"To Know Him Is to Love Him" is a song written by

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

, inspired by words on his father's tombstone, "To Know Him Was to Love Him." It was first recorded by the only vocal group of which he was a member, the Teddy Bears. Their recording spent three weeks at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent ...

in 1958, Whitburn, Joel (1987). ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits''. Billboard Publications, Inc. p. 301. while reaching No. 2 on the UK's ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' chart.

Peter & Gordon Peter and Gordon were a British pop duo, composed of Peter Asher (b. 1944) and Gordon Waller (1945–2009), who achieved international fame in 1964 with their first single, the million-selling single "A World Without Love". The duo had severa ...

and

Bobby Vinton Stanley Robert "Bobby" Vinton (born April 16, 1935) is a American former singer and occasional actor, who also hosted his own self-titled TV show in the late 1970s. As a teen idol, he became known as "The Polish Prince", as his music paid trib ...

later had hits with the song, with its title and lyrics changed to "To Know You Is to Love You". In 1987, the song was resurrected by

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album ...

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

, and

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, includin ...

, whose '' Trio'' recording topped the U.S. country singles chart. The song is in 12/8 time.

Chart performance

All-time charts

Peter and Gordon version

In 1965,

Peter and Gordon Peter and Gordon were a British pop duo, composed of Peter Asher (b. 1944) and Gordon Waller (1945–2009), who achieved international fame in 1964 with their first single, the million-selling single " A World Without Love". The duo had sever ...

released a version of the song, titled "To Know You Is to Love You". Peter and Gordon's version spent 10 weeks on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, peaking at No. 5, while also reaching No. 5 on Canada's "'' RPM'' Play Sheet". In the United States, the song spent seven weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 24.

Charts

Bobby Vinton version

In 1969,

released a version of the song, titled "To Know You Is to Love You". Vinton's version spent seven weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 34, while reaching No. 8 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 adverti ...

''s

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, ...

chart, No. 16 on Canada's '' RPM'' 100, and No. 6 on ''RPM''s Adult Contemporary chart.

Charts

Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris version

In 1987,

, and

covered the song, including it on their Grammy Award-winning, multi-million selling '' Trio'' album, and releasing it as the album's first single. Their version hit No. 1 on the U.S.

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 sa ...

chart on May 16, 1987. The accompanying music video was played continuously on CMT and directed by

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the '' Star Wars'' and '' Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as c ...

– Ronstadt's boyfriend at that time.

Charts

Other versions

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

recorded two versions, both retitled "To Know Her Is to Love Her". One version was on their January 1962 audition tapes with Decca, not released during the band's existence and not included on '' Anthology 1''. The second version was recorded on 16 July 1963 for the '' Pop Go The Beatles'' radio show and was not officially released until 1994, on their '' Live at the BBC'' compilation album.

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

recorded his own version of the song in 1973 ("To Know Her Is to Love Her"), but it would not see release until the 1986

posthumous Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ''Posthumous'' ...

compilation ''

Menlove Ave. ''Menlove Ave.'' is a 1986 compilation album by English rock musician John Lennon. It is the second posthumous release of Lennon's music (after '' Milk and Honey''), having been recorded during the sessions for his albums ''Walls and Bridges'' ...

'' *In 1972, Jody Miller released her version as a single and on the album ''There's a Party Goin' On''. Miller's version reached No. 18 on ''Billboard''s

Hot Country Singles 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 sa ...

chart, No. 20 on ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record W ...

''s Country Singles Chart, and No. 21 on the ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

'' Country Top 75 chart. It also reached No. 12 on Canada's '' RPM'' Country Playlist. *In 2006,

Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz. A membe ...

included her recording of the song as the B-side to the UK release of her single, " You Know I'm No Good".

References

External links

"To Know Him Is to Love Him" lyrics @ Dollyon-line.com
{{Authority control 1958 singles 1987 singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Song recordings produced by Phil Spector Peter and Gordon songs Song recordings produced by John Burgess Emmylou Harris songs The Beatles songs Jill Johnson songs Jody Miller songs Dolly Parton songs Linda Ronstadt songs Bobby Vinton songs Amy Winehouse songs Songs written by Phil Spector Warner Records singles 1958 songs Kikki Danielsson songs Doré Records singles