"I Have Loved You Girl (But Not Like This Before)" is a song written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Earl Thomas Conley Earl Thomas Conley (October 17, 1941 – April 10, 2019)Wood, Gerry. (1998). "Earl Thomas Conley". In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 108. was an American country music singer-songwriter. Between ...

. He first released the song in 1975 on the GRT label as Earl Conley, reaching number 87 on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart. In January 1983, Conley re-released the song as the third from his album '' Somewhere Between Right and Wrong''. The re-recording went to number two on the same chart that year.

Critical reception

Kip Kirby of ''

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 reviewed the song favorably, calling it one of the brightest songs on the album. He went on to say that Conley combines "an excellent melody, expressive vocals and sensitive lyrics for a fresh way of presenting a love song." He states that the "lean guitar/piano rhythms leave proper space for Conley's singing."''

'', January 8, 1983

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

1983 singles 1975 songs Earl Thomas Conley songs Songs written by Earl Thomas Conley RCA Records singles {{1983-country-song-stub