Love Story (Andy Williams album, U.K. version)

Love Story
Studio album by Andy Williams
Released	1971
Recorded	2/10/65, 9/17/69, 7/28/70, 12/17/70, 4/71[1]
Genre	Traditional pop, Vocal pop, Soft rock
Length	31:36
Label	CBS Records
Andy Williams chronology
Love Story (1971) Love Story (UK) (1971) You've Got a Friend (1971)

Love Story is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the UK in July 1971 by the CBS Records division of Columbia. It entered the UK album chart on July 31 of that year and reached number 11 over the course of 11 weeks.^[2]

The title track from the album, which was subtitled "Where Do I Begin?", entered the Hot 100 in the U.S. in the issue of Billboard magazine dated February 6, 1971, and stayed on the chart for 13 weeks, eventually peaking at number nine.^[3] The song also entered the magazine's list of the 40 most popular Easy Listening songs of the week in that same issue for its first of 15 weeks, later spending four weeks at number one and tying his previous record there, which was set by "Can't Get Used to Losing You" in 1963.^[4] Its lifespan on the UK singles chart began on March 20 of that same year and lasted 18 weeks, during which time it reached number four.^[5]

Contents 1 Track listing 2 Recording dates 3 Song information 4 Notes 5 References

Track listing

1. "Someone Who Cares" (Alex Harvey) – 3:15
   • first released in the U.S. in December, 1971, on the 2-LP compilation The Impossible Dream^[1]
2. "Long, Long Time" (Gary White) – 3:37
   • first released in the U.S. in December, 1971, on the 2-LP compilation The Impossible Dream^[1]
3. "What Am I Living For" (Art Harris, Fred Jacobson, Fred Jay) – 3:06
   • B-side of "A Woman's Way" (1969)^[1]
4. "Whistling Away The Dark" (Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer) – 3:19
   • B-side of "Home Lovin' Man" (1970)^[1]
5. "If You Could Read My Mind" (Gordon Lightfoot) – 3:52
   • first released in the U.S. on the CD compilation B-Sides and Rarities (2003)^[1]
6. "I'll Be There" (Hal Davis, Berry Gordy, Willie Hutch, Bob West) – 2:39
   • first released in the U.S. in August, 1971, on the album You've Got a Friend
7. "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" (Bob Russell, Bobby Scott) – 2:59
   • first released in the U.S. in December, 1971, on the 2-LP compilation The Impossible Dream^[1]
8. "Autumn" (Richard Maltby, Jr., David Shire) – 2:19
   • first released in the U.S. on the CD compilation B-Sides and Rarities (2003)^[1]
9. "The Last Time I Saw Her" (Gordon Lightfoot) – 3:25
   • first released in the U.S. in December, 1971, on the 2-LP compilation The Impossible Dream^[1]
10. "(Where Do I Begin) Love Story" (Francis Lai, Carl Sigman) – 3:10

Recording dates

• 2/10/65 - "Autumn"^[1]
• 9/17/69 - "What Am I Living For"^[1]
• 7/28/70 - "Whistling Away the Dark"^[1]
• 12/17/70 - "Someone Who Cares",^[1] "(Where Do I Begin) Love Story"^[6]
• 4/22/71 - "I'll Be There",^[7] "The Last Time I Saw Her"^[1]
• 4/22/71-4/26/71 - "Long, Long Time", "If You Could Read My Mind", "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"^[1]

Song information

• Kenny Rogers and the First Edition recorded "Someone Who Cares" for the 1970 film Fools and made their first Billboard chart appearance with the song on the magazine's list of the 40 most popular Easy Listening hits of the week in the issue dated March 20, 1971, and the song eventually made it to number four during its nine weeks there.^[8][9] The song's debut on the Hot 100 came in the next issue, dated March 27, and was its first of seven weeks on the chart, during which time it peaked at number 51.^[10]

• "Long, Long Time" was Linda Ronstadt's first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist and debuted there in the August 15, 1970, issue, eventually reaching number 25 over the course of 12 weeks.^[11] Four weeks later, in the September 12 issue, it also became her first song to appear on the Easy Listening chart, where it made it to number 20 during a seven-week stay.^[12] By March 1971 the song had earned her the first Grammy nomination of her career, this time in the category of Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Female.^[13]

• Chuck Willis had a posthumous hit with "What Am I Living For", which entered the R&B chart in Billboard magazine's May 5, 1958, issue and spent 17 weeks there, one of which was spent at number one.^[14] Willis had died on April 10 of that year but also entered the Hot 100 with the song in the May 12 issue for his first of 19 weeks there, where he peaked at number nine.^[15] Ernest Tubb debuted the song on the magazine's list of the 30 most popular Country singles of the week in the January 5, 1959 issue and reached number 19 during his three weeks there.^[16] Conway Twitty had a pop chart entry with the song as of the issue dated March 28, 1960, and reached number 26 during his 11-week stay, and by the time his recording was reissued in 1971, the Country chart had expanded to 75 positions, allowing the former pop hit to get as high as number 59 over the course of six weeks that started in the February 6 issue.^[17][18] In the meantime, Percy Sledge spent two weeks with the song on the Hot 100 in July 1967 and made it to number 91.^[19]

• "Whistling Away The Dark" comes from the 1970 film Darling Lili, where it was sung by the film's star, Julie Andrews, but it was Shirley Jones who performed the song at the Oscar ceremony in 1971 when the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.^[20][21] The Oscar went to the song from Lovers and Other Strangers, "For All We Know", which Williams covered on his next album, You've Got a Friend.^[22]

• "If You Could Read My Mind" was Gordon Lightfoot's first American hit, entering the Hot 100 in the issue of Billboard magazine dated December 26, 1970, and peaking at number five during a 15-week stay.^[23] The song debuted on the Easy Listening chart in the next issue, on January 2, and lasted there for 13 weeks, one of which was spent at number one.^[24] By March 1971 the song had earned Lightfoot a Grammy nomination in the category of Best Vocal Performance, Male, and on June 19 of that year, the song entered the UK singles chart, where it reached number 30 over the course of nine weeks.^[25] The list of other vocalists covering the song in 1971 alone included Glen Campbell,^[26] Vikki Carr,^[27] the Ray Conniff Singers,^[28] Johnny Mathis,^[29] Olivia Newton-John,^[30] and Barbra Streisand.^[31]

• The Jackson 5 song "I'll Be There" made its first chart appearance on the Hot 100 in the Billboard magazine issue dated September 19, 1970, and remained on the chart for 16 weeks, five of which were spent at number one.^[32] The next issue, on September 26, marked its debut on the magazine's list of the 50 most popular R&B songs of the week, where it stayed in the number one position for six of its 13 weeks there.^[33] The song is also the group's sole entry on the Easy Listening chart as of the October 17 issue and reached number 24 there during a six-week stay.^[34] Their first week with the song on the UK singles chart began on November 21 of that year and led to a number four hit and a 16-week run, and the song charted there for four more weeks in 2009 after the death of the group's youngest member, Michael, on June 25.^[35] Other recordings of the song that came out during the year after its initial release were done by the Ray Conniff Singers,^[36] Claudine Longet,^[37] and Josie and the Pussycats.^[38]

• The Hollies first put "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" on the list of top singles in the U.K. on October 4, 1969, and made it to number three during their 15 weeks on the chart.^[39] The song made its first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 two months later, in the magazine's December 20 issue, and stayed on the chart for 18 weeks, attaining a peak position at number seven.^[40] Neil Diamond put his rendition of the song on that same chart almost a year later, in the November 7, 1970, issue and got to number 20 during his 11-week run.^[41] His debut of the song on the Easy Listening chart came in the next issue, on November 14, and was his first of 10 weeks there, where he reached number four.^[42] In 1988 the Hollies version reentered the UK singles chart for 14 weeks beginning September 3 and started two weeks at number one by month's end.^[39]

• "Autumn" originated in the 1958 musical Cyrano and was recorded by Barbra Streisand in 1964 for her album People.^[43][44]

• Glen Campbell's recording of "The Last Time I Saw Her" entered the Hot 100 in the issue of Billboard magazine dated June 26, 1971, and reached number 61 during its seven weeks there.^[45] That same issue marked the song's debut on the Easy Listening chart, where it made it to number 12 over the course of nine weeks, and the next issue, on July 3, was its first of 14 weeks on the Country singles chart, during which time it peaked at number 21.^[46][47]

• Although the music from "(Where Do I Begin) Love Story" originated in Francis Lai's Academy Award-winning score of the 1970 film Love Story, the song itself is not in the film.^[22][48] In his profile of the song's lyricist, Carl Sigman, writer Paul Zollo explains that Sigman's "initial lyric for 'Where Do I Begin?' was rejected by Paramount because they felt the refrain 'Jenny came' was too suggestive. At first, justifiably proud of the fine lyric he crafted, he was angry and felt like refusing to do a rewrite. But the next day he cooled off and, pacing around his living room, said to his wife, 'Where do I begin?' and the new lyric was launched."^[49] Williams recorded the song just one day after the film's December 16, 1970, opening and was not the only vocalist to make the charts in Billboard magazine with a recording of it.^[50] Tony Bennett "bubbled under" the Hot 100 for five weeks that started in the issue of the magazine dated February 13, 1971, and reached number 114 with it, and Roy Clark entered the Country singles chart with his rendition six weeks later, on March 27, and made it to number 74 during his two weeks there.^[51][52] In the UK, Shirley Bassey entered the singles chart on March 27 and reached number 34 with her version over the course of nine weeks.^[53] Other acts who released their own versions of the song in 1971 include Glen Campbell,^[54] Vikki Carr,^[55] The Ray Conniff Singers,^[56] Percy Faith & His Orchestra,^[57] Johnny Mathis,^[58] and Jerry Vale.^[59]

Notes

References