I Don't Know How to Love Him
Encyclopedia
"I Don't Know How to Love Him" is a song from the 1970 rock opera
Jesus Christ Superstar
written by Andrew Lloyd Webber
(music) and Tim Rice
(lyrics), a torch ballad
sung by the character of Mary Magdalene
who in Jesus Christ Superstar is presented as bearing an unrequited love for the title character. The song has been much recorded with "I Don't Know How to Love Him" long being unique for having two versions concurrently in the Top 30 of the Hot 100
chart in Billboard
magazine, specifically those recorded by Helen Reddy
and Yvonne Elliman
.
's violin concerto in E minor. In December 1969 and January 1970, when Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice completed Jesus Christ Superstar, Rice wrote new lyrics to the tune of "Kansas Morning" to provide the solo number for the character of Mary Magdalene (Rice and Webber's agent David Land would purchase the rights to "Kansas Morning" back from Southern Music for £50).
Now entitled "I Don't Know How to Love Him", the song was recorded by Yvonne Elliman
which was completed between March and July 1970. When first presented with "I Don't Know How to Love Him", Elliman had been puzzled by the romantic nature of the lyrics, as she was under the misapprehension that the Mary she'd been recruited to portray was Jesus' mother.
From the time of the soundtrack's October 1970 release, "I Don't Know How to Love Him" has been universally acclaimed as the album's highlight; in 2003 The Rough Guide to Cult Pop would assess Elliman's performance thus: "It's rare to hear a singer combine such power and purity of tone in one song, and none of the famous singers who have covered this ballad since have come close."
However the choice for single release went to the track "Superstar
" by Murray Head
. When a cover of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" by Helen Reddy
began moving up the charts in the spring of 1971 the original track by Yvonne Elliman was issued as a single to reach #28, although Reddy's version was more successful at #13. In early 1972 Elliman's "I Don't Know How to Love Him" was issued in the UK on a double A-side single with Murray Head's "Superstar
"; with this release Elliman faced competition with a cover of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" by Petula Clark
with neither version becoming a major hit, Elliman's reaching #47 and Clark's #42. Tim Rice produced several additional tracks for Elliman to complete her debut album, entitled I Don't Know How to Love Him.
Elliman performed "I Don't Know How to Love Him" when she played the Mary Magdalene role first in the Broadway production of Jesus Christ Superstar which opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre
12 October 1971, and then in the movie version, her respective renderings being featured on the both the Broadway cast album and the movie's soundtrack album. Her version of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from the movie soundtrack gave Elliman a hit in in Italy (#21) in 1974. Latterly Elliman has performed "I Don't Know How to Love Him" when she's revisited her Mary Magdalene role firstly at a Jesus Christ Superstar concert by the University Of Texas at El Paso Dinner Theatre staged 14 April 2003, and then for a live-in-concert one-night only performance of Jesus Christ Superstar on 13 August 2006 at the Ricardo Montalban Theater in Los Angeles.
in the second US national tour which played the Universal Studios Amphitheatre
in July 1972; Dana Gillespie
in the original London
production at the Palace Theatre
which opened 9 August 1972, and on the subsequent UK tour; Marcia Hines
, who originated the role in Australia in 1972 reprising it in 1975 and 1978; Kate Ceberano
in the 1992 Australian national tour; Margaret Urlich
in a New Zealand concert production in 1993; Emily Saliers
in the Jesus Christ Superstar: a Resurrection production which played Atlanta, Austin and Seattle in 1994; Joanna Ampil
in the London revival at the Lyceum Theatre which opened 19 November 1996; Golda Rosheuval in the 1998-99 UK tour; Kerry Ellis
in a concert production at Porchester Castle in Fareham
11 July 2004; Maya Days in the 2000 Broadway revival which opened at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts that 16 April; Natalie Toro
in the 2004 US national tour, Jennifer Paz in the Village Theatre (Seattle) revival which opened 11 May 2011, and Chilina Kennedy in the Stratford Festival revival which opened 16 May 2011. Renderings by Dana Gillespie, Kate Ceberano, Margaret Urlich, Emily Saliers and Joanna Ampil all appear on the cast recordings of their respective productions; Marcia Hines' version appears on her 1978 Live Across Australia album. The cast recording versions of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" by Kate Ceberano and Margaret Urlich were released as singles in respectively Australia and New Zealand charting at respectively #38 and #44.
In 1999 a filmation based on the 1998 revival of Jesus Christ Superstar was shot, featuring Renee Castle singing "I Don't Know How to Love Him" as Mary Magdalene; the film was released in the UK 16 October 2000 and opened internationally over the next six months. A planned soundtrack release never materialized.
In 1992 Claire Moore
sang "I Don't Know How to Love Him" on a 20th Anniversary re-recording of the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack.
Frances Ruffelle
sang "I Don't Know How to Love Him" when she performed as Mary Magdalene in a version of Jesus Christ Superstar broadcast on BBC Radio 2
on 19 October 1996. Also in 1996 Issy Van Randwyck
performed "I Don't Know How to Love Him" on a recording of Jesus Christ Superstar produced for Jay Records.
Agnetha Faltskog
sang a translated version of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" entitled "Vart Ska Min Karlek Fora" when she originated the role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar (Swedish version 1972)
which premiered 18 February 1972. Although Faltskog's tenure in the role was brief, as she was unable to go out on the national tour which began two weeks after the premiere, she sang the Mary Magdalene role on the Swedish cast album of Jesus Christ Superstar released March 1972 and that same month had a #2 hit with "Vart Ska Min Karlek Fora", which she'd recorded while still in rehearsals on 4 February at a session at Metronome Studios in Stockholm produced by Björn Ulvaeus
.
Anne-Marie David
introduced the French language version of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" when she originated the role of Mary Magdalene in the Paris production of Jesus Christ Superstar which opened in April 1972. Her rendering of "La Chanson de Marie-Madeleine" taken from the cast recording reached #29 on the French charts. This rendering, with lyrics by Pierre Delanoë
, was also recorded by Nicoletta for an unofficial Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack album released on Barclay Records
to coincide with the April 1972 opening of the Paris production of Jesus Christ Superstar.
Angela Carrasco
introduced the Spanish language version of "I Don't Know How to Love Him": "Es más que amor" in the original Spanish language production of Jesus Christ Superstar in Madrid; her recorded version appears on the 1975 cast recording. Cast recordings from subsequent Madrid productions feature Estíbaliz Gabilondo (1984) and Lorena Calero (2007), the latter singing a new Spanish language version entitled ""No sé cómo quererle"".
Other singers with theatrical associations who have recorded "I Don't Know How to Love Him" include (with parent album) Elaine Paige
(Stages
- 1983; also Elaine Paige Live
- 2009), Barbara Dickson
(Ovation: Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber - 1985), Stephanie Lawrence
(The Love Songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber - 1988), Marti Webb
(The Magic From the Musicals - 1991), Fiona Hendley
(The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection - 1991), Sarah Brightman
(Sarah Brightman Sings the Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber - 1992), Lea Salonga
(The Broadway Concert
- 1992) and Helena Vondráčková
(as "Já, Máří Magdaléna" on Brodway - 1993; also as "I Don't know How to Love Him" on The Broadway Album - 1994). Sandy Lam
performed the song in the Andrew Lloyd Webber: Masterpiece: Live From the Great Hall of the People, Beijing televised concert in 2001; her rendering is featured on the soundtrack album. Sonia, who performed "I Don't Know How to Love Him" in the 1997 UK tour of the What a Feeling nostalgiac revue, recorded her version for the show's soundtrack album. Also Bonnie Tyler
was recruited to record "I Don't Know How to Love Him" for the 2007 album Over the Rainbow - Show Tunes in Aid of the Association of Children's Hospices.
On the 2 September 2006 episode of How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?
potential eliminees Helena Blackman
and Leanne Dobinson
sang a joint version of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" for Andrew Lloyd Webber
, who elected to "save" Blackman.
executive Artie Mogull heard the potential for a smash hit in the track "I Don't Know How to Love Him" and had pitched the song to Linda Ronstadt
, then on the Capitol roster; after Ronstadt advised Mogull: "she hated the song, [saying] it was terrible" Mogull invited the then-unknown Helen Reddy
to record "I Don't Know How to Love Him" as part of a one-off single deal with Capitol. Reddy herself did not care for "I Don't Know How to Love Him" agreeing to cut the song to serve as B-side for the track she wished to record: the Mac Davis
composition; "I Believe in Music" (later a hit for Gallery
).
In her autobiography The Woman I Am, Helen Reddy states that Mogull invited her to record a single after seeing her perform on a Tonight Show
episode (the guest host Flip Wilson
had invited Reddy to appear; Wilson knew Reddy from the club circuit). Mogull himself attributed his interest in Reddy to the solicitations on her behalf by her then-husband and manager Jeff Wald who called Mogull three times a day for five months asking him to let Reddy cut a song.
Larry Marks produced Reddy's recording of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" and "I Believe in Music" at A&M's recording studios. According to Reddy, her extreme anxiety - "I had waited years for this shot and I didn't think there would be another one" - manifested in her vocals making "I Believe in Music" ineffectual but "I Don't Know How to Love Him" convincingly plaintive, clinching the decision to make the latter the A-side of the single, released in January 1971.
In a 1974 Billboard
tribute to Helen Reddy, writer Cynthia Spector states "I Don't Know How to Love Him" became a hit due to the efforts of Jeff Wald "who stayed on the phone morning to night, cajoling, bullying, wheedling airplay from disk jockeys. Using $4,000 of his own money, his own telephone credit card and his American express card to wine and dine anyone who would listen to his wife, he made the record happen."
Reddy attributes the eventual success of her recording of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" to the positive listener response the track received at the first station where it was played: WDRC (AM)
in Hartford Conn - where in fact a number of the "local requests" for "I Don't Know How to Love Him" originated in Los Angeles being made by Reddy's visiting nephew: a teenage Australian actor with a penchant for different voices, and also a number of Reddy's friends, with Reddy admitting: "I may have made a call or two myself".
In April 1971 WDRC program director
Charles R. Parker would relate how Reddy and Wald had visited WDRC to thank the station for its initial support of Reddy's "I Don't Know How to Love Him", with Reddy and Wald expressing how they "were more than delighted and surprised to see [the track] break on Top 40 at WDRC."
Reddy's recording of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" entered the national charts in March 1971 - showing in the Top Ten in Dallas and Denver that month http://las-solanas.com/arsa/charts_item.php?hsid=4546 - but its momentum was so gradual as to not effect Top 40 entry until that May; by then MCA Records
had issued the original Yvonne Elliman track as a single and from 15 May 1971 to 26 June 1971 both versions were in the Top 40 with Reddy's version maintaining the upper hand peaking at #13 while Elliman's version peaked at #28.
"I Don't Know How to Love Him" became Reddy's first hit single in her native Australia peaking at #2 on the Go-Set
Top 40 chart for two weeks that August; in April 1972 the track reached #23 in the Netherlands.
The success of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" led to Reddy's being signed to a long term contract by Capitol who released her I Don't Know How to Love Him album in August 1971. The track issued as a follow-up single: a version of Van Morrison
's "Crazy Love" stopped short of being entering the U.S. top 40, peaking at #51, while the album charted at a moderate #100; Reddy's subsequent success, however, garnered her debut album sufficient interest for it be certified as a Gold record
in 1974. Also of note, I Don't Know How to Love Him included an initial arrangement of Reddy's signature song, "I Am Woman
"; Reddy would later rearrange and rerecord the song in late 1972, and it would become her breakthrough single, topping the U.S. charts in early 1973.
, was released in November 1970 in the US and was also released in 1970 in the UK. The track was included on Wyman's May 1971 album release One Together.
A version of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" done in medley with "Everything's Alright", also from Jesus Christ Superstar, was recorded on the Happy Tiger
label by a group credited as the Kimberlys; released in January 1971 the same week as the Helen Reddy version, the Kimberlys' track received enough regional attention to reach #99 on the Billboard Hot 100
that March. The appearance of Helen Reddy's version on the Billboard Hot 100 also drew the single release of the version of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" by Petula Clark
which single - produced by Johnny Harris
- would be Clark's last released on Warner Brothers
.
In the British Isles "I Don't Know How to Love Him" first became a hit in the Republic of Ireland where Tina
& Real McCoy took it to #1 in December 1971. In January 1972 the version by Petula Clark was released in the UK to chart at #42 marking Clark's final appearance on the UK Singles chart except for the 1988 remix of her 1964 hit "Downtown
". Clark's "I Don't Know How to Love Him" was to be her final single release on Pye Records
. Concurrent with Clark's version, the original Yvonne Elliman track was issued as a single on a double A-side with "Superstar" by Murray Head; this single peaked at UK #47. A 1972 version by Sylvie McNeill
on a UK 45, United Artists UA UP35415, was released (11 August) timed for the first UK Stage Musical of “Jesus Christ Superstar
”; she had actually performed it on The Benny Hill
Show” (Original Air Date: 23 February 1972).
Petula Clark also recorded "I Don't Know How to Love Him" in French as "La Chanson de Marie-Madeleine" which served as the title cut for a 1972 French language album which also featured Clark's version of "I Don't Know How to Love Him". "La Chanson de Marie-Madeleine" became a chart item (#66) for Clark in Quebec in March 1972 despite being bested in France by the Anne-Marie David
version from the Paris cast recording which reached #29.
Shirley Bassey
recorded "I Don't Know How to Love Him" for her 1972 album release And I Love You So
with the track having a single release as the B-side of the title track
. Johnny Harris, who'd produced Petula Clark's version of "I Don't How to Love Him", was the producer of Bassey's And I Love You So album (Noel Rogers was credited as executive producer) and on that album's "I Don't Know How to Love Him" track Harris acted as arranger/conductor.
"I Don't Know How to Love Him" has also been recorded (with parent album) by Julie Budd (Julie Budd: produced arranged and conducted by Tony Hatch
at Pye Studios Marble Arch
- 1972), Cilla Black
(Day by Day with Cilla
- 1972), Chelsia Chan
(Dark Side of Your Mind - 1975), Judy Collins
(Amazing Grace - 1985), Kjerstin Dellert (as "Vad Gör Jag Med Min Kärlek") (Primadonna - 1977), Katja Ebstein
(as "Wie soll ich ihn nur lieben") (Liebe - 1977), Peggy Lee
(Where Did They Go? - 1971), Gloria Lynne
(I Don't Know How to Love Him - 1976), Jeane Manson (Jeane Manson - 1993), Anita Meyer
(Premiere - 1987), Angelika Milster (as "Wie soll ich ihn nur lieben") (Meisterstucke - 2001), Sinéad O'Connor
(Theology
- 2007) and Seija Simola
(as "Maria Magdalena") (Seija - 1972). Kelly Marie
, who at sixteen had won four times on Opportunity Knocks singing "I Don't Know How to Love Him", recorded a disco
version of the song which appears on the 2003 album Applause.
Nell Carter
performed "I Don't Know How to Love Him" in an espisode of the NBC-TV
sitcom Gimme a Break!
entitled Flashback which was broadcast 26 January 1984.
Rock opera
A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
written by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
(music) and Tim Rice
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...
(lyrics), a torch ballad
Torch song
A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affected the relationship...
sung by the character of Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...
who in Jesus Christ Superstar is presented as bearing an unrequited love for the title character. The song has been much recorded with "I Don't Know How to Love Him" long being unique for having two versions concurrently in the Top 30 of the Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart in Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine, specifically those recorded by Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy , often referred to as "The Queen of 70s Pop", is an Australian-American singer and actress. In the 1970s, she enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed fifteen singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six of those 15 songs made the Top 10...
and Yvonne Elliman
Yvonne Elliman
Yvonne Marianne Elliman is an American singer who performed for four years in the first cast of Jesus Christ Superstar...
.
Original version
"I Don't Know How to Love Him" had originally been published with different lyrics in the autumn of 1967, the original title being "Kansas Morning." The melody's main theme has been come under some scrutiny for being non-original, being so similar to a theme from MendelssohnFelix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
's violin concerto in E minor. In December 1969 and January 1970, when Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice completed Jesus Christ Superstar, Rice wrote new lyrics to the tune of "Kansas Morning" to provide the solo number for the character of Mary Magdalene (Rice and Webber's agent David Land would purchase the rights to "Kansas Morning" back from Southern Music for £50).
Now entitled "I Don't Know How to Love Him", the song was recorded by Yvonne Elliman
Yvonne Elliman
Yvonne Marianne Elliman is an American singer who performed for four years in the first cast of Jesus Christ Superstar...
which was completed between March and July 1970. When first presented with "I Don't Know How to Love Him", Elliman had been puzzled by the romantic nature of the lyrics, as she was under the misapprehension that the Mary she'd been recruited to portray was Jesus' mother.
From the time of the soundtrack's October 1970 release, "I Don't Know How to Love Him" has been universally acclaimed as the album's highlight; in 2003 The Rough Guide to Cult Pop would assess Elliman's performance thus: "It's rare to hear a singer combine such power and purity of tone in one song, and none of the famous singers who have covered this ballad since have come close."
However the choice for single release went to the track "Superstar
Superstar (Jesus Christ Superstar song)
"Superstar" is the title song from the 1970 rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. It was released as a single in 1969, before the album was completed. Sung by Murray Head with the Trinidad Singers, it reached number 78 on first release. Murray Head reached...
" by Murray Head
Murray Head
Murray Seafield Saint-George Head is a British actor and singer, most recognised for his international hit songs "Superstar" and "One Night in Bangkok" and his album Say It Ain't So...
. When a cover of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" by Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy , often referred to as "The Queen of 70s Pop", is an Australian-American singer and actress. In the 1970s, she enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed fifteen singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six of those 15 songs made the Top 10...
began moving up the charts in the spring of 1971 the original track by Yvonne Elliman was issued as a single to reach #28, although Reddy's version was more successful at #13. In early 1972 Elliman's "I Don't Know How to Love Him" was issued in the UK on a double A-side single with Murray Head's "Superstar
Superstar (Jesus Christ Superstar song)
"Superstar" is the title song from the 1970 rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. It was released as a single in 1969, before the album was completed. Sung by Murray Head with the Trinidad Singers, it reached number 78 on first release. Murray Head reached...
"; with this release Elliman faced competition with a cover of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" by Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
with neither version becoming a major hit, Elliman's reaching #47 and Clark's #42. Tim Rice produced several additional tracks for Elliman to complete her debut album, entitled I Don't Know How to Love Him.
Elliman performed "I Don't Know How to Love Him" when she played the Mary Magdalene role first in the Broadway production of Jesus Christ Superstar which opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre
Mark Hellinger Theatre
The Mark Hellinger Theatre is a generally used name of a former legitimate Broadway theater, located at 237 West 51st Street in midtown Manhattan, New York City. Since 1991, it has been known as the Times Square Church...
12 October 1971, and then in the movie version, her respective renderings being featured on the both the Broadway cast album and the movie's soundtrack album. Her version of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from the movie soundtrack gave Elliman a hit in in Italy (#21) in 1974. Latterly Elliman has performed "I Don't Know How to Love Him" when she's revisited her Mary Magdalene role firstly at a Jesus Christ Superstar concert by the University Of Texas at El Paso Dinner Theatre staged 14 April 2003, and then for a live-in-concert one-night only performance of Jesus Christ Superstar on 13 August 2006 at the Ricardo Montalban Theater in Los Angeles.
Subsequent versions
Other singers who have performed "I Don't Know How to Love Him" in the role of Mary Magdalene in the stage musical Jesus Christ Superstar include Linda Nichols in the first US national tour which played the Hollywood Bowl in August 1971 - Nichols reprised the role in a four-city tour (Atlanta/ Dallas/ Sacramento/ St. Louis) in 1985; Heather MacRaeHeather MacRae
Heather MacRae is an American stage, film and television actress, perhaps best known for her role in the Woody Allen 1972 comedy film Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* ....
in the second US national tour which played the Universal Studios Amphitheatre
Gibson Amphitheatre
The Gibson Amphitheatre is a theatre located in Universal City, California, USA. It seats up to 6,189 for concerts, including 6,089 chairback seats...
in July 1972; Dana Gillespie
Dana Gillespie
Dana Gillespie is an English actress and singer.-Career:Gillespie was born to the Baron De Winterstein Gillespie, an Austrian radiologist, and his wife. She grew up in England and her family's villa in Maccagno, a village on Lake Maggiore, Italy...
in the original London
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
production at the Palace Theatre
Palace Theatre, London
The Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster in London. It is an imposing red-brick building that dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus and is located near the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road...
which opened 9 August 1972, and on the subsequent UK tour; Marcia Hines
Marcia Hines
Marcia Elaine Hines, AM is a vocalist, actress and TV personality who achieved success in her adopted homeland of Australia. Hines made her debut, at the age of sixteen, in the Australian version of the stage musical Hair and followed with the role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar...
, who originated the role in Australia in 1972 reprising it in 1975 and 1978; Kate Ceberano
Kate Ceberano
Kate Ceberano is an Australian singer. She achieved success in the soul, jazz and pop genres as well as in her brief forays into musicals with Jesus Christ Superstar and film...
in the 1992 Australian national tour; Margaret Urlich
Margaret urlich
Margaret Urlich is an ARIA Award-winning musician based in New South Wales. Urlich came to Sydney, Australia, in 1988 to pursue her singing career. Her debut solo album, Safety in Numbers, was highly successful winning Breakthrough Artist - Album at that years ARIA Awards, as was the follow-up...
in a New Zealand concert production in 1993; Emily Saliers
Emily Saliers
Emily Saliers is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Indigo Girls. Saliers plays lead guitar as well as banjo, piano, mandolin, ukulele, bouzouki and many other instruments.-Background:...
in the Jesus Christ Superstar: a Resurrection production which played Atlanta, Austin and Seattle in 1994; Joanna Ampil
Joanna Ampil
Joanna Ampil , is a musical theatre actress from the Philippines.Ampil has performed in several West End musicals, including Avenue Q, Miss Saigon, and Jesus Christ Superstar...
in the London revival at the Lyceum Theatre which opened 19 November 1996; Golda Rosheuval in the 1998-99 UK tour; Kerry Ellis
Kerry Ellis
Kerry Jane Ellis is an English stage actress and singer who is best known for her work in musical theatre and subsequent crossover into music...
in a concert production at Porchester Castle in Fareham
Fareham
The market town of Fareham lies in the south east of Hampshire, England, between the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth, roughly in the centre of the South Hampshire conurbation.It gives its name to the borough comprising the town and the surrounding area...
11 July 2004; Maya Days in the 2000 Broadway revival which opened at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts that 16 April; Natalie Toro
Natalie Toro
Natalie Toro is an American singer and stage, television, and film actor.Natalie debuted at the Apollo Theater at age 5. She studied piano and voice at the Manhattan School of Music and the High School of Music and Art until the age of 18...
in the 2004 US national tour, Jennifer Paz in the Village Theatre (Seattle) revival which opened 11 May 2011, and Chilina Kennedy in the Stratford Festival revival which opened 16 May 2011. Renderings by Dana Gillespie, Kate Ceberano, Margaret Urlich, Emily Saliers and Joanna Ampil all appear on the cast recordings of their respective productions; Marcia Hines' version appears on her 1978 Live Across Australia album. The cast recording versions of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" by Kate Ceberano and Margaret Urlich were released as singles in respectively Australia and New Zealand charting at respectively #38 and #44.
In 1999 a filmation based on the 1998 revival of Jesus Christ Superstar was shot, featuring Renee Castle singing "I Don't Know How to Love Him" as Mary Magdalene; the film was released in the UK 16 October 2000 and opened internationally over the next six months. A planned soundtrack release never materialized.
In 1992 Claire Moore
Claire Moore
Claire Mary Moore is an Australian politician. Moore was elected to the Australian Senate from Queensland in July 2001, representing the Australian Labor Party. Her term began on 1 July 2002....
sang "I Don't Know How to Love Him" on a 20th Anniversary re-recording of the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack.
Frances Ruffelle
Frances Ruffelle
Frances Ruffelle is an English musical theatre actress and recording artist. Her mother is Sylvia Young, the founder of the famous theatre school at which Frances trained, and her daughter is recording artist Eliza Doolittle. Her younger sister is actress Alison Ruffelle...
sang "I Don't Know How to Love Him" when she performed as Mary Magdalene in a version of Jesus Christ Superstar broadcast on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
on 19 October 1996. Also in 1996 Issy Van Randwyck
Issy Van Randwyck
Issy van Randwyck is an English singer and actress of Dutch descent. She is a former member of British comedy singing group and satirical cabaret act Fascinating Aida, she has since acted on stage and television.-Biography:...
performed "I Don't Know How to Love Him" on a recording of Jesus Christ Superstar produced for Jay Records.
Agnetha Faltskog
Agnetha Fältskog
Agnetha Åse Fältskog is a Swedish recording artist. She achieved success in Sweden after the release of her début album Agnetha Fältskog in 1968, and reached international stardom as a member of the pop group ABBA, which to date has sold over 375 million records worldwide, making it the fourth...
sang a translated version of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" entitled "Vart Ska Min Karlek Fora" when she originated the role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar (Swedish version 1972)
Jesus Christ Superstar (Swedish version 1972)
This is the Swedish cast of the Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice's musical starring as Maria Magdalena, Swedish pop star from ABBA : Agnetha Fältskog....
which premiered 18 February 1972. Although Faltskog's tenure in the role was brief, as she was unable to go out on the national tour which began two weeks after the premiere, she sang the Mary Magdalene role on the Swedish cast album of Jesus Christ Superstar released March 1972 and that same month had a #2 hit with "Vart Ska Min Karlek Fora", which she'd recorded while still in rehearsals on 4 February at a session at Metronome Studios in Stockholm produced by Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Kristian Ulvaeus is a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, writer, producer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!...
.
Anne-Marie David
Anne-Marie David
Anne-Marie David is a French singer. She represented two different countries at the Eurovision Song Contest.-Career:...
introduced the French language version of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" when she originated the role of Mary Magdalene in the Paris production of Jesus Christ Superstar which opened in April 1972. Her rendering of "La Chanson de Marie-Madeleine" taken from the cast recording reached #29 on the French charts. This rendering, with lyrics by Pierre Delanoë
Pierre Delanoë
Pierre Delanoë , born Pierre Leroyer, was a French songwriter/lyricist who wrote for dozens of singers such as Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour, Petula Clark, and Johnny Hallyday....
, was also recorded by Nicoletta for an unofficial Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack album released on Barclay Records
Barclay Records
Barclay Records is a French record label founded in the mid-1950s by Eddie Barclay under the alias, Edouard Ruault. Eddie Barclay also founded the Riviera label in the early-1950s....
to coincide with the April 1972 opening of the Paris production of Jesus Christ Superstar.
Angela Carrasco
Angela Carrasco
Angela Carrasco is a Dominican singer. Carrasco was one of a group of Latin American divas in the 1970s. This group also included Susana Giménez, Charytín, Iris Chacón, Ednita Nazario, Yolandita Monge and Rocío Dúrcal....
introduced the Spanish language version of "I Don't Know How to Love Him": "Es más que amor" in the original Spanish language production of Jesus Christ Superstar in Madrid; her recorded version appears on the 1975 cast recording. Cast recordings from subsequent Madrid productions feature Estíbaliz Gabilondo (1984) and Lorena Calero (2007), the latter singing a new Spanish language version entitled ""No sé cómo quererle"".
Other singers with theatrical associations who have recorded "I Don't Know How to Love Him" include (with parent album) Elaine Paige
Elaine Paige
Elaine Paige OBE is an English singer and actress best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, North London, Paige attended the Aida Foster stage school, making her first professional appearance on stage in 1964, at the age of 16...
(Stages
Stages (Elaine Paige album)
Stages is an album by Elaine Paige, released in 1983 on the Warner Music and has been re-issued on CD. The album charted in the UK album charts at #2 in 1983....
- 1983; also Elaine Paige Live
Elaine Paige Live
Elaine Paige Live is a live solo album by Elaine Paige, recorded in 2009 and released in 2009 to coincide with Paige's 40th anniversary concert tour.It was produced by Paige and the tour's musical director Chris Egan...
- 2009), Barbara Dickson
Barbara Dickson
Barbara Ruth Dickson, OBE is a Scottish singer whose hits include "I Know Him So Well" and "January February"...
(Ovation: Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber - 1985), Stephanie Lawrence
Stephanie Lawrence
Stephanie Lawrence was a British musical theatre actress.-Background:Stephanie Lawrence was born in Hayling Island, Hampshire, the daughter of a singer and classically trained dancer.She was from an early age close friends with another Famous Islander Peter Chilvers who in 1958 invented the...
(The Love Songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber - 1988), Marti Webb
Marti Webb
Marti Webb is a musical actress from England, who appeared on stage in Evita, before starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's one woman show Tell Me on a Sunday in 1980...
(The Magic From the Musicals - 1991), Fiona Hendley
Fiona Hendley
Fiona Hendley is a British actress and latterly Christian speaker, married to the former Manfred Mann singer and actor Paul Jones.-Musical and Acting Career:...
(The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection - 1991), Sarah Brightman
Sarah Brightman
Sarah Brightman is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She is famous for possessing a vocal range of over 3 octaves and singing in the whistle register...
(Sarah Brightman Sings the Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber - 1992), Lea Salonga
Lea Salonga
Lea Salonga-Chien is a mezzo-soprano singer and actress from the Philippines well known for originating the lead role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon, for which she won the Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Theatre World awards.She was the first Asian to play the roles of Éponine and...
(The Broadway Concert
The Broadway Concert
The Broadway Concert is a critically acclaimed live recording of a broadway-themed concert of Lea Salonga in Manila. Having forged her career in the bright lights of New York City and London, this CD is truly a reflection of her musical career...
- 1992) and Helena Vondráčková
Helena Vondrácková
Helena Vondráčková is a Czech singer whose career has spanned five decades.- Early life/career :Vondráčková spent her childhood years in the town of Slatinany. She took piano lessons from an early age...
(as "Já, Máří Magdaléna" on Brodway - 1993; also as "I Don't know How to Love Him" on The Broadway Album - 1994). Sandy Lam
Sandy Lam
Sandy Lam, also known as Lam Yik Lin, is a Cantopop singer who sings in Cantonese, Mandarin, English, and Japanese.-Career:...
performed the song in the Andrew Lloyd Webber: Masterpiece: Live From the Great Hall of the People, Beijing televised concert in 2001; her rendering is featured on the soundtrack album. Sonia, who performed "I Don't Know How to Love Him" in the 1997 UK tour of the What a Feeling nostalgiac revue, recorded her version for the show's soundtrack album. Also Bonnie Tyler
Bonnie Tyler
Bonnie Tyler is a Welsh singer, most notable for her hits in the 1970s and 1980s including "It's a Heartache", "Holding Out for a Hero" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart".-Early life:...
was recruited to record "I Don't Know How to Love Him" for the 2007 album Over the Rainbow - Show Tunes in Aid of the Association of Children's Hospices.
On the 2 September 2006 episode of How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? was a British television talent series, that was broadcast on Saturday evenings on BBC One between 29 July and 16 September 2006. It documented the search for a new, undiscovered musical theatre performer to play the role of Maria von Trapp in the 2006 Andrew...
potential eliminees Helena Blackman
Helena Blackman
Helena Blackman is a British musical theatre actress best known for being the runner-up in the BBC1 Reality TV programme How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?...
and Leanne Dobinson
Leanne Dobinson
Leanne Dobinson is an English singer and was a contestant on the BBC1 show, How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? which sought to find the leading lady for the new Andrew Lloyd Webber-produced version of The Sound of Music that will open in the West End in autumn 2006...
sang a joint version of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" for Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
, who elected to "save" Blackman.
Helen Reddy
Upon the release of the original Jesus Christ Superstar album Capitol RecordsCapitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
executive Artie Mogull heard the potential for a smash hit in the track "I Don't Know How to Love Him" and had pitched the song to Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
, then on the Capitol roster; after Ronstadt advised Mogull: "she hated the song, [saying] it was terrible" Mogull invited the then-unknown Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy , often referred to as "The Queen of 70s Pop", is an Australian-American singer and actress. In the 1970s, she enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed fifteen singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six of those 15 songs made the Top 10...
to record "I Don't Know How to Love Him" as part of a one-off single deal with Capitol. Reddy herself did not care for "I Don't Know How to Love Him" agreeing to cut the song to serve as B-side for the track she wished to record: the Mac Davis
Mac Davis
Mac Davis is a country music singer, songwriter, and actor originally from Lubbock, Texas who has enjoyed much crossover success...
composition; "I Believe in Music" (later a hit for Gallery
Gallery (band)
Gallery was an American soft rock band of the 1970s. It was formed in Detroit, Michigan by Jim Gold. While Gallery did record a number of songs, they are most famous for their 1972 hit single, "Nice to Be with You", written by Gold...
).
In her autobiography The Woman I Am, Helen Reddy states that Mogull invited her to record a single after seeing her perform on a Tonight Show
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
episode (the guest host Flip Wilson
Flip Wilson
Clerow Wilson, Jr. , known professionally as Flip Wilson, was an American comedian and actor. In the early 1970s, Wilson hosted his own weekly variety series, The Flip Wilson Show...
had invited Reddy to appear; Wilson knew Reddy from the club circuit). Mogull himself attributed his interest in Reddy to the solicitations on her behalf by her then-husband and manager Jeff Wald who called Mogull three times a day for five months asking him to let Reddy cut a song.
Larry Marks produced Reddy's recording of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" and "I Believe in Music" at A&M's recording studios. According to Reddy, her extreme anxiety - "I had waited years for this shot and I didn't think there would be another one" - manifested in her vocals making "I Believe in Music" ineffectual but "I Don't Know How to Love Him" convincingly plaintive, clinching the decision to make the latter the A-side of the single, released in January 1971.
In a 1974 Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
tribute to Helen Reddy, writer Cynthia Spector states "I Don't Know How to Love Him" became a hit due to the efforts of Jeff Wald "who stayed on the phone morning to night, cajoling, bullying, wheedling airplay from disk jockeys. Using $4,000 of his own money, his own telephone credit card and his American express card to wine and dine anyone who would listen to his wife, he made the record happen."
Reddy attributes the eventual success of her recording of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" to the positive listener response the track received at the first station where it was played: WDRC (AM)
WDRC (AM)
WDRC is a radio station owned by Buckley Broadcasting Corporation. It operates full time with 5,000 Watts of power with studios and transmitters located in Bloomfield, Connecticut....
in Hartford Conn - where in fact a number of the "local requests" for "I Don't Know How to Love Him" originated in Los Angeles being made by Reddy's visiting nephew: a teenage Australian actor with a penchant for different voices, and also a number of Reddy's friends, with Reddy admitting: "I may have made a call or two myself".
In April 1971 WDRC program director
Program director
In service industries, such as education, a program director or programme director researches, plans, develops and implements one or more of the firm's professional services...
Charles R. Parker would relate how Reddy and Wald had visited WDRC to thank the station for its initial support of Reddy's "I Don't Know How to Love Him", with Reddy and Wald expressing how they "were more than delighted and surprised to see [the track] break on Top 40 at WDRC."
Reddy's recording of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" entered the national charts in March 1971 - showing in the Top Ten in Dallas and Denver that month http://las-solanas.com/arsa/charts_item.php?hsid=4546 - but its momentum was so gradual as to not effect Top 40 entry until that May; by then MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
had issued the original Yvonne Elliman track as a single and from 15 May 1971 to 26 June 1971 both versions were in the Top 40 with Reddy's version maintaining the upper hand peaking at #13 while Elliman's version peaked at #28.
"I Don't Know How to Love Him" became Reddy's first hit single in her native Australia peaking at #2 on the Go-Set
Go-Set
Go-Set was the first Australian pop music newspaper, published weekly from 2 February 1966 to 24 August 1974, and was founded in Melbourne by Phillip Frazer, Peter Raphael and Tony Schauble...
Top 40 chart for two weeks that August; in April 1972 the track reached #23 in the Netherlands.
The success of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" led to Reddy's being signed to a long term contract by Capitol who released her I Don't Know How to Love Him album in August 1971. The track issued as a follow-up single: a version of Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
's "Crazy Love" stopped short of being entering the U.S. top 40, peaking at #51, while the album charted at a moderate #100; Reddy's subsequent success, however, garnered her debut album sufficient interest for it be certified as a Gold record
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
in 1974. Also of note, I Don't Know How to Love Him included an initial arrangement of Reddy's signature song, "I Am Woman
I Am Woman
"I Am Woman" is a song cowritten by Helen Reddy and singer/songwriter/guitarist Ray Burton and performed by Reddy. Released in its most well-known version in 1970, the song became an enduring anthem for the women’s liberation movement.-Success:...
"; Reddy would later rearrange and rerecord the song in late 1972, and it would become her breakthrough single, topping the U.S. charts in early 1973.
Other versions
The earliest single version of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" was that cut by Karen Wyman an artist on the roster of MCA/Decca Records the label of release for the original Jesus Christ Superstar album: Wyman's single, produced by Ken Greengrass and Peter MatzPeter Matz
Peter Matz was an award winning American musician, composer, arranger and conductor. His musical career in film, theater, television and studio recording spanned fifty years, and he worked with a number of prominent artists, including Marlene Dietrich, Noël Coward and Barbra Streisand...
, was released in November 1970 in the US and was also released in 1970 in the UK. The track was included on Wyman's May 1971 album release One Together.
A version of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" done in medley with "Everything's Alright", also from Jesus Christ Superstar, was recorded on the Happy Tiger
Happy Tiger Records
Happy Tiger Records was an independent American record label that was owned by the Flying Tiger Line air freight company. Happy Tiger only operated from 1969 to 1971, but during this time managed to produce more than two dozen albums by such notable artists as Count Basie, Mason Proffit, Red...
label by a group credited as the Kimberlys; released in January 1971 the same week as the Helen Reddy version, the Kimberlys' track received enough regional attention to reach #99 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
that March. The appearance of Helen Reddy's version on the Billboard Hot 100 also drew the single release of the version of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" by Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
which single - produced by Johnny Harris
Johnny Harris (musician)
Johnny Harris is a Scottish born composer, producer, arranger, conductor and musical director. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland; and a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music in London. He has lived in the US since 1972...
- would be Clark's last released on Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
.
In the British Isles "I Don't Know How to Love Him" first became a hit in the Republic of Ireland where Tina
Tina Reynolds
Tina Reynolds or simply Tina as she was known professionally, represented Ireland in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest.Her song "Cross Your Heart" came seventh but was a number 1 hit in the Irish charts....
& Real McCoy took it to #1 in December 1971. In January 1972 the version by Petula Clark was released in the UK to chart at #42 marking Clark's final appearance on the UK Singles chart except for the 1988 remix of her 1964 hit "Downtown
Downtown (Petula Clark song)
"Downtown" is a pop song composed by Tony Hatch which, as recorded by Petula Clark, became an international hit – No. 1 in the US and No. 2 in the UK – at the end of 1964.-Original recording:...
". Clark's "I Don't Know How to Love Him" was to be her final single release on Pye Records
Pye Records
Pye Records was a British record label. In its first incarnation, perhaps Pye's best known artists were Lonnie Donegan , Petula Clark , The Searchers , The Kinks , Sandie Shaw and Brotherhood of Man...
. Concurrent with Clark's version, the original Yvonne Elliman track was issued as a single on a double A-side with "Superstar" by Murray Head; this single peaked at UK #47. A 1972 version by Sylvie McNeill
Sylvia McNeill
Sylvia McNeill was born 5 August 1947 in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England.She began her career singing and playing bass guitar with various groups and bands. She went abroad for several years, touring American bases on the continent...
on a UK 45, United Artists UA UP35415, was released (11 August) timed for the first UK Stage Musical of “Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
”; she had actually performed it on The Benny Hill
Benny Hill
Benny Hill was an English comedian and actor, notable for his long-running television programme The Benny Hill Show.-Early life:...
Show” (Original Air Date: 23 February 1972).
Petula Clark also recorded "I Don't Know How to Love Him" in French as "La Chanson de Marie-Madeleine" which served as the title cut for a 1972 French language album which also featured Clark's version of "I Don't Know How to Love Him". "La Chanson de Marie-Madeleine" became a chart item (#66) for Clark in Quebec in March 1972 despite being bested in France by the Anne-Marie David
Anne-Marie David
Anne-Marie David is a French singer. She represented two different countries at the Eurovision Song Contest.-Career:...
version from the Paris cast recording which reached #29.
Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
recorded "I Don't Know How to Love Him" for her 1972 album release And I Love You So
And I Love You So (Shirley Bassey album)
And I Love You So is a 1972 album by Shirley Bassey.Released late in 1972 to positive reviews, this was Bassey's fourth album of the decade and was one of the albums which comprised her 'comeback' period of the 1970s. Unlike the earlier albums, this didn't feature any hit singles and consequently...
with the track having a single release as the B-side of the title track
And I Love You So
And I Love You So may refer to:* And I Love You So , 1970 song by Don McLean* And I Love You So , 1972 album by Shirley Bassey* And I Love You So , 1973 album by Perry Como...
. Johnny Harris, who'd produced Petula Clark's version of "I Don't How to Love Him", was the producer of Bassey's And I Love You So album (Noel Rogers was credited as executive producer) and on that album's "I Don't Know How to Love Him" track Harris acted as arranger/conductor.
"I Don't Know How to Love Him" has also been recorded (with parent album) by Julie Budd (Julie Budd: produced arranged and conducted by Tony Hatch
Tony Hatch
Anthony Peter "Tony" Hatch is an English composer, songwriter, pianist, music arranger and producer.-Early life and early career:...
at Pye Studios Marble Arch
Marble Arch
Marble Arch is a white Carrara marble monument that now stands on a large traffic island at the junction of Oxford Street, Park Lane, and Edgware Road, almost directly opposite Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park in London, England...
- 1972), Cilla Black
Cilla Black
Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...
(Day by Day with Cilla
Day by Day with Cilla
Day by Day with Cilla is the title of Cilla Black's seventh solo studio album released in 1973 by Parlophone Records. The album marked the end of a significant era in Black's recording career as it was her last project to be produced by George Martin who had worked on all of her recordings since...
- 1972), Chelsia Chan
Chelsia Chan
Chelsia Chan, also known as Chan Chau Ha is Hong Kong based actress and singer-songwriter. Chan joined the music industry after winning the first prize at an amateur creative singing contest in 1975 in Hong Kong with the English song "Dark Side of Your Mind", which she composed with lyrics...
(Dark Side of Your Mind - 1975), Judy Collins
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
(Amazing Grace - 1985), Kjerstin Dellert (as "Vad Gör Jag Med Min Kärlek") (Primadonna - 1977), Katja Ebstein
Katja Ebstein
Karin Witkiewicz, also known as Katja Ebstein, is a German singer. She was born in Girlachsdorf . She achieved success with songs such as Theater or Es war einmal ein Jäger. She was married to Christian Bruhn, who wrote many of her songs. She represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest...
(as "Wie soll ich ihn nur lieben") (Liebe - 1977), Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
(Where Did They Go? - 1971), Gloria Lynne
Gloria Lynne
Gloria Lynne is an American jazz vocalist with a recording career spanning from 1958 to 2007. Born Gloria Alleyne, Gloria Lynne grew up in Harlem; her mother was a gospel singer.-Career:...
(I Don't Know How to Love Him - 1976), Jeane Manson (Jeane Manson - 1993), Anita Meyer
Anita Meyer
Anita Meyer , born in Rotterdam 29 October 1954, is a Dutch singer. One of her most notable songs is "Why Tell Me Why" that charted for 14 weeks and topped the Dutch singles list for six weeks in 1981.- Albums :...
(Premiere - 1987), Angelika Milster (as "Wie soll ich ihn nur lieben") (Meisterstucke - 2001), Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U"....
(Theology
Theology (album)
Theology is the eighth full-length album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. It was released in 2007 on Rubyworks...
- 2007) and Seija Simola
Seija Simola
Seija Simola is a Finnish singer. She began her career musical in the mid 1960s in the band Eero Seija & Kristian Trio, and her debut solo album was released in 1970: Seija Simola 1 ....
(as "Maria Magdalena") (Seija - 1972). Kelly Marie
Kelly Marie
Kelly Marie is a Scottish disco singer. Her only notable hit was "Feels Like I'm in Love", a #1 hit in the UK in 1980.-Early career:...
, who at sixteen had won four times on Opportunity Knocks singing "I Don't Know How to Love Him", recorded a disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
version of the song which appears on the 2003 album Applause.
Nell Carter
Nell Carter
Nell Carter was an American singer, and film, stage, and television actress. She won a Tony Award for her performance in the Broadway musical Ain't Misbehavin, as well as an Emmy Award for her reprisal of the role on television...
performed "I Don't Know How to Love Him" in an espisode of the NBC-TV
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
sitcom Gimme a Break!
Gimme a Break!
Gimme a Break! is an American sitcom which aired on NBC from October 29, 1981, until May 12, 1987. The series stars Nell Carter as the housekeeper for a widowed police chief and his three daughters.-Premise:...
entitled Flashback which was broadcast 26 January 1984.