You probably know the voice before you know the name. It’s that smoky, hauntingly pure tone that defines Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar. When Yvonne Elliman sang I Don't Know How to Love Him, she wasn't just performing a musical theater track. She was creating a blueprint for the modern power ballad.
Honestly, the story of how a nineteen-year-old girl from Hawaii ended up as the definitive voice of a biblical rock opera is kinda ridiculous. It wasn't some grand talent search. There were no thousands of hopefuls lining up in the rain. It was a fluke. A total, beautiful fluke in a London club.
The Night Everything Changed in Chelsea
Back in 1969, Yvonne was just a kid playing for "the bread" in London. She was performing at a folk club called The Pheasantry on Kings Road. Think dark, smoky, and filled with the kind of people who thought they were cooler than they actually were.
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice were there. They weren't looking for Mary Magdalene; they were actually trying to talk to a guy named John Hendris about playing Pontius Pilate. He turned them down because he thought the project was blasphemous. Talk about a missed opportunity.
But while they were there, they heard Yvonne. She was into Jefferson Airplane and Grace Slick. She didn't care about show tunes. She had this "down and dirty" vibe that Andrew Lloyd Webber immediately fell for. He called Tim Rice the next morning and basically said, "I found her."
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A Hilarious Misunderstanding
Here’s a detail most people miss: Yvonne had no idea which "Mary" she was supposed to be. When she first looked at the lyrics for I Don't Know How to Love Him, she was genuinely confused.
"I thought I was playing Jesus' mother," she admitted years later.
Can you imagine? She’s looking at these romantic, conflicted lyrics about being "changed" and having "had so many men before" while thinking she’s portraying the Virgin Mary. Once they cleared up the fact that she was playing the other Mary, the performance clicked. She recorded the whole thing in just one take at Olympic Studios in June 1970. One take. That’s the version that changed everything.
Why the Song Hit Different in 1971
The world in 1971 was a mess of contradictions. You had the tail end of the hippie movement, the Vietnam War, and a massive shift in how people viewed religion. Yvonne Elliman I Don't Know How to Love Him arrived right at the center of that storm.
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It’s a torch ballad, but it’s built on a melody Andrew Lloyd Webber actually wrote years earlier titled "Kansas Morning." He recycled it, and thank God he did. The song humanized a biblical figure in a way that felt dangerous to some and revolutionary to others.
- The Chart Battle: It wasn't an easy win. Helen Reddy actually released a cover that charted higher (reaching No. 13) than Yvonne’s original (which hit No. 28).
- The Longevity: Even though Reddy had the higher peak, Yvonne's version is the one that stayed. It’s the one in the 1973 film. It’s the one people stream today.
- The Tone: Yvonne brought a "folk" sensibility to a "rock" opera. It wasn't polished. It was vulnerable.
The "Mendelssohn" Controversy
If you’re a music nerd, you’ve probably heard the rumors that the main theme isn't exactly original. Critics have pointed out for decades that the melody bears a striking resemblance to a theme from Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor.
Does it matter? Not really. Borrowing in classical and musical theater is an age-old tradition. What Lloyd Webber did was take that melodic DNA and wrap it in Tim Rice’s lyrics to create something that felt visceral. Yvonne's delivery—that slight break in her voice—made the "borrowed" melody belong entirely to her.
Life After the Superstar
A lot of people think Yvonne disappeared after the movie version came out. Far from it. She became a backup singer for Eric Clapton for five years. She’s the voice you hear on "I Shot the Sheriff."
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Eventually, she hit the stratosphere again with "If I Can't Have You" from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. But for most of us, she will always be the girl in the desert, sitting by a fire, wondering how to handle a man who was "just a man" but also so much more.
What You Should Do Next
If you want to truly appreciate the nuance of this performance, don't just listen to the "Best Of" version. Go back to the 1970 Original Concept Album (the one with the brown cover).
Compare it to her performance in the 1973 Norman Jewison film. You’ll hear how her voice matured from a raw folk singer into a seasoned actress who understood the weight of the character. Also, check out her live performance from the 50th-anniversary screenings—her voice has aged like fine wine, holding onto that same haunting quality that stopped Lloyd Webber in his tracks in a Chelsea club fifty years ago.