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.Īccording to the Karen Carpenter biography Little Girl Blue by Randy L. It was Three Dog Night's first record to top the U.S. 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. Chuck Negron performed the lead vocal on this track. " An Old Fashioned Love Song" is a 1971 song written by Paul Williams and performed by the American pop-rock band Three Dog Night. See the full interview with Paul Williams at the Story Behind the Song page, along with past installments.1971 single by Three Dog Night "An Old Fashioned Love Song" In partnership with Nashville Songwriters Association International, each week we will release a video interview with a songwriter about his or her work. But, you know, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, we get that good fortune. All three of them were great records, and thank God they became hits. And all three hits that I had with Three Dog Night started off with them not loving it and the producer loving it. Chuck Kaye, who was head of publishing at A&M Records sent it to Richie Podolor, who was the producer for (the band). Richard Carpenter, I don't think made it through the first verse before he picked up the needle off of the (acetate). A nice fit, kind of a throwback song with a rinky-dink sound to it and all. It was money in the bank with them, I thought. You know, I wrote the song thinking it was perfect for The Carpenters. With "Old Fashioned Love Song," Three Dog Night is the band of the planet at the time. and sometimes lightning strikes, the stuff falls away and you've got a statue - or a song. Sometimes we go after it with a chisel and a hammer. But I think my whole approach to the creative process has expanded through the years. Sometimes, I've watched her sit there with smoke coming out of her ears as she fired away stuff, while I'm sitting over there writing my lines that we're going to integrate. The truth is that great writing sometimes comes quickly. Then I sat down with Tracey (Jackson) to write (the book "Gratitude and Trust") and I saw her work for seven or eight hours. I think that there is that element, and for years, I wrote in three-hour sessions. But don't you think that some of the great ones are born that way, and that the greatness is in the simplicity? Which, to me, helped make the melody in that song. It's really simple, just a couple of verses, and I go to a major (key) in the choruses. It's the quickest song that I've ever written in my life, and people have said, "Yeah, we can tell." It just poured out of me. I went, "Wait a minute! That must mean I've got a great idea." So I sat at her piano. So as I walked into her living room, I said, "Well, kid did it again with another old-fashioned love song." And a light bulb appeared in the air right above my head. I found out as I was leaving my office that I had a hit with another song. ![]() I went to pick up a lady named Patti Dahlstrom to go out and have dinner. Take us back to the writing of that fabulous composition. Watch Video: Story Behind the Song: 'An Old Fashioned Love Song'
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