Till Then
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"Till Then" is a popular
song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...
written by Eddie Seiler,
Sol Marcus Sol Marcus (October 1, 1912 – February 5, 1976) was an American songwriter and pianist. Born in New York City, he began working as a songwriter with Bennie Benjamin and Eddie Seiler (1911–1952) in the mid-1930s.
, and
Guy Wood Guy B. Wood (24 July 1911 – 23 February 2001) was a musician and songwriter born in Manchester, England. Wood started his career in music playing saxophone in dance bands in England. He moved to the United States in the 1930s, where he worked f ...
and published in
1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...
.


Background

The song was a plea (presumably by a soldier, off to fight the war) to his sweetheart to wait for him until he could get back home. Like many war-themed songs, it enjoyed great popularity when it came out in
1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...
.


1944 recordings

*Two versions by
The Mills Brothers The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed The Four Mills Brothers and originally known as Four Boys and a Guitar, were an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies and g ...
and the Les Brown orchestra, respectively, dominated the charts. The recording by The Mills Brothers was released by
Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...
as catalog number 18599. It first reached the ''
Billboard magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized in lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to th ...
'' Best Seller chart on September 21, 1944, and lasted three weeks on the chart, peaking at No. 8 (a two-sided hit, backed by "
You Always Hurt the One You Love "You Always Hurt the One You Love" is a pop standard with lyrics by Allan Roberts and music by Doris Fisher. First recorded by the Mills Brothers, whose recording reached the top of the ''Billboard'' charts in 1944, it was also a hit for Sammy ...
"). It also topped the
R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
s.


Recorded versions

The song has continued to be popular, with versions recorded in later years by artists such as: *
Laurindo Almeida Laurindo José de Araújo Almeida Nóbrega Neto (2 September 1917 – 26 July 1995) was a Brazilian guitarist and composer in classical, jazz, and Latin music. He was one of the pioneers in the creation of bossa nova. Almeida was the firs ...
*
James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
(1964) * Les Brown and His Orchestra (1944) *
The Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek and Roman literature and their original languages, ...
' 1963 version reached No. 20 on the
Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...
chart and No. 7 on the Middle-Road Singles chart. *
Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, actor, comedian, dancer, and musician. At age two, Davis began his career in Vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the Will Mastin Trio, which t ...
(1960) * Geraldo and His Orchestra (1944) *
Sonny Til Earlington Carl Tilghman, known as Sonny Til (August 18, 1928 – December 9, 1981),
- accessed May 2010 was an American singer. He ...
&
The Orioles The Orioles were an American R&B group in the late 1940s and early 1950s. One of the first vocal groups in R&B, they were early pioneers of the doo-wop sound. Dubbing themselves after Maryland's state bird, the Orioles started the trend of b ...
(1954) *
Leslie Hutchinson Leslie Arthur Julien Hutchinson, known as "Hutch" (7 March 1900 – 18 August 1969), was a Grenada-born singer and musician who was one of the biggest cabaret, cabaret stars in the world during the 1920s and 1930s. Early life Born in Gou ...
(1944) * The Norman Luboff Choir *
Al Martino Jasper Cini (October 7, 1927 – October 13, 2009), known professionally as Al Martino, was an American traditional pop and standards singer. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid-1970s, being described as "one o ...
*A recording by The Hilltoppers was released in 1954 by
Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In its early years, Dot sp ...
as catalog number 15132. It first reached the ''Billboard'' Best Seller chart on January 23, 1954, and spent eleven weeks on the chart, peaking at No. 10. *
Ray Peterson Ray Peterson (April 23, 1935 – January 25, 2005) was an American pop singer who is best remembered for singing "Tell Laura I Love Her". He also scored numerous other hits, including "Corrine, Corrina" and "The Wonder of You". Life and ca ...
(1960) * Ruby & The Romantics * Hank Thompson *
Chester Zardis Chester Zardis (May 27, 1900, in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States – August 14, 1990, in New Orleans) was an American jazz double-bassist. Zardis played bass from a young age, and studied without his disapproving mother's knowledge, under ...
*
Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Regarded as a pop icon, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American ...
*
Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor, and comedian. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Cool", he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of ...
*
Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, author, television personality, radio host and philanthropist. He sold nearly 50 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and has acted in many films. Boone ...
*
Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...
(1970) *
Peter Tork Peter Halsten Thorkelson (February 13, 1942 – February 21, 2019), better known by his stage name Peter Tork, was an American musician and actor. He was best known as the bass guitarist and keyboardist of the Monkees and co-star of the NBC ...
(2011) *
The Lettermen The Lettermen are an American male pop vocal trio whose trademark is close-harmony pop songs with light arrangements. The group started in 1959. They have had two Top 10 singles (both No. 7), 16 Top 10 singles on the Adult Contemporary chart (i ...
*
The Four Preps The Four Preps are an American popular music male quartet. In the 1950s and 1960s, the group amassed eight gold singles and three gold albums. Their million-selling signature tunes included " 26 Miles (Santa Catalina)", " Big Man", "Lazy Summer ...
*Geoff Castellucci (2022)


Popular culture

*The Mills Brothers' version of the song was featured on an episode of the TV show '' The Others'' entitled "Till Then" (April 29, 2000, Season 1 – Episode 10). *The Mills Brothers' recording of the song can be heard in ''
Millennium A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...
'' episode "Matryoshka", which starred
Lance Henriksen Lance Henriksen (born May 5, 1940) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in various science fiction, action and horror genre productions, including Bishop in the ''Alien'' film franchise and Frank Black in the Fox television series ...
and first aired on 19 February 1999. *The Mills Brothers' version of the song can be heard in ''Don't Look Up''.


References

1944 songs Songs of World War II Songs written by Sol Marcus Songs written by Guy Wood {{pop-standard-stub