If You Don’t Know Me By Now – Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#3) & R&B (#1 for 2 weeks); 1972
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
Even though the Blue Notes recorded a mere eight singles between 1956 and 1972, only three of which charted either R&B or pop, the group became a big nightclub act after Martha Reeves helped them get signed by the prestigious William Morris Agency.
Through the rest of the 1960’s, the group sang for the supper crowd and occasionally recorded. In 1972, a revamped Blue Notes – with drummer Teddy Pendergrass now singing lead – landed a deal with Philadelphia International.
The result was an almost overnight transition from a group known solely for live performances to one that sold a ton of records. I Miss You (Part 1) got the ball rolling; moving to #7 R&B and #58 pop. Its follow-up, If You Don’t Know Me By Now, broke things wide open.
Label owners/producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff originally wrote If You Don’t Know Me for the mighty Dells, a veteran soul group G&H hoped to sign, yet, didn’t. The Dells’ loss was the Blue Notes gain, who hit #1 R&B with it and were nominated for a Grammy.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Kenny Gamble
- Leon Huff
Lyrics Written by:
- Kenny Gamble
- Leon Huff
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).