(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story

Song composed by Francis Lai; lyrics by Carl Sigman (Where Do I Begin?) Love Story (Where_Do_I_Begin?)_Love_Story_-_Andy_Williams.jpg single Andy Williams Love Story Something January 15, 1971 December 17, 1970(2002) Album notes for The Complete Columbia Chart Singles Collection by Andy Williams, [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music. Easy listening 3 10 Columbia 4-45317 Francis Lai, Carl Sigman Dick Glasser Home Lovin' Man 1970 A Song for You 1971 Theme from Love Story single Henry Mancini Mancini Plays the Theme from Love Story Phone Call to the Past December 1970 Easy listening 2 55 RCA Victor 47-9927 Francis Lai, Carl Sigman Joe Reisman Darling Lili 1970 Theme from Cade's County 1971 "(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story" is a popular song published in 1970, with music by Francis Lai and lyrics by Carl Sigman. The song was first introduced as an instrumental theme in the 1970 film Love Story after the film's distributor, Paramount Pictures, rejected the first set of lyrics that were written.http://www.majorsongs.com/news07.htm Carl Sigman in the News Major Songs 2017-04-20 Andy Williams eventually recorded the new lyrics and took the song to number nine on Billboard magazine's Hot 100Whitburn 2009 1060. and number one on their Easy Listening chart.Whitburn 2007 295. History Francis Lai wrote the score for Love Story, and the company that published the music for Paramount felt that the track heard over the opening and closing credits, which was titled "Theme from Love Story", needed lyrics.http://deeprootsmag.org/2014/11/04/end-60s-begin/ The End of the '60s? Where Do I Begin... deeprootsmag.org 23 April 2017 Michael Sigman, son of lyricist Carl Sigman, recalled that his father was asked to provide the words and received "a synopsis of the script and the lead sheet of the music. The story was schmaltzy, but the music inspired words that expressed the sadness beneath the schmaltz." The initial set of lyrics his father wrote mirrored the storyline of the film from the perspective of the male protagonist, who describes a woman who enters his life ("So Jenny came") and then "suddenly was gone." Paramount executive Robert Evans "thought the lyric was a 'downer.' Further, he couldn't abide the phrase 'Jenny came,' believing it too sexually suggestive for a mainstream audience. He demanded a rewrite," and this upset Carl. "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."https://americansongwriter.com/2009/05/american-icons-carl-sigman/ AMERICAN ICONS: Carl Sigman americansongwriter.com 23 April 2017 1 September 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150901221344/http://www.americansongwriter.com/2009/05/american-icons-carl-sigman/ dead The recording of "Theme from Love Story" by Henry Mancini was released as a single. It made its debut on Billboard'''s Easy Listening chart in the issue of the magazine dated December 19.Whitburn 2007 171. Two versions of "(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story"—one by Williams and one by Tony Bennett—were released on January 15, 1971. An article in the magazine's January 23 issue tried to explain the gap between releases of the instrumental and vocal versions as intentional. The logic behind the decision was that "only the instrumental version should hit the market before the picture's release, and that the vocal version should be held up until several weeks after the film's release so that 'the theme and the image of Love Story would be implanted in the audience's mind.'"Record Industry Loves 'Love Story' 1971-01-23 Billboard 1 Williams re-recorded a disco version of the song, retitled "Love Story (Where Do I Begin)", in 1979; it was produced by Bob Esty and engineered by Larry Emerine. Esty had worked on disco records for the Beach Boys ("Here Comes the Night") and Cher ("Take Me Home") that same year. Esty said someone had suggested to him about working with Williams, who he admired. He laid a guide vocal where he attempted to emulate Williams' vocal phrasing, which Williams sang over.Arena 2016 87–88. Released on April 27, 1979,https://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=4&ti=1,4&Search%5FArg=love%20story%20where%20do%20i%20begin&Search%5FCode=TALL&CNT=25&PID=T5yGiGyLNyPdHKLF6R2MYOAgOp&SEQ=20231019122759&SID=2 Love story : Where do I begin? / C. Sigman, F. Lai; [performed by] Andy United States Copyright Office October 19, 2023 In the Search for box enter Love Story Where Do I Begin, select Title then click Begin Search then click on the fourth result. the twelve-inch single of "Love Story (Where Do I Begin)" included two iterations of the song, a "long version" totalling 9:45, and a "short version" totalling 7:25."Love Story (Where Do I Begin)" Williams Andy 1979 label Columbia Records 23-10953 It was issued to celebrate William's 25 years in the music business,Simmons 1979 2 section G. and coincided with other long-term acts, such as Ethel Merman, Engelbert Humperdinck and Barbra Streisand, releasing disco records.Green 1979 3. Barry Lederer of Billboard wrote that the introduction section, which ran for 2:05 in length, was "exciting with driving percussion and guitar movements." He criticized its rhythm portion for being "not enough. Both the lyrics and Williams don't seem to lend themselves to disco."Lederer 1979 68. Chart success The Mancini version spent two of its 16 weeks on the Easy Listening chart at number two and also began a run of 11 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in the January 16 issue, during which time it got as high as number 13.Whitburn 2009 610. The track that Francis Lai and his orchestra recorded for the film first charted on the Hot 100 in the January 31 issue and made it to number 31 over the course of nine weeks.Whitburn 2009 552. It reached number 21 on the Easy Listening chart during its five weeks there that began in the February 6 issue.Whitburn 2007 154. The Williams version of "(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story" also debuted in the February 6 issue on both the Hot 100 and Easy Listening charts, while the Bennett version only managed to "bubble under" the Hot 100 for five weeks that began in the February 13 issue and eked out a peak position at number 114.Whitburn 2009 86. Williams reached number nine on the Hot 100 during a 13-week stay and enjoyed four of his 15 weeks on the Easy Listening chart at number one. 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.Whitburn 2002 69. (The flip side of Clark's single was his guitar rendition of the "Theme from Love Story"(1971) "(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story"/"Theme from Love Story" by Roy Clark [7" single]. New York: Dot Records DOA 17370. that also appeared on his 1973 album Superpicker.)(1973) "Superpicker" by Roy Clark [album jacket]. New York: Dot Records DOS 26008. In the UK Williams began a run of 18 weeks on March 20 leading to a number four showing.http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/4530/andy-williams/ Andy Williams Official Charts 25 April 2017 His competition on the UK singles chart came from Shirley Bassey, who debuted her rendition of the song on March 27 and made it to number 34 during a nine-week run.http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/4336/shirley-bassey/ Shirley Bassey Official Charts 25 April 2017 A pop version of "(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story" by Nino Tempo & April Stevens went by the title "Love Story" and "bubbled under" the Hot 100 to number 113 during its three weeks on the chart in December 1972.Whitburn 2009 966. It did, however, reach the top five in the Dutch Top 40.http://www.top40.nl/index.aspx?week=7&jaar=1973 Top 40-lijst van week 7, 1973 nl Dutch Top 40 18 June 2023 Chart statistics "Theme from Love Story" Mancini version ChartPeakpositionUS Billboard Hot 10013US Billboard Adult Contemporary2 Lai version ChartPeakpositionAustralia (Kent Music Report)Kent David David Kent (historian) Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 illustrated Australian Chart Book St Ives, N.S.W. 1993 0-646-11917-6 17217US Billboard Hot 10031US Billboard Adult Contemporary21 "(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story" Williams version ChartPeakpositionNew Zealand (Listener)https://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20listener&qsongid=3933#n_view_location search Listener20US Billboard Hot 1009US Billboard Adult Contemporary1UK Singles Chart4 Bennett version ChartPeakpositionUS Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles114 Bassey version ChartPeakpositionUK Singles Chart34 Clark version ChartPeakposition US Country74 Tempo & Stevens version ChartPeakpositionNetherlands (Dutch Top 40)5US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles113 Sales Sales for Andy Williams' version of "(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story" Japan true 600,000 https://books.google.com/books?id=Y8NaAAAAIBAJ&dq=Japan&pg=PA26&article_id=5382,2552836 There's no kick quite like a hit record The Evening Independent 25 December 1981 13 May 2025 26 Notable cover versions The song has been covered by many artists, including as an instrumental theme. The most notable are the versions by Andy Williams and Tony Bennett. In his AllMusic review of the 1971 Johnny Mathis album Love Story'', Joe Viglione wrote, "His rendition of '(Where Do I Begin) Love Story' is riveting, a sweeping and majestic piece to lead off the record, and not the usual Jack Gold musical movement, but more pronounced and determined."http://www.allmusic.com/album/love-story-mw0000312288 Love Story - Johnny Mathis allmusic.com All Media Network, LLC 26 April 2017 See also List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1971 (U.S.) References 2 Bibliography Arena James Legends of Disco: Forty Stars Discuss Their Careers 2016 McFarland & Company Jefferson, North Carolina 9781476664965 https://books.google.com/books?id=qrLuCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA87 Green Paul Everyone's Jumping on Disco Bandwagon Billboard April 14, 1979 91 15 0006-2510 https://books.google.com/books?id=TiQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT2 Lederer Barry Disco Mix Billboard April 28, 1979 91 17 0006-2510 https://books.google.com/books?id=9yMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT87 Simmons Sylvie Sylvie Simmons Rock Beat Toledo Blade April 15, 1979 12962717 https://books.google.com/books?id=5TFPAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA40 Whitburn Joel Joel Whitburn's Top Country Singles, 1944-2001 2002 Record Research Inc. 0898201519 Whitburn Joel Joel Whitburn Presents Billboard Top Adult Songs, 1961-2006 2007 Record Research Inc. 978-0898201697 Whitburn Joel Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 1955-2008 2009 Record Research Inc. 978-0898201802 Category:1970 songs Category:1971 singles Category:Andy Williams songs Category:Glen Campbell songs Category:Film theme songs Category:Shirley Bassey songs Category:Songs with music by Francis Lai Category:Songs written by Carl Sigman Category:Columbia Records singles Category:Song recordings produced by Dick Glasser