 1971 song written by Paul Williams and performed by the American

pop-rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and ...

band

Three Dog Night Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, with founding members consisting of vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael Allsup ...

Chuck Negron Charles Negron II (born June 8, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter. He is best known as one of the three lead vocalists in the rock band Three Dog Night, which he helped form in 1968. Early life Chuck Negron was born on June 8, 1942, in M ...

performed the lead vocal on this track. Taken as the first single from their 1971 album, ''

Harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

'', the song peaked at number 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in December 1971, becoming the band's seventh top-ten hit. It was Three Dog Night's first record to top the U.S.

easy listening chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by sta ...

.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 Karen Anne Carpenter (March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983) was an American singer and drummer, who formed half of the sibling duo the Carpenters alongside her older brother Richard. With a distinctive three-octave contralto range, she was praise ...

biography ''Little Girl Blue'' by Randy L. Schmidt, Williams originally intended the song for

The Carpenters The Carpenters (officially known as Carpenters) were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen Carpenter, Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinct ...

, 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 "We've Only Just Begun" is a single by the Carpenters, written by Roger Nichols (music) and Paul Williams (lyrics). It was ranked at No. 414 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time." Song information The so ...

" and "

Rainy Days and Mondays "Rainy Days and Mondays" is a 1971 song by the Carpenters, with instrumental backing by L.A. session musicians from the Wrecking Crew, that went to number 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. It's Too Late/I Feel the Earth Move by Carole King k ...

". 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 Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and writer. Her groundbreaking comedy variety show ''The Carol Burnett Show'', which originally aired on CBS was one of the first of its kind to be hosted ...

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 ''Just an Old Fashioned Love Song'' is a studio album by Paul Williams, released in 1971. Notable songs from the album, which were hits for other artists, include " (Just An) Old Fashioned Love Song", "We've Only Just Begun", "Let Me Be the One" ...

''. Williams later performed the song when he appeared on ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a ser ...

'' in 1976. He also sang a portion of the song for an episode of ''

The Odd Couple Odd Couple may refer to: Neil Simon play and its adaptations * ''The Odd Couple'' (play), a 1965 stage play by Neil Simon ** ''The Odd Couple'' (film), a 1968 film based on the play *** ''The Odd Couple'' (1970 TV series), a 1970–1975 televisi ...

'' in 1974.

Other versions

*The

Ray Conniff Joseph Raymond Conniff (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s. Biography Conniff was born November 6, 1916 in Attleboro, Massachusetts, United St ...

Singers and

The Sandpipers The Sandpipers were an American easy listening trio who carved a niche in 1960s folk rock with their vocals and innovative arrangements of international ballads and pop standards. They are best remembered for their cover version of "Guantanamera ...

recorded and released their respective versions later in 1971. *

The New Seekers The New Seekers are a British pop group, formed in London in 1969 by Keith Potger after the break-up of his group, The Seekers. The idea was that the New Seekers would appeal to the same market as the original Seekers, but their music would hav ...

covered the song on their 1971 album ''

We'd Like to Teach the World to Sing ''We'd Like to Teach the World to Sing'' is the name given to two albums by UK pop group The New Seekers. The first of these, released in late 1971, was a repackaging of their previous album '' New Colours'' and was released in the US. The secon ...

'' *

Country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer Jeris Ross released a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the song in 1972. Her rendition of the song reached number 58 on the ''Billboard'' country singles chart. *

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

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 Handsome Boy Modeling School is an American collaborative project between hip hop producers Dan the Automator (Gorillaz, Dr. Octagon, Deltron 3030) and Prince Paul (Stetsasonic, De La Soul, Gravediggaz). The collaboration originally lasted from ...

featuring Grand Puba and Sadat X. *The intro to the song was also sampled by

Chinese Man Chinese Man is a French trip hop band formed in 2004 and originally from Aix-en-Provence. History They are influenced by hip-hop, funk, dub, reggae and jazz. Chinese Man is composed of DJ Marseille Zé Mateo and High Ku and beatmaker SLY. Beatm ...

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''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Old Fashioned Love Song, An 1971 singles Songs written by Paul Williams (songwriter) Three Dog Night songs Andy Williams songs 1971 songs Dunhill Records singles A&M Records singles Songs about music