To Know Her is to Love Her

Phil Spector, lead singer for The Teddy Bears, wrote To Know Him Is to Love Him, and it became a big hit in the US in 1958. Spector derived the title from his father's epitaph. The Teddy Bears are known mainly for this one hit song. Their style was characterized by very tight harmonies of soft, smooth vocalizations. The Beatles liked this style, mainly as a change of pace from the hard rockers that dominated their early performance set. The song offered a chance for Paul, John and George to blend in a way that would become a hallmark Beatles sound later on in the decade. The Beatles changed the gender in the song title to "her," but otherwise did not stray much from the Teddy Bears' original treatment. Lennon later recorded his own version (1973), but it did not find its way into public hands until his compilation disc was released in 1986.

The Beatles recorded their take on this song for the Decca audition on January 1, 1962 with Pete Best on the drums. Eighteen months later, on July 16, 1963, they recorded a somewhat slower version of the song for the BBC show, Pop! Go the Beatles (eighth edition). It was broadcast on August 6, 1963 and is available on the compilation Live at the BBC. The Decca audition version can be found among bootlegs. An intermediate version was made at the Star-Club in Hamburg in December of 1962.