"Till There Was You" is a show tune written by Meredith Willson, popularized by his 1957 stage production The Music Man and its 1962 movie musical adaptation. The song became the first Top 40 hit for Anita Bryant in 1959, prior to being recorded by the Beatles in 1963. Origins First recorded as "Till I Met You" by Eileen Wilson on October 25, 1950, this earlier incarnation of the song was also performed by Fran Warren for The Big Show on January 14, 1951. The revised song "Till There Was You" was first produced and released by Nelson Riddle, featuring his orchestra and 17-year-old vocalist Sue Raney. Promotional copies of the 7-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 of The Music Man by librarian Marian Paroo, the song was recorded by Barbara Cook for the original Broadway cast album, and by Shirley Jones for the 1962 movie adaptation. Anita Bryant version 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 US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 14 on the Cashbox Top 100. Chart performance The Beatles version "Till There Was You" was recorded by the Beatles in 1963 and released on their second album With the Beatles (1963) (United Kingdom) and Meet the Beatles! (1964) (United States). It was the only song from a Broadway show released by the band. The Beatles' version is sung by Paul McCartney, who is accompanied by George Harrison and John Lennon on dueling acoustic, classical guitars played in a Spanish style over a bolero bongo beat played by Ringo Starr. The song was produced by George Martin. Its guitar solo is by George Harrison. The widow of Meredith Willson, the composer of The Music Man, has stated that her husband's estate eventually received more income from the royalties of the Beatles recordings of "Till There Was You" than it originally received from the actual play. Paul McCartney was introduced to Peggy Lee's 1961 cover of the song through his older cousin Bett Robbins, who would occasionally babysit the two McCartney brothers. McCartney said that he "had no idea until much later" that it was from The Music Man. The