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"He Will Break Your Heart"
Single by Jerry Butler
B-side	"Thanks to You"
Released	August 1960
Recorded	1960
Studio	Universal Recording Corp. (Chicago)
Genre	R&B
Length	2:40
Label	Vee-Jay
Songwriter(s)	Jerry Butler, Calvin Carter, Curtis Mayfield
Jerry Butler singles chronology
"A Lonely Soldier" (1960) "He Will Break Your Heart" (1960) "Silent Night" (1960)

"He Don't Love You (Like I Love You)"
Single by Tony Orlando and Dawn
from the album He Don't Love You, Like I Love You
B-side	"Pick It Up"
Released	March 1975 (1975)
Length	3:29
Label	Elektra
Songwriter(s)	Jerry Butler, Calvin Carter, Curtis Mayfield
Producer(s)	Dave Appell, Hank Medress
Tony Orlando and Dawn singles chronology
"You Say the Sweetest Things" (1974) "He Don't Love You (Like I Love You)" (1975) "You're All I Need to Get By" (1975)

"He Will Break Your Heart", is a song originally performed and co-written by Jerry Butler. It was a top-ten hit in 1960.

In 1975, Tony Orlando and Dawn released the song under the title "He Don't Love You (Like I Love You)". Their version topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart on May 3, 1975, and the US adult contemporary chart.

Origins

"He Will Break Your Heart" was written by Jerry Butler, Calvin Carter, and Curtis Mayfield. The song was recorded by Butler and released as a single in 1960, where it peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 3 on the Cash Box Top 100. In addition, Butler's recording spent seven non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. R&B chart. Subsequent cover versions of "He Will Break Your Heart" were released by artists such as Margie Singleton and Lulu (both regendering the song to She Will Break Your Heart), The Righteous Brothers and Freddie Scott.

Chart history

Tony Orlando and Dawn version

When Orlando and the other members of Dawn (Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson) were waiting in the lobby to go on at a Golden Globes award ceremony, Orlando spoke with Faye Dunaway and her then-husband, Peter Wolf, lead singer for The J. Geils Band. To pass the time, the two began singing various R&B songs from the '60s, including Butler's "He Will Break Your Heart", which the couple recommended that the group record on an upcoming album. Orlando contacted Mayfield requesting permission to do a remake, but to change the song's title to the opening lines, and Mayfield gave his permission. Billboard ranked it as the No. 18 song for 1975.

Their version topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart on May 3, 1975, and remained there for three weeks. The song also went to No. 1 on the US adult contemporary chart for one week in 1975. It was later certified gold by the RIAA. It marked the group's third and last chart-topper on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Another track from the same 1975 album was adapted from an Italian hit by Giorgio Gaber from two years prior, entitled "Far Finta di Essere Sani," recorded in English as "Tomorrow's Got to be Sunny." Despite the song not charting, it became a concert favorite.

Charts

Subsequent versions

During the 1960s the song was covered by Margie Singleton, Lulu ("She Will Break Your Heart"), Billy Fury, Bobby Vee, Lloyd Price, Ben E. King, The Merseybeats, Johnny Rivers (title "He Don't Love You, Like I Love You"), Jackie Edwards, among others.

The band Gallery included a version of the song under the name "He Will Break Your Heart" on their 1972 album Nice To Be With You.

Jim Croce included a version of the song as part of his "Chain Gang Medley" (along with Sam Cooke's "Chain Gang", and The Coasters "Searchin'") recorded before his death in 1973, it featured on the 1975 album The Faces I've Been and was a chart success as a single in 1976.

The Greg Kihn Band included a version of the song on their 1976 album, Greg Kihn.

The Walker Brothers also covered the track on their 1975 comeback album No Regrets under the original title "He Will Break Your Heart".

Dolly Parton covered the song in 1984, retaining the Orlando and Dawn retitling, though changing the gender to "She Don't Love You", like Margie Singleton did in 1960 to the original "He Will Break Your Heart" song. She included the song on The Great Pretender, an album of covers of early rock and roll hits.

Joe Tex made an answer song singing from the perspective of the other man entitled "I Will Never Break Your Heart".

The song "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" by Steam shares the same first three lines of its first verse with the chorus of "He Will Break Your Heart."

References

1. Smith, Troy L. (14 December 2021). "Every No. 1 song of the 1970s ranked from worst to best". Cleveland.com. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
2. "Tony Orlando & Dawn - He Don't Love You, Like I Love You (1975, SP-Specialty Pressing, Vinyl) | Discogs". www.discogs.com. Archived from the original on 8 May 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
3. "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, December 10, 1960". Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
4. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 802.
5. "Something to Shout About (album)". Misplaced Pages. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
6. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
7. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 802.
8. "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, December 10, 1960". Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
9. ^ Hyatt, Wesley (1999). The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits (Billboard Publications), ISBN 0-8230-7693-8
10. Bronson, Fred (1992). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits - revised & enlarged. New York: Billboard Books. p. 403. ISBN 0-8230-8298-9.
11. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
12. "Image : RPM Weekly". Library and Archives Canada. 17 July 2013.
13. "Image : RPM Weekly". Library and Archives Canada. 17 July 2013.
14. Flavour of New Zealand, 18 July 1975
15. "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles: May 3, 1975". Archived from the original on June 20, 2015. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
16. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca.
17. Musicoutfitters.com
18. "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1975 - Top 100 Pop Singles: December 27, 1975". Archived from the original on October 22, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
19. ^ https://secondhandsongs.com/work/13128 (list of cover versions)

• 1960 singles
• 1975 singles
• Tony Orlando songs
• Jerry Butler songs
• Margie Singleton songs
• The Walker Brothers songs
• Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
• Cashbox number-one singles
• Songs written by Curtis Mayfield
• Songs written by Jerry Butler
• Vee-Jay Records singles
• Elektra Records singles
• 1960 songs
• Songs written by Calvin Carter