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| "Till There Was You" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| from the albumThe Music Man | |
| Published | 1957 byFrank Music |
| Songwriter | Meredith Willson |
"Till There Was You" is ashow tune written byMeredith Willson, popularised by his 1957 stage productionThe Music Man and its1962 movie musical adaptation, and further popularised bythe Beatles cover.
The song became the first Top 40 hit forAnita Bryant in 1959,[1] prior to being recorded by theBeatles in 1963.
First recorded as "Till I Met You" byEileen Wilson on October 25, 1950, this earlier incarnation of the song was also performed byFran Warren forThe Big Show on January 14, 1951.
The revised song "Till There Was You" was first produced and released byNelson Riddle, featuring his orchestra and 17-year-old vocalistSue Raney. Promotional copies of the7-inch single (Capitol P3847) were released November 26, 1957, preceding the December 19 opening of the original Broadway production, and a full month ahead of the original cast album.
Performed in the second act ofThe Music Man by librarian Marian Paroo, the song was recorded byBarbara Cook for the original Broadway cast album, and byShirley Jones for the1962 movie adaptation.
| "Till There Was You" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.png) US single of Anita Bryant recording | ||||
| Single byAnita Bryant | ||||
| B-side | "Little George (Got the Hiccoughs)" | |||
| Released | May 1959 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 2:10 | |||
| Label | Carlton Records 512 | |||
| Songwriter | Meredith Willson | |||
| Anita Bryant singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
In 1959, American singerAnita Bryant recorded the song "Till There Was You" and released it as a single. Her version reached number 30 on the USBillboardHot 100 chart[1] and number 14 on theCashbox Top 100.[2]
| Chart (1959) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S.BillboardHot 100[1] | 30 |
| U.S.Cash Box Top 100[2] | 14 |
| "Till There Was You" | |
|---|---|
 Cover of the song's sheet music | |
| Song bythe Beatles | |
| from the albumWith the Beatles | |
| Released | November 22, 1963(mono) November 30, 1963(stereo) |
| Recorded | July 18 and 30, 1963 |
| Studio | EMI, London |
| Genre | |
| Length | 2:16 |
| Label | Parlophone |
| Songwriter | Meredith Willson |
| Producer | George Martin |
| Audio sample | |
"'Till There Was You" | |
"Till There Was You" was recorded bythe Beatles in 1963 and released on their second albumWith the Beatles (1963) (United Kingdom) andMeet the Beatles! (1964) (United States). It was the only song from a Broadway show released by the band.
The Beatles' version is sung byPaul McCartney, who is accompanied byGeorge Harrison andJohn Lennon on dueling acoustic, classical guitars played in a Spanish style over abolero bongo beat played byRingo Starr. The song was produced byGeorge Martin. Its guitar solo is by George Harrison.The widow ofMeredith Willson, the composer ofThe Music Man, has stated that her husband's estate eventually received more income from theroyalties of the Beatles recordings of "Till There Was You" than it originally received from the actual play.
Paul McCartney was introduced toPeggy Lee's 1961 cover of the song through his older cousin Bett Robbins, who would occasionally babysit the two McCartney brothers.[3] McCartney said that he "had no idea until much later" that it was fromThe Music Man.[4] The song was part of their pre-recording repertoire in 1962, and they performed it at theStar Club inHamburg.[5] It became illustrative of the Beatles' versatility, proving that they could appeal to all sections of an audience, moving easily from softer ballads to harder rock and roll, as in their appearance on November 4, 1963, at theRoyal Variety Performance when they followed this song with "Twist And Shout".[6]
The band had included "'Till There Was You" as part of their unsuccessfulaudition forDecca Records in London on January 1, 1962.[5] It was the second of five songs that they performed during their first appearance onThe Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. During said performance, each of the Beatles was introduced by his first name via a subtitle, memorably ending with Lennon, who had the cheeky caption "Sorry girls, he's married:" under his name.[6][7]
Live versions of the song were released onLive at the BBC (1994) andAnthology 1 (1995).A live performance by McCartney appears on his DVDThe Space Within US (2006). In 2016, the BBC announced that a "holy grail" Beatles record would be auctioned in March of that year, a private pressing which features "Hello Little Girl" and "Till There Was You" and was valued at over £10,000.[8] It was said to be one of the "rarest and most collectable of all Beatles records" byMark Lewisohn, one of the foremost authorities on the Beatles. The disc eventually sold for £77,500.[9]
