Pop Archives

The Hooter Sisters - To Know Him Is To Love Him (1974)

(Phil Spector)
Australia Australia

Single on the Albert Productions label by short-lived trio of notable Australian singers Alison MacCallum, Bobby Marchini and Janice Slater. This soulful update of a hit song from the late 50s was the A-side of The Hooter Sisters’ only release.

See also the B-side So Tough, an original co-written by Slater.


Bobby Vinton - To Know You Is To Love You (1969)

(Phil Spector)
USA USA
#34 USA

Single on CBS by Pennsylvanian pop balladeer whose string of middle-of-the-road hits included four #1s during his peak period: Roses Are Red (My Love) (1962), Blue Velvet (1963), There! I’ve Said It Again! (1963) and Mr Lonely (1964).

Vinton was one American pre-Beatles star who survived the British Invasion: his last #1 was as late as November 1964. He kept on making the Top 40 regularly till the mid-70s, reaching as high as #3 with My Melody Of Love in 1974. In total, he had thirty Billboard Top 40 records 1962-1975.

See also under Over The Mountain, Across The Sea.


The Valentines - To Know You Is To Love You (1967)

(Phil Spector)
Australia Australia

B-side on Clarion by popular Perth band.

The Valentines had two lead vocalists: Bon Scott (1946-1980), later famous for fronting AC/DC from 1974, and Vince Lovegrove (1947-2012), journalist, TV presenter, booking agent and film maker.

On this track, Bon Scott is lead vocalist, on the other side it is Vince Lovegrove.

The A-side is She Said (#24 Perth), one of three songs recorded by The Valentines that were written by Harry Vanda and George Young from The Easybeats.

For more on The Valentines, see their Love Makes Sweet Music (1968, #27 Perth) and My Old Man’s A Groovy Old Man (1969, #19 Sydney #4 Melbourne #7 Brisbane).


Peter & Gordon - To Know You Is To Love You (1965)

(Phil Spector)
UK UK
#5 UK #24 USA

Single on Columbia by British Invasion stars Peter Asher and Gordon Waller. Dramatically arranged by Geoff Love.


The Beatles - To Know Her Is To Love Her (1963)

(Phil Spector)
UK UK

• Recorded 6 August 1963 for the weekly BBC radio program Pop Go The Beatles. Released in 1994 on The Beatles’ Live At The BBC.

• A live performance of To Know Her Is To Love Her from Hamburg in December 1962 was released in 1977 on The Beatles Live at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany, 1962.

• On 1 January 1962 The Beatles recorded To Know Her Is To Love Her during a test session at Decca studios, West Hampstead. It was released officially in 1995 on Anthology 1, after appearing on unofficial releases in the late 70s and early 80s.

John Lennon recorded To Know Her Is To Love Her in 1974 during sessions for the 1975 album Rock ‘n’ Roll, produced by Phil Spector, but it wasn’t released until 1986, on the compilation album Menlove Ave.


The Teddy Bears - To Know Him Is To Love Him (1958)

(Phil Spector)
USA USA
Original version
#1 USA #2 UK #3 Sydney #1 Melbourne #4 Brisbane #7 Adelaide

Single on Doré by vocal trio formed by the song’s composer, Phil Spector (1939-2021), when he was still at high school. Lead vocals are by Annette Kleinbard (b.1941), now known as singer-songwriter Carol Connors. She was backed by Spector and Marshall Lieb (1939-2002) who had a diverse musical career that included producing, label management and working on film music.


Other versions: 1. See SecondHandSongs.com for a list of 112 versions. 2. Arnold Rypens has a chronology of over 30 versions at his site The Originals. Both sites list versions in languages other than English, including French, German, Norwegian and Icelandic.



Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, And Emmylou Harris - To Know Him Is To Love Him (1987)

(Phil Spector)
USA USA
Later version
#1 US ['Billboard' Hot Country Singles] #1 Canada ['RPM' Country Tracks]

Single on Warner Bros and a track on Trio, an album recorded during 1986 by well-established solo stars Dolly Parton (b.1946), Linda Ronstadt (b.1946) and Emmylou Harris (b.1947). The album was a critical and commercial success that charted #1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums and was also popular in Australia and Canada. Trio II came out in 1999.

Further reading: For data and background see the Wikipedia and Discogs pages on the album.


B.B. King - To Know You Is To Love You (1973)

(Stevie Wonder - Syreeta Wright)
USA USA
Red herring

Similar title but not the same song as ‘To Know Him Is To Love Him’ by The Hooter Sisters.

Single on ABC by blues legend B.B. King.

The writers are Motown star Stevie Wonder with singer-songwriter Syreeta Wright (1946-2004). They had been married to each other briefly until 1972.

Listen on YouTube.