Till There Was You

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"Till There Was You" is a song written by Meredith Willson for his musical play The Music Man (1957), and
which also appeared in the 1962 movie version. It is sung by librarian Marian Paroo (Barbara Cook on
Broadway, Shirley Jones in the film) to "Professor" Harold Hill (portrayed in the film by Robert Preston)
toward the end of Act Two.
The song became a hit for Anita Bryant in 1959, reaching number 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and
spending two weeks at number 14 on Cash Box. "Till There Was You" was covered by the Beatles in 1963.

Contents
[hide]

 1History
 2Anita Bryant version
o 2.1Chart performance
 3The Beatles version
o 3.1Personnel
 4Other versions
 5References

History[edit]
The first recording of the song to be released was produced by Nelson Riddle, featuring his orchestra and 17-
year-old vocalist Sue Raney. Promotional copies of the 45 rpm single, Capitol P3847, were released on
November 26, 1957, even before the Broadway production had premiered on December 19, 1957, and a month
ahead of the original cast album. An earlier version of this song, "Till I Met You", was first recorded by Eileen
Wilson in 1950 and later appeared on the January 14, 1951 edition of The Big Show, performed by Fran
Warren.

Anita Bryant version[edit]

"Till There Was You"

Single by Anita Bryant

B-side "Little George (Got the Hiccoughs)"

Released May 1959

 Genre Pop

Length 2:10

Label Carlton Records 512

Songwriter(s) Meredith Willson

Anita Bryant singles chronology

"Till There "Six Boys and

Was You" Seven Girls"
(1959) (1959)

In 1959, American singer Anita Bryant recorded the song "Till There Was You" and released it as a single. Her
version reached number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 14 on the Cashbox Top 100.
Chart performance[edit]

Peak
Chart (1959)
position

U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [1] 30

U.S. Cash Box Top 100 [2] 14

The Beatles version[edit]

"Till There Was You"

Song by the Beatles

from the album With the Beatles

 Released November 22, 1963 (mono)

November 30, 1963 (stereo)

Recorded July 18 and 30, 1963

Studio Abbey Road Studios

Genre Pop, Latin music

Length 2:16

Label Parlophone

Songwriter(s) Meredith Willson

Producer(s) George Martin

Audio sample

MENU

0:00

"'Til There Was You"

 file

 help

"Till There Was You" was included on the Beatles albums With the Beatles (UK release, 1963) and Meet the
Beatles! (US release, 1964), and was the only Broadway song that the group recorded.
Paul McCartney was introduced to Peggy Lee's cover of the song through his older cousin, Bett Robbins, who
would occasionally baby-sit the two McCartney brothers.[3] McCartney said: "I had no idea until much later
that it was from The Music Man."[4] "'Till There Was You" was part of the Beatles' pre-recording repertoire in
1962 and performed at the Star Club in Hamburg.[5] It became illustrative of the Beatles' versatility, proving
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 the Royal Variety Performance when they followed this song with
"Twist and Shout".[6]
The band had included "'Till There Was You" as part of their unsuccessful audition for Decca Records in
London on January 1, 1962,[5]and was the second of five songs the group performed during their first
appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964.[6][7]
Live versions of the song were released on Live at the BBC (1994) and Anthology 1 (1995). A live
performance of "'Till There was You" by Paul McCartney appears on his 2006 DVD The Space Within US.
In 2016, the BBC announced that a "holy grail" Beatles record would be auctioned in March of that year. A
private pressing, it features two songs, "Hello Little Girl" and "Till There Was You" and was valued at over
£10,000.[8] The disc eventually sold for well over its estimated value - £77,500.[9]
Personnel[edit]

 Paul McCartney – lead vocal, bass guitar

 John Lennon – acoustic rhythm guitar
 George Harrison – acoustic lead guitar
 Ringo Starr – bongos[7]

Other versions[edit]
 Jazz vocalist Sue Raney recorded the tune with the Nelson
Riddle Orchestra on 29 October 1957 for her first album, "When Your
Lover Has Gone." This recording pre-dated the opening of The Music
Man by about 6 weeks.
 In 1958, jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins recorded the song on his
groundbreaking album Freedom Suite. An alternate take is provided on the
1999 CD rerelease.
 Guitar instrumentalist Chet Atkins recorded the single for his
album Teensville (1960).
 In March 1961, "'Til There Was You" was a minor hit in the UK for Peggy
Lee.
 Etta Jones recorded a version for her album Something Nice (1961).
 Al Hirt released a version on his album, Horn A-Plenty (1962).[10]
 In 1962, the young Nana Mouskouri recorded a slow, romantic, velvety
version as originally the closing track on her acclaimed Great American
Songbook album Nana Mouskouri in New York (The Girl from Greece
Sings), produced by Quincy Jones.[11]
 In 1962, an instrumental version of Meredith Willson's song
by Valjean was also popular.[12]
 In 1963, Sergio Franchi recorded this song on his RCA Victor Red Seal
album Broadway... I Love You.[13]
 In 1974, Ray Charles recorded this song on his Crossover Records
album Come Live With Me
 In 1984, Brazilian singer Beto Guedes released a version in Portuguese
called "Quando te vi" (When I saw you), written by Ronaldo Bastos.
 In 2003, Rod Stewart recorded his version on his 2003 album As Time
Goes By: The Great American Songbook: Volume II
  The Smithereens recorded the song on their 2007 album Meet the
Smithereens!, which consists entirely of cover versions of songs from
the Meet the Beatles! album.

References[edit]
1. Jump up^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2002
2. Jump up^ [1][dead link]
3. Jump up^ Ray Coleman (1998). McCartney: Yesterday . . . and Today.
Boxtree Ltd. p. 25. ISBN 978-0788159350.
4. Jump up^ Ray Coleman (1998). McCartney: Yesterday . . . and Today.
Boxtree Ltd. p. 26. ISBN 978-0788159350.
5. ^ Jump up to:a b Bill Harry (2000). The Ultimate Beatles Encyclopedia. Mjf
Books. p. 651. ISBN 978-1567314038.
6. ^ Jump up to:a b "The Fab Four". The Beatles. November 4, 1963.
Retrieved August 30, 2010.
7. ^ Jump up to:a b Ian MacDonald (2008). Revolution in the Head (Second ed.).
Vintage. p. 80. ISBN 978-0099526797.
8. Jump up^ "'Holy Grail' Beatles record to be auctioned". BBC News.
Retrieved 2016-08-29.
9. Jump up^ "'Holy Grail' Beatles record sold for £77,500 at auction". BBC
News. Retrieved 2016-08-29.
10. Jump up^ Scott Yanow. "Horn A-Plenty - Al Hirt | Songs, Reviews,
Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-08-29.
11. Jump up^ "Nana Mouskouri - Nana Mouskouri in New York". Allmusic.
Retrieved May 4, 2018.
12. Jump up^ "Valjean - Till There Was You / The Eighteenth Variation -
London - UK - HLL 9593". 45cat.com. 2012-02-10. Retrieved 2016-08-29.
13. Jump up^ "Sergio Franchi - Broadway...I Love You (Vinyl,
LP)". Discogs.com. 2014-06-02. Retrieved 2016-08-29.

show

Meredith Willson

show

Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey's The Music Man (1950)

show
 With the Beatles
Categories:
 1957 songs
 1959 singles
 1963 singles
 Debut singles
 Songs written by Meredith Willson
 Anita Bryant songs
 Al Hirt songs
 Shirley Jones songs
 The Beatles songs
 Song recordings produced by George Martin
 Songs from The Music Man
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