I Don't Know How to Love Him - Yvonne Elliman (1970) 4/11/21

When Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice were writing "Jesus Christ Superstar," they needed a song for Mary Magdalene to sing--something that would convey both the love and confusion her character was feeling.

They settled on a song they had previously written in 1967, "Kansas Morning."** The "feeling" of the song was right...it just needed new lyrics and a new title. Tim Rice took care of the lyrics, and the title was changed to "I Don't Know How to Love Him."

After the changes had been made, they sent the song to Yvonne Elliman to record. Yvonne was confused by the lyrics because she thought she had been cast as Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

Once that was cleared up, it only took Yvonne ONE TAKE to convey her initial confusion into her performance. In fact, her performance was so convincing, she was asked to play Mary Magdelene in the film version, and then on Broadway.

She continued to play the character on and off for years, and to this day, there are millions of people who believe that, although the song has been covered by dozens of OUTSTANDING singers (including Sarah Brightman and Sara Bareilles), the power and purity of Yvonne's version will never be topped. (I am one of those people).

That brings us to Helen Reddy.

When "Superstar" was released in 1970, the title cut by Murray Head was the first single. (We highlighted the song back on 3/11/20, and you can read about it here: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelCuuuk/posts/157509269055862 )

Shortly thereafter, another record company pitched "I Don't Know How to Love Him" to Linda Ronstadt, who thought the song was terrible and passed. It was then offered to Helen Reddy who also hated the song, but in return for a chance to record some material she actually liked, recorded it anyway. She was then incredibly surprised when it started climbing the charts. At first.

It turns out that Helen's husband, Jeff Wald, had personally called dozens of radio station program directors to get them to play the song, and then a nephew and his friends started phoning deejays to request it. Shady, but not illegal.

Not to be left behind, Decca Records quickly released Yvonne's version, and the two artists spent the next several weeks battling it out for the best chart positions.

Not surprisingly (Thanks, Jeff.), Helen's version won those battles: #13 to #28 on the Hot 100, and #13 to #15 on the Adult Contemporary Chart. In the end, it was Helen's first big hit...but for Yvonne, it was so much more.

"I Don't Know How to Love Him:" Powerful, meaningful, and a "Great Song of the '70s!

**Note: The original "Kansas Morning" was based on a theme from Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E, Opus 64. You can hear the similarities by clicking the link below and forwarding to the 14:25 mark.

Yvonne:

Helen:

Mendelssohn: