Upon the release of the original
Jesus Christ Superstar album
Capitol Records executive Artie Mogull heard the potential for a smash hit in the track "I Don't Know How to Love Him" and had pitched the song to
Linda Ronstadt, then on the Capitol roster; after Ronstadt advised Mogull: "she hated the song, [saying] it was terrible" Mogull invited the then-unknown
Helen Reddy to record "I Don't Know How to Love Him" as part of a one-off single deal with Capitol. Reddy herself did not care for "I Don't Know How to Love Him" agreeing to cut the song to serve as B-side for the track she wished to record: the
Mac Davis composition; "
I Believe in Music" (later a hit for
Gallery).
[23]
Reddy's recording of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" entered the national charts in March 1971 – showing in the Top Ten in
Dallas and
Denver that month
[26] – but its momentum was so gradual as to not effect Top 40 entry until that May; by then
MCA Records had issued the original Yvonne Elliman track as a single and from 15 May 1971 to 26 June 1971 both versions were in the Top 40 with Reddy's version maintaining the upper hand peaking at No. 13 while Elliman's version peaked at No. 28.
