"Danny's Song" is a song written by American singer-songwriterKenny Loggins, as a gift for his brother Danny for the birth of his son, Colin. It first appeared on an album by Gator Creek and a year later on the albumSittin' 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.
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 1970 when Danny became the father of a boy named Colin – his first son. "Danny's Song" was included as the B-side of one of their early single releases, "Nobody But You". 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.
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 Billboardmusic charts in early 1973. On the pop chart, the song reached number seven ; on the country chart, it peaked at number ten; and on the easy listening chart, it spent two weeks at number one in March of that year. 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." Murray covered the song a second time on her 2007 album as a duet with Martina McBride.
The song was covered by Matthew Morrison and Jayma Mays during the fifth season of the television show Glee.
The song was performed by actress Martha Plimpton in the pilot episode of the show Raising Hope as a lullaby to her granddaughter. This touching moment became a theme for the program, which was revisited in season four, in the series finale, when Loggins himself appeared to sing it at Virginia's wedding.
In 2010, Beccy Cole recorded a version for her album, Preloved.
The song was sampled by John Frusciante & Black Knights on the song "Never Let Go". It was released as a free download preceding their first collaborative record in January 2014, Medieval Chamber.
The song was covered by Marianne Nowottny and Her All American Band on their 2018 album Studio Recordings 2008–2018.
