The Songs o' Valentines Day

Okay, after those deeply romantic and emotional love songs I posted earlier, I thought it was proper to have a change of pace.  So, here are a couple for really terrific, joyful love songs that you probably haven't heard.  (And neither are even from a Broadway musical!  How about that?!)

This first is just pure j.  It's sung by Louis Armstrong and comes from his album around 1963, Hello, Dolly!  As you might imagine, that title song is what the album is best known for -- overwhelmingly -- but the whole thing is great.  In fact, it's one of my favorite albums, and would be up there even without The Song. 

This one is "Be My Life's Companion."  The Mills Brothers had a big recording with it, and it's wonderful.  But there's something about Satchmo's version that just makes me smile all the way through.

And following that up is a lovely song from my fave Tom Paxton, who I've posted a bunch of here.  He's written a great many songs about his wife, Annie -- most what one would call traditional love songs, but some about screwing up and the challenges of relationships ("Did Annie Come In Tonight?" is one of the best of those), and it's impressive how rich they are.

This is pure romance, and it's about as tender as a song gets.  "My Lady's a Wild, Flying Dove."