Peak
4
Weeks
11
Score
2,306
Chart Year
1971
This was written by Paul Williams, who also wrote the Three Dog Night hits "Out In The Country" and "Family Of Man." All three songs were last-minute additions that wound up on the album and became hits. Williams is also a popular actor, appearing in the movies Smokey And The Bandit and The Doors. He was a frequent guest star on TV shows like The Love Boat (he wrote the theme song for that show) and The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson. In the first season of The Muppet Show in 1977, Williams was a guest star, and he performed this song. This led to a collaboration with Jim Henson, with Williams writing music and appearing in Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas and The Muppet Movie. In a Songfacts interview with Paul Williams, he talked about this song's inspiration. "I had a date one night with a young lady named Patti Dahlstrom," he said. "She was a songwriter. We were going to go out and have dinner. And right before I left for the date I had gotten a phone call that I had a gold record. And I walked into her house, and I said, 'Well, got a gold record for such-and-such, it just went gold. Kid did it again with another old fashioned love song.' It just came out of me. I went, 'Wait a minute.' I went over to her piano and I sat down, and it's the quickest I ever had a song come out of me. And it sounds like it. It's a really simple song, I wrote it in like 20 minutes. And it was a big hit." Collaborating with Kenny Ascher, Williams wrote the hit "We've Only Just Begun" for the Carpenters, but this was the first hit he wrote by himself. He went on to write many more popular songs, including "You And Me Against The World" and "Evergreen." Chuck Negron sang lead on this track. Along with Cory Wells and Danny Hutton, he was one of three lead singers in the band.
Just an old fashioned love song playing on the radio And wrapped around the music Is the sound of someone promising they'll never go You swear you've heard it before As it slowly rambles on No need in bringing 'em back 'Cause they've never really gone Just an old fashioned love song One I'm sure they wrote for you and me Just an old fashioned love song Coming down in three part harmony To weave our dreams upon and listen To each evening when the lights are low To underscore our love affair with tenderness and feeling That we've come to know You swear you've heard it before As it slowly rambles on and on No need in bringing 'em back 'Cause they've never really gone Just an old fashioned love song Coming down in three part harmony Just an old fashioned love song One I'm sure they wrote for you and me Just an old fashioned love song Coming down in three part harmony Just an old fashioned love song One I'm sure they wrote for you and me To weave our dreams upon and listen to a song Just an old song coming down Just (just) an old song What I'm sure they wrote for you and me Just (just) an old song Coming down Just an old fashioned love song One I'm sure they wrote for you and me Just an old fashioned love song Coming down in three part harmony Just an old fashioned love song One I'm sure they wrote for you and me Just an old fashioned love song Coming down in three part harmony Just an old fashioned love song One I'm sure they wrote for you and me Writer/s: Paul H. Williams
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nov 13, 1971 | 77 | 49 |
| 2 | Nov 20, 1971 | 39 | 87 |
| 3 | Nov 27, 1971 | 14 | 112 |
| 4 | Dec 4, 1971 | 7 | 119 |
| 5 | Dec 11, 1971 | 5 | 121 |
| 6 | Dec 18, 1971 | 4 | 122 |
| 7 | Dec 25, 1971 | 4 | 122 |
| 8 | Jan 1, 1972 | 4 | 122 |
| 9 | Jan 8, 1972 | 18 | 108 |
| 10 | Jan 15, 1972 | 19 | 107 |
| 11 | Jan 22, 1972 | 36 | 90 |