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Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)

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For other songs with the same name, see Evergreen.
"Evergreen"
Song
B-side"I Believe in Love"

"Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)" is the theme song from the 1976 film A Star Is Born. It was composed and performed by Barbra Streisand with lyrics by Paul Williams,[1] and arranged by Ian Freebairn-Smith.[2] The song was released on the soundtrack album to A Star Is Born.

As composers, Streisand and Williams earned an Academy Award for Best Original Song.[1] Streisand also earned a Grammy Award for Song of the Year. She and Williams also won Golden Globes for Best Original Song.

The song's opening couplet, "Love, soft as an easy chair, love fresh as the morning air," almost did not appear that way. Williams wrote the morning air line first, but told Streisand to "flip those two first lines, because it sings better."[3]

In 1997, the track appeared on the tribute album Diana, Princess of Wales: Tribute.

Chart Performance

In the US, the single became Barbra's second number 1 single and spent three weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and six weeks atop the easy listening chart. This was Streisand's second number-one song on the Hot 100 (following "The Way We Were" in 1974), and her third on the adult contemporary chart ("The Way We Were" and 1964's "People").[4] It was the 4th Biggest selling song of 1977 according to Billboard, selling more than 2 million copies and certified Platinum. In the UK Singles Chart, the song peaked at #3 in 1977.[1]

Awards

At the 20th Annual Grammy Awards the song was nominated in three categories, winning in two for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female and Song of the Year tying with "You Light Up My Life". The song was also nominated for Record of the Year.

Other versions

Streisand also recorded versions of the song in Spanish ("Tema de Amor de Nace Una Estrella"), French ( "De Reve en Reverie") with lyrics by Eddy Marnay, and Italian ("Sempreverde") with lyrics by Luigi Albertelli. The Spanish version was released as a track on the 1996 CD single, "I Finally Found Someone", a Streisand duet with Bryan Adams, and on the import CD version of the A Star is Born remastered soundtrack. The French and Italian versions have not yet been released commercially.

Paul Williams recorded the song for his 1977 album Classics. Ramsey Lewis recorded a jazz instrumental version for his 1977 album Love Notes. British singer Hazell Dean recorded a dance version of the song in 1984, and reached #63 in the UK Singles Chart.[1] Luther Vandross recorded the song for his 1994 album Songs.

In 1977, Florence Henderson performed the song on an episode of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 136. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  2. ^ Brief summary of Ian Freebairn-Smith's career
  3. ^ "Songwriter Interview: Paul Williams by Carl Wiser".
  4. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1996). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition (Billboard Publications)
Preceded by Billboard Easy Listening Singles number-one single
January 15, 1977 – February 19, 1977 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number one single
March 5, 1977 – March 19, 1977 		Succeeded by
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