''I Don't Know How to Love Him'' is the debut studio album by Australian-American pop singer

Helen Reddy Helen Maxine Reddy (25 October 194129 September 2020) was an Australian-American singer, actress, television host, and activist. Born in Melbourne to a showbusiness family, Reddy started her career as an entertainer at age four. She sang on rad ...

, released on May 10, 1971, by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. ''I Don't Know How to Love Him'' included her first (and lesser known) recording of "

I Am Woman "I Am Woman" is a song written by Australian musicians Helen Reddy and Ray Burton. Performed by Reddy, the first recording of "I Am Woman" appeared on her debut album ''I Don't Know How to Love Him'', released in May 1971, and was heard during ...

". The album made its first appearance on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated June 5, 1971, and remained there for 37 weeks, peaking at number 100, and got as high as number 40 on the album chart in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

magazine. On November 27, 1974, the album received Gold certification from the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

, and on March 29, 2005, it was released for the first time on compact disc as one of two albums on one CD, the other album being Reddy's eponymous follow-up that originally came out in the fall of 1971. __TOC__

Singles

Jeff Wald, Reddy's husband and manager, was persistent in contacting

executive Artie Mogull with the hope that he would give his wife her first chance at recording in the US. When Mogull felt inspired to make a hit out of "

I Don't Know How to Love Him "I Don't Know How to Love Him" is a song from the 1970 album and 1971 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. In the opera ...

" from ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...

'' in 1970, he finally came around to giving her that chance. Her recording of the song was released on January 4, 1971, and Wald's strategy then became contacting disc jockeys across the country about giving the single airplay. It entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 the following month, in the issue of the magazine dated February 20, and remained there for 20 weeks, during which time it peaked at number 13. and "encouraged Capitol to produce an album." The title song also went on to reach number 12 on the magazine's list of the 50 most popular

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

records in the US,. and number 10 on the pop chart in

magazine. A second single, a cover of

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

's " Crazy Love", made it to number eight Easy Listening and number 51 pop in the US and number 35 in Canada.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Charles Donovan noted retrospectively that "the moment of triumph here is an early version of 'I Am Woman,' which wasn't to be a success for another couple of years. Even in this restrained, embryonic incarnation, it was an anthem just waiting to happen -- rousing, catchy and timely."

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

wrote that she "applies a lean pop voice almost devoid of grit or melisma to what are basically rock songs--that is, songs conceived grittily and melismatically."

Track listing

Side 1 # " Crazy Love" (

) – 3:16 # "

How Can I Be Sure "How Can I Be Sure" is a popular song written by Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati, and originally recorded by the Young Rascals for their 1967 album ''Groovin with a single release in August 1967 affording the group their fourth Top 10 hit pea ...

" (

Eddie Brigati Edward Brigati Jr. (born October 22, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter. He was the co-lead vocalist, along with Felix Cavaliere, and percussionist in the rock group The Young Rascals from 1964 to 1970. Prior to his stint with The Young Ra ...

Felix Cavaliere Felix Cavaliere (born November 29, 1942) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and keyboard player for the Young Rascals. Although he was a member of Joey Dee and the Starliters, known for ...

) – 2:50 # " Our House" (

Graham Nash Graham William Nash (born 2 February 1942) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, photographer, and activist. He is known for his light tenor voice and for his contributions as a member of the Hollies and the supergroups Crosby, Stills ...

) – 2:58 # "

" (music: Ray Burton; lyrics:

) – 2:15 # "L.A. Breakdown" (Larry Marks) – 3:38 Side 2 # "

A Song for You "A Song for You" is a song written and originally recorded by rock singer and pianist Leon Russell for his first solo album '' Leon Russell'', which was released in 1970 on Shelter Records. A slow, pained plea for forgiveness and understandin ...

" (

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and ...

) – 3:03 # "

Don't Make Promises "Don’t Make Promises" was the first track on Tim Hardin's debut album ''Tim Hardin 1'', released in 1966. The song, along with "Reason to Believe," was one of the two major songwriting hits from the album, with more than a dozen cover versions ...

" (

Tim Hardin James Timothy Hardin (December 23, 1941 – December 29, 1980) was an American folk and blues musician and composer. As well as releasing his own material, several of his songs, including " If I Were a Carpenter" and "Reason to Believe", becam ...

) – 3:02 # " I Believe in Music" (

Mac Davis Morris Mac Davis (January 21, 1942 – September 29, 2020) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and actor. A native of Lubbock, Texas, he enjoyed success as a crossover artist, and during his early career he wrote for Elvis Presley, ...

) – 3:14 # "Best Friend" (Ray Burton, Helen Reddy) – 2:17 # "

" (

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ' ...

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...

) – 3:15 ;Alternate version of "I Am Woman" In 2009 EMI Music Special Markets released ''Rarities from the Capitol Vaults'', a 12-track CD of mostly what were previously unreleased Reddy recordings,(2009) ''Rarities from the Capitol Vaults'' by Helen Reddy D booklet Hollywood: EMI Music Special Markets 509996-98493-2-9 which included a second arrangement of "I Am Woman" that used the same vocal track that she recorded for the version released on this album. The hit version of the song was released in 1972 as both a

7-inch In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separate ...

single and a track on the album of the same name. ;Alternate version of "Best Friend" In 1974, Reddy appeared in the film ''

Airport 1975 ''Airport 1975'' (also known as ''Airport '75'') is a 1974 American air disaster film and the first sequel to the successful 1970 film ''Airport''. It was directed by Jack Smight, produced by William Frye, executive produced by Jennings Lang, and ...

''. In the character of Sister Ruth, Reddy performed a solo acoustic version of "Best Friend" to an ailing passenger, played by

Linda Blair Linda Denise Blair (born January 22, 1959) is an American actress and activist. She played Regan MacNeil in the horror film ''The Exorcist'' (1973), for which she won a Golden Globe Award and received a nomination for an Academy Award. The film ...

Charts

Personnel

*Helen Reddy – vocals *Larry Marks – producer *Nick DeCaro – arranger ("I Believe in Music", "I Don't Know How to Love Him") *

Jimmie Haskell Jimmie Haskell (born Sheridan Pearlman, November 7, 1926 – February 4, 2016) was an American composer and arranger for motion pictures and a wide variety of popular artists, including Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Steely Da ...

– strings and horns ("I Am Woman", "L.A. Breakdown", "How Can I Be Sure") * Bob Thompson – strings and woodwinds ("Our House", "A Song for You", "Don't Make Promises") *

Lillian Roxon Lillian Roxon (8 February 1932 – 10 August 1973) was a noted Australian journalist and author, best known for ''Lillian Roxon's Rock Encyclopedia'' (1969). From Italy to Australia, then the USA She was born Lillian Ropschitz in Alassio, Provi ...

– liner notes

Notes

References

* * * {{Authority control 1971 debut albums Capitol Records albums Helen Reddy albums Albums arranged by Jimmie Haskell