Till There Was You

"Till There Was You" is a song written by Meredith Willson for his 1957 musical play "The Music Man", and which also appeared in the 1962 movie version. The song is sung by librarian Marian Paroo (Barbara Cook on Broadway, Shirley Jones in the film) to Professor Harold Hill (portrayed by Robert Preston) toward the end of Act Two.

The first recording of this song to be released came even before the original cast album version of January, 1958. 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. Produced by Nelson Riddle, it featured his orchestra and 17-year-old vocalist Sue Raney.

In 1959, Anita Bryant recorded a single which reached #30 on the Billboard Hot 100; a 1962 instrumental version by Valjean was also popular.

The Beatles' version

Song infobox
Name = Till There Was You


Artist = The Beatles
Album = With the Beatles
Released = 22 November 1963
track_no = 1
Recorded = Abbey Road Studios: 18 and 30 July 1963
Genre = Ballad
Length = 2:16
Writer = Meredith Wilson
Label = Parlophone
Producer = George Martin
Misc = Extra musicsample |filename=Beatles till there was you.ogg |format=Ogg |title=Till There Was You |Type=song
Audio sample? = yesExtra tracklisting
Album = With the Beatles
Type = studio
Tracks = ;Side one
# "It Won't Be Long"
# "All I've Got to Do"
# "All My Loving"
# "Don't Bother Me"
# "Little Child"
# "Till There Was You"
# "Please Mister Postman";Side two
# "Roll Over Beethoven"
# "Hold Me Tight"
# "You Really Got a Hold on Me"
# "I Wanna Be Your Man"
# "Devil in Her Heart"
# "Not a Second Time"
# "Money (That's What I Want)"

The Beatles' version was included on their albums "With the Beatles" (UK Release, 1963) and "Meet the Beatles" (US Release, 1964). The song was the only Broadway tune the Beatles ever recorded.

"Till There Was You" was a minor hit in the UK for Peggy Lee in March 1961. Paul McCartney was introduced to her music by his older cousin, Bett Robbins, who would occasionally baby-sit the two McCartney brothers. [Ray Coleman "Yesterday & Today" p.25] McCartney said: "I had no idea until much later that it was from "The Music Man"." [Ray Coleman "Yesterday & Today" p.26] "Till There Was You" was part of the Beatles repertoire in 1962 and performed at the Star Club in Hamburg.Bill Harry "The Ultimate Beatles Encyclopedia" p.651] It became illustrative of the Beatles versatility, proving they could appeal to all sections of an audience, moving easily from ballads to rock and roll, as in their live 1963 Royal Command Performance when they followed this song with "Twist and Shout".

The Beatles had previously performed "Till There Was You" as part of their failed audition for Decca Records in London on January 1, 1962, and it was the second of six the group sang during their first appearance on the "Ed Sullivan Show" on February 9th, 1964. [Ian MacDonald "Revolution in the Head" p.80]

Live versions of the song were released on "Live at the BBC" (1994) and "Anthology 1" (1995). The latter version was recorded when the Beatles played at the Royal Command (Variety) Performance in November 1963. Paul McCartney announced that they were performing the number "In honour of our favourite American band, Sophie Tucker." Tucker had actually performed the song in a stage version of "The Music Man."

Credits

*Paul McCartney — bass, vocal
*John Lennon — acoustic guitar
*George Harrison — acoustic guitar
*Ringo Starr — bongos

References