Valentine’s Day is at the end of this week, and one of the biggest romantic dramas of all time is 1970’s Love Story. Both its instrumental theme and a version with lyrics sung by Andy Williams hit the music charts.
Ryan O’Neal and Ali McGraw play Oliver and Jenny, who meet and fall in love in college despite their different backgrounds, but tragedy strikes soon after they are married. AFI ranked the movie as the ninth most romantic film of all time, and it is one of the highest-grossing films of all time if you adjust for inflation. “Theme from Love Story” was an instrumental played over the movie’s opening and ending. It was recorded by the legendary Henry Mancini and released as a single, which reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. Early in 1971, two versions of the song with lyrics were released, one by Andy Williams and one by Tony Bennett. Bennett’s version struggled on the charts, but William’s version peaked at #9 on the Hot 100 and spent several weeks on top of the Easy Listening charts. In 1979, Williams rerecorded the song as a disco track. Country star Roy Clark and the great Shirley Bassey also recorded versions of the song. You can listen to the original Andy Williams version below.
