Love Theme from "The Godfather"
Studio album by
Andy Williams
ReleasedMarch 21, 1972[1]
RecordedJanuary 4, 1971
April 22, 1971
January 19, 1972
February 1, 1972
February 18, 1972[2]
Genre
Length37:42
LabelColumbia
ProducerDick Glasser[4]
Andy Williams chronology
The Impossible Dream
(1971)		 Love Theme from "The Godfather"
(1972)		 Alone Again (Naturally)
(1972)
Singles from Love Theme from "The Godfather"
  1. "Speak Softly, Love"
    Released: April 1972
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[3]
BillboardSpotlight Pick[5]

Love Theme from "The Godfather" is the twenty-ninth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released on March 21, 1972, by Columbia Records.[1] The two new songs on what was otherwise another LP of covers of hits by other artists were the title track and "Music from Across the Way", which came from the songwriters behind his recent hits "Happy Heart" (composer James Last) and "(Where Do I Begin) Love Story" (lyricist Carl Sigman).

The album made its first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top LP's & Tapes chart in the issue dated April 8, 1972, and remained on the album chart for 26 weeks, peaking at number 29.[6] It entered the UK album chart three months later, on July 29, and reached number 11 over the course of 16 weeks.[7] One month later, on August 29, it received Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America.[8]

The first song on the album to be released as a single was "Music from Across the Way", which entered Billboard's list of the 40 most popular Easy Listening songs of the week in the US in the issue dated January 29, 1972, and stayed on the chart for four weeks, eventually peaking at number 30.[9] The album's title song (subtitled "Speak Softly Love") entered that same chart three months later, on April 8, for its first of 12 weeks, during which time it reached number seven.[9] It also entered the Billboard Hot 100 in the April 8 issue and spent 11 weeks there, where it made it to number 34.[10] The song debuted on the UK singles chart four months later, on August 5, and got as high as number 42 over a nine-week period.[7] The next single, "MacArthur Park", "bubbled under" the Hot 100 for four weeks that began in the August 5, 1972, issue and reached number 102.[10] It also debuted on the Easy Listening chart in that same issue and made it to number 26 there over the course of five weeks.[11]

Love Theme from "The Godfather" was released on compact disc for the first time as one of two albums on one CD by Collectables Records on January 22, 2002, the other album being Williams's Columbia release from the spring of 1974, The Way We Were.[12] Collectables included this CD in a box set entitled Classic Album Collection, Vol. 2, which contains 15 of his studio albums and two compilations and was released on November 29, 2002.[13]

Reception

Billboard magazine praised the album. "A superb performance from Andy Williams and top production work by Dick Glasser make this a very special LP that is going to take Williams high up the charts once again."[5]

Track listing

Side one

  1. "Speak Softly Love (Love Theme from 'The Godfather')" (Larry Kusik, Nino Rota) – 3:05
  2. "Precious and Few" (Walter Nims) – 2:54
  3. "Theme from 'Summer of 42'" from Summer of '42 (Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Michel Legrand) – 3:20
  4. "Everything I Own" (David Gates) – 3:22
  5. "Until It's Time for You to Go" (Buffy Sainte-Marie) – 3:44
  6. "An Old Fashioned Love Song" (Paul Williams) – 3:03

Side two

  1. "MacArthur Park" (Jimmy Webb) – 5:03
  2. "Hurting Each Other" (Gary Geld, Peter Udell) – 2:55
  3. "Music from Across the Way" (James Last, Carl Sigman) – 3:45
  4. "Without You" (Tom Evans, Peter Ham) – 3:16
  5. "Imagine" (John Lennon) – 3:22

Recording dates

From the liner notes for the 2002 CD:[2]

Personnel

From the liner notes for the original album:[4]

  • Andy Williams – vocals
  • Dick Glasser – producer
  • Al Capps – arranger (except where noted)
  • Artie Butler – arranger ("Theme from 'Summer of 42'", "Everything I Own", "MacArthur Park")
  • Ernie Freeman – arranger ("Music from Across the Way")
  • Eric Prestidge – engineer
  • Peter Romano – engineer
  • Rafael O. Valentin – engineer
  • Ivan Nagy – front cover photo
  • Keats Tyler – back cover photo

References

  1. 1 2 (2009) Moon River: The Very Best of Andy Williams by Andy Williams [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music Entertainment 88697 59112 2
  2. 1 2 (2002) Album notes for Love Theme From 'The Godfather'/The Way We Were by Andy Williams, [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music.
  3. 1 2 "Love Theme From "The Godfather" – Andy Williams". allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
  4. 1 2 (1972) Love Theme from "The Godfather" by Andy Williams [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records KC 31303.
  5. 1 2 "Album Reviews". Billboard. 1972-04-01. p. 47.
  6. ↑ Whitburn 2010, p. 844.
  7. 1 2 "Andy Williams". Official Charts. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  8. ↑ RIAA Gold and Platinum Search for titles by Andy Williams
  9. 1 2 Whitburn 2007, p. 295.
  10. 1 2 Whitburn 2009, p. 1060.
  11. ↑ Whitburn 2007, p. 296.
  12. ↑ "Love Theme From "The Godfather"/The Way We Were – Andy Williams". allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  13. ↑ "Classic Album Collection, Vol. 2". allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 16 October 2010.

Bibliography

  • O'Neil, Thomas (1999). The Grammys. Perigree Books. ISBN 0-399-52477-0.
  • Whitburn, Joel (2002). Joel Whitburn's Top Country Singles, 1944–2001. Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-151-9.
  • Whitburn, Joel (2007). Joel Whitburn Presents Billboard Top Adult Songs, 1961–2006. Record Research Inc. ISBN 978-0-89820-169-7.
  • Whitburn, Joel (2009). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 1955–2008. Record Research Inc. ISBN 978-0-89820-180-2.
  • Whitburn, Joel (2010). Joel Whitburn Presents Top Pop Albums, Seventh Edition. Record Research Inc. ISBN 978-0-89820-183-3.
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