Till There Was You
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the song. For the 1990 movie, see Till There Was You (1990 film).
| "Till There Was You" | ||
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| Song by The Beatles | ||
| from the album With the Beatles | ||
| Released | 22 November 1963 | |
| Genre | Rock and roll | |
| Length | 2:16 | |
| Label | Parlophone | |
| Writer(s) | Meredith Wilson | |
| Producer(s) | George Martin | |
| Music sample | ||
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"Till There Was You" (file info) |
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| With the Beatles track listing | ||
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"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.
In 1959, Anita Bryant recorded a single which reached #30 on the Billboard Hot 100; a 1962 instrumental version by Valjean was also popular.
[edit] The Beatles' version
Perhaps the best-known cover version was recorded by The Beatles. It was included on their albums With the Beatles (UK Release, 1963), Meet the Beatles (US Release, 1964). The song was the only Broadway tune the Beatles ever recorded.
Lennon and McCartney, determined to raise their own song writing standard to the highest level (and therefore avoiding the clichéd pitfalls of Tin Pan Alley pop) often included in their live set covers of show tunes they much admired. "Till There Was You" was part of The Beatles repertoire in 1962, and performed at the Star Club in Hamburg. 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 Royal Command Performance when they followed this song with "Twist and Shout".
Live versions of the song turned up on Live at the BBC (released in 1994) and Anthology 1 (released in 1995). The latter version was recorded when The Beatles played at the Royal Command (Variety) Performance in November 1963.
The Beatles also performed "Till There Was You" as part of their failed audition for Decca Records in London on January 1st, 1962.
The song was the second of six the group sang during their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 9th, 1964.
[edit] Credits
- Paul McCartney — bass, vocal
- John Lennon — acoustic guitar
- George Harrison — acoustic guitar
- Ringo Starr — bongos
