A Love Song (Loggins and Messina song) explained

A Love Song
Cover:	Love Song (Anne Murray single)– German cover art.png
Caption:	German cover art
Type:	single
Artist:	Anne Murray
Album:	Love Song
B-Side:	You Can't Go Back
Released:	December 1973
Recorded:	October 1973
Genre:	Country, pop
Label:	Capitol
Producer:	Brian Ahern
Prev Title:	Send a Little Love My Way
Prev Year:	1973
Next Title:	You Won't See Me
Next Year:	1974

"A Love Song" is a song written by Kenny Loggins and Dona Lyn George, first released by the folk-rock duo Loggins and Messina in 1973 on their album Full Sail. Country artist Anne Murray (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, 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 song peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard magazine 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.^[1] (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 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, 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
• Jon Clarke – bass flute, alto flute
• Al Garth – recorder
• Larry Sims – bass, backing vocals
• Merel Bregante – drums, backing vocals
• Michael Omartian – piano
• Milt Holland – shakers, triangle, congas, pandeiro

Chart history

Year-end charts

Chart (1974)	Rank
Canada RPM Top Singles ^[4]	28
US Billboard Hot 100 ^[5]	80
US Cash Box ^[6]	87

Notes and References

1. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001. Joel Whitburn . 2002 . Record Research . 176.
2. Hot Country Singles. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 30. 86. 7. February 16, 1974. 0006-2510.
3. Web site: Cash Box Top 100 Singles, March 9, 1974 . May 15, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180115184743/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19740309.html . January 15, 2018 . dead .
4. Web site: The Top 200 Singles of '74. Library and Archives Canada. 28 December 1974. RPM. 4 April 2020.
5. http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1974.htm Billboard Top 100 Hits of 1974
6. Web site: Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 28, 1974 . May 15, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161009212559/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/1974YESP.html . October 9, 2016 . dead .