"Lessons in Love" is a song written by Sy Soloway and Shirley Wolfe and was first recorded by American teenage singer

Jeri Lynne Fraser Jeri Lynne Fraser (born June 6, 1946) is an American singer and actress. She is best known for her starring role in the 1962 film '' Two Tickets to Paris'', directed by Greg Garrison. Early life Born in Manchester, Connecticut, Fraser started ...

and released as a single in May 1961. The song has had chart success with covers by Cliff Richard and the Shadows and

the Allisons The Allisons were an English pop duo consisting of Bob Day (born Bernard Colin Day; 2 February 1941 – 25 November 2013) and John Alford (born Brian Henry John Alford, 31 December 1939 – 13 November 2023). They were marketed as being brother ...

Cliff Richard and the Shadows version

Release

Cliff Richard and the Shadows first released their version of "Lessons in Love" in December 1961 on '' The Young Ones''. It was the second song originally by Jeri Lynne Fraser that the group had recorded; the first being " Catch Me" in 1960. "Lessons in Love" was only released as a single in Europe and South Africa. First, it was released in May 1962 in Denmark and Germany, before being released in Norway and South Africa and then finally the Netherlands in September 1962. The European single was released with the B-side "First Lesson in Love", written by Pete Chester and

Bruce Welch Bruce Cripps (born 2 November 1941), known professionally as Bruce Welch, is an English guitarist, songwriter, producer, singer and businessman best known as a founding member of the Shadows. Early life Bruce Welch was born in Bognor Regis in ...

, and originally from Richard third studio album '' Listen to Cliff!''. The South African release features the B-side "How Wonderful to Know", an English version of " Anema e Core" and had first been released on Richard's fourth studio album ''

21 Today ''21 Today'' is the fourth studio album by Cliff Richard and his fifth album overall. The album features The Shadows on every track. It was released through EMI Columbia Records on 14 October 1961, the exact date of Cliff Richard's 21st birt ...

''.

Track listing

7" (Europe) # "Lessons in Love" – 2:49 # "First Lesson in Love" – 1:56 7" (South Africa) # "Lessons in Love" – 2:49 # " How Wonderful to Know" – 2:40

Personnel

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

– vocals *

Hank Marvin Hank Brian Marvin (born Brian Robson Rankin, 28 October 1941) is an English multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter. He is known as the lead guitarist for the Shadows. Early life and career Marvin was born as Brian Robson Rankin at ...

– lead guitar *

– rhythm guitar *

Jet Harris Terence "Jet" Harris (6 July 1939 – 18 March 2011) was an English rock and roll musician. He was an original member of Cliff Richard's backing band the Shadows, serving as the bass guitarist from the group's inception until April 1962, aft ...

– bass guitar *

Tony Meehan Daniel Joseph Anthony Meehan (2 March 1943 – 28 November 2005) was a founder member of the British group the Drifters with Jet Harris, Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch, which evolved into the Shadows. He played drums on early Cliff Richard and ...

– drums

Charts

The Allisons version

Despite Cliff Richard and the Shadows recording and releasing their version first on their album, it was British duo the Allisons who released their version first as a single in January 1962. It was arranged by and features an accompaniment directed by

Johnny Keating John Keating (10 September 1927 – 28 May 2015) was a Scottish musician, songwriter, arranger and trombonist. Biography Keating was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. After studying piano and trombone, he taught himself how to arrange and compose in ...

. Speaking about the single before its release, John Allison said, "This is a different kind of number for us. It has more of a beat and is more the kind of thing we really like doing. It is the type of number that comes naturally to us and I feel confident that it will give us a big chance of hitting a high spot in the charts". However, despite being released it January, it didn't enter the UK Singles Chart until the second week of February, peaking at number 30 four weeks later and becoming the Allisons' final hit. Reviewing for ''

Disc Disc or disk may refer to: * Disk (mathematics), a two dimensional shape, the interior of a circle * Disk storage * Optical disc * Floppy disk Music * Disc (band), an American experimental music band * ''Disk'' (album), a 1995 EP by Moby Other ...

'',

Don Nicholl Donald Nicholl (August 9, 1925 – July 5, 1980) was an English screenwriter and producer who later worked in the United States. Early life Nicholl was born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, Sunderland, England. He worked as a journalist, columnis ...

described "Lessons in Love" as "a good light beater of the type they can handle cleverly" and that it was "catchy and crisp". The B-side "Oh, My Love", written by Allison, was described as having "a rather more edgy noise" and a "simple song, but produced it an infection manner that can only help the upper half".

References

{{authority control 1961 singles 1962 singles Cliff Richard songs Fontana Records singles Columbia Graphophone Company singles Song recordings produced by Norrie Paramor 1961 songs