Sunday, December 2, 2007

To Know, Know, Know Him .......


One of my first 45's from 1958 when I started collecting them was this record. I still have the little square red box that we would carry to parties at KV.
To Know Him Is To Love Him is a song by Phil Spector, recorded by his first band, the Teddy Bears. It went to the Hot 100 number-one hits of 1958 (USA). The title was altered to "To Know Her Is To Love Her" (The Beatles) and returned as "To Know You Is to Love You" (Peter and Gordon)
In 1987, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt covered the song, taking their version to the top of the U.S. country singles charts. In 2007 Amy Winehouse recorded the song acoustic for a B-side of You Know I'm No Good Following his graduation from Fairfax high school in Los Angeles, Phil Spector became obsessed with a song, "To Know Him Is to Love Him", he had written for his group, The Teddy Bears. After a hasty audition at ERA Records who offered to finance a studio session, The Teddy Bears - Spector, Marshall Leib, lead singer Annette Kleinbard, and last minute recruit, drummer Sandy Nelson - recorded the song at Gold Star Studios at a total cost of $75. Released on ERA's Dore label in August 1958, it took a full two months before "To Know Him Is to Love Him" began to get air play.
The record eventually stayed in the "Hot Hundred" for twenty-three weeks, resided in the "Top Ten" for eleven of those weeks, and commanded the #1 chart position for three weeks. At age seventeen, Spector had written, arranged, played, sung, and produced the best-selling record in the country. Although subsequent releases by the Teddy Bears on the Imperial label were considered well-recorded soft pop, they did not sell, and within a year of their impressive debut, Spector had disbanded the group.
Spector was not the only Teddy Bear who went on to an illustrious career after the group broke up. Annette Kleinbard continued to write and record songs, and eventually changed her name to Carol Connors. Among her songwriting credits are the Rip Chords hit "Hey Little Cobra" and the Academy Award-nominated Rocky theme song "Gonna Fly Now."
Here it is 49 years later by the much heralded Hebrew from across the sea, Amy Winehouse

The lyrics:
To know, know, know him is to love, love, love him
Just to see him smile, makes my life worthwhile
To know, know, know him is to love, love, love him
And I do

I'll be good to him, I'll bring love to him
Everyone says there'll come a day when I'll walk alongside of him
Yes, just to know him is to love, love, love him
And I do

Why can't he see, how blind can he be
Someday he'll see that he was meant for me

To know, know, know him is to love, love, love him
Just to see him smile, makes my life worthwhile
To know, know, know him is to love, love, love him
And I do

Why can't he see, how blind can he be
Someday he'll see that he was meant for me

To know, know, know him is to love, love, love him
Just to see him smile, makes my life worthwhile
To know, know, know him is to love, love, love him
And I do

To know, know, know him is to love, love, love him
Just to see him smile, makes my life worthwhile
To know, know, know him is to love, love, love him
And I do

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