Danny's Song

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"Danny's Song"
Song by Loggins and Messina
from the album Sittin' In
ReleasedNovember 1971
Recorded1971
Genre Folk rock
Length4:16
Label Columbia
Songwriter(s) Kenny Loggins
Producer(s) Jim Messina

"Danny's Song" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins, as a gift for his brother Danny for the birth of his son, Colin. It first appeared on an album by Gator Creek [1] and a year later on the album Sittin' In , the debut album by Loggins and Messina. The song is well remembered for both the Loggins and Messina original, as well as for Anne Murray's 1972 top-ten-charting cover.

Contents

Loggins and Messina version

In 1971, Loggins and Jim Messina released Sittin' In and, although the album yielded no Top 40 radio hits, "Danny's Song" received a significant amount of radio airplay. Loggins wrote the song for his brother, Danny Loggins, in 1966 as a senior in high school, when Danny became the father of a boy named Colin – his first son. [2]

"Danny's Song" was included as the B-side of one of their early single releases, "Nobody But You" (U.S. No. 86, 1972). Loggins and Messina would achieve chart success in 1973 with their song "Your Mama Don't Dance", but their version of "Danny's Song" remains one of their best-known songs through the frequent airplay it received on rock and adult contemporary radio stations. [2]

Personnel

Anne Murray version

"Danny's Song"
Danny's Song - Anne Murray.jpg
Single by Anne Murray
from the album Danny's Song
B-side "Drown Me"
ReleasedDecember 23, 1972
Genre Country
Length3:03
Label Capitol
Songwriter(s) Kenny Loggins
Producer(s) Brian Ahern
Anne Murray singles chronology
"Robbie's Song for Jesus"
(1972)
"Danny's Song"
(1972)
"What About Me"
(1973)

Canadian country-pop music singer Anne Murray was a fan of the original recording and recorded a cover version in 1972. Her version of the song omits two of the lyric verses and is in a different key than the original version by Loggins & Messina. Included on her album of the same name, Murray's version of "Danny's Song" was a hit, reaching the Top 10 on three major Billboard music charts in early 1973. On the pop chart, the song reached number seven (returning Murray to that chart's top ten for the first time since 1970's "Snowbird"); [3] on the country chart, it peaked at number ten; [2] and on the easy listening chart, it spent two weeks at number one in March of that year. [2] Murray's version also earned her a Grammy Award nomination in the category Best Female Pop Vocal performance at the Grammy Awards of 1974, losing out to "Killing Me Softly with His Song" by Roberta Flack. Murray stated that she loved the original version, but the song took on a deeper meaning for her after the birth of her first child a few years later. In an interview, she stated that "Whenever I was singing that song, it was very meaningful." [2]

Murray covered the song a second time on her 2007 album Duets: Friends & Legends as a duet with Martina McBride.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1972–1973)Peak
position
Canadian RPM Top Singles [4] 1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks [5] 1
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks [6] 1
US Billboard Hot 100 [7] 7
US Hot Country Songs ( Billboard ) [8] 10
US Billboard Easy Listening1
US Cash Box Top 100 [9] 6

Year-end charts

Chart (1973)Rank
Canada RPM Top Singles [10] 14
US Billboard Hot 100 [11] 37
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard) [12] 45
US Cash Box [13] 25

Other covers

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