‘Till There Was You’, sung by Paul McCartney on the With The Beatles album, was written by Meredith Willson for the 1957 musical The Music Man.

It also appeared in the 1962 film of the same name. McCartney, however, heard the song through Peggy Lee’s 1958 version.

I had an elder cousin, Elizabeth Danher, now Robbins. She was quite an influence on me… Betty would play me records like Peggy Lee’s ‘Fever’. Peggy Lee did ‘Till There Was You’ as well. I didn’t know that was from the musical The Music Man until many years later. This led me to songs like ‘A Taste Of Honey’ and things which were slightly to the left and the right of rock ‘n’ roll.
Paul McCartney
Anthology

The song became part of The Beatles’ live set from 1962, with performances taking place in such varied places as Hamburg’s Star Club and the Royal Command Performance. They also performed it at their audition for Decca Records on 1 January 1962.

I could never see the difference between a beautiful melody and a cool rock ‘n’ roll song. I learnt to love all the ballady stuff through my dad and relatives – ‘Till There Was You’, ‘My Funny Valentine’ – I thought these were good tunes. The fact that we weren’t ashamed of those leanings meant that the band could be a bit more varied. And there was a need for that, because we played cabaret a lot. Songs like ‘Till There Was You’ and ‘Ain’t She Sweet’ would be the late-night cabaret material. They showed that we weren’t just another rock ‘n’ roll group.

The Lennon/McCartney songwriting collaboration was forming during that period. We went on from ‘Love Me Do’ to writing deeper, much more intense things. So it was just as well someone didn’t come up and tell us how uncool ‘Till There Was You’ was.

Paul McCartney
Anthology

‘Till There Was You’ appealed to McCartney – a fan of musicals and show tunes – and offered a contrast to The Beatles’ more rock ‘n’ roll numbers.

I looked at the recording scene and realised that a few people were taking offbeat songs, putting them into their acts and modernising them a bit. So I looked at a few songs with that in mind. ‘Till There Was You’ was one; no one was doing that except Peggy Lee so I thought it’d be nice to play.
Paul McCartney
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn

The Beatles performed ‘Till There Was You’ at their famous appearance at the Royal Command Performance on 4 November 1963. It was later released on 1995’s Anthology 1.

The next song we’d like to sing now is one which is a bit slower. This is from the show The Music Man, and it’s also been recorded by our favourite American group Sophie Tucker.
Paul McCartney
Royal Command Performance, 1963

They also recorded it eight times for BBC radio, the first of which took place on 1 June 1963. The Beatles’ last version, recorded for the From Us To You programme on 28 February 1964, was included on 1994’s Live At The BBC.

‘Till There Was You’ was the second song performed during The Beatles’ first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in America, on 9 February 1964. It was the only song played that night which was not one of their hits.

In the studio

‘Till There Was You’ was first recorded on 18 July 1963, during the first session for the With The Beatles LP. On the same day the group also recorded ‘You Really Got A Hold On Me’, ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’, and ‘Devil In Her Heart’.

The Beatles recorded three takes of ‘Till There Was You’, two of which were complete. However, it was felt they were unsatisfactory, and a re-make was attempted on 30 July.

During this second session the group recorded takes 4-8, the last of which was selected as the best version. A mono mix was made on 21 August, and a stereo one on 29 October.

Lyrics:

There were bells on a hill
But I never heard them ringing
No, I never heard them at all
Till there was you

There were birds in the sky
But I never saw them winging
No, I never saw them at all
Till there was you

Then there was music and wonderful roses
They tell me in sweet fragrant meadows
Of dawn and dew

There was love all around
But I never heard it singing
No, I never heard it at all
Till there was you

Then there was music and wonderful roses
They tell me in sweet fragrant meadows
Of dawn and dew

There was love all around
But I never heard it singing
No, I never heard it at all
Till there was you
Till there was you


Previous song: ‘Little Child’
Next song: ‘Please Mister Postman’
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