When John Lennon and Pete Shotton began a skiffle group at Quarry Bank High School in Liverpool, England, they had no idea what the future had in store. As other schoolmates joined, they performed at friend’s parties, school dances, and local cinemas. Their earliest material consisted of songs by skiffle inspiration Lonnie Donegan, R&B giant Fats Domino, and rock ‘n’ roller Elvis Presley. When Paul McCartney and, later, George Harrison joined the band, they continued to perform hits by established acts such as The Everly Brothers, Carl Perkins, and Duane Eddy.
As the band evolved, other members had disagreements or changed schools, causing them to leave the group. This resulted in a trio of guitarists. Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison did not have a drummer or a bassist, causing them to explain to potential employers, “The rhythm’s in the guitars.” They continued to perform rock ‘n’ roll and R&B but began composing their own songs. By the time drummer Pete Best joined and Lennon convinced Stuart Sutcliffe to purchase a bass guitar, they had gone through several names. As a quintet, they took on a new moniker. The Beatles split time between Liverpool and Hamburg, West Germany, still performing music of Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Larry Williams. As Lennon and McCartney composed their own songs, they were taking inspiration from those earlier hitmakers. Let’s take a look at the story behind “She’s a Woman” by The Beatles.
My love, don’t give me presents
I know that she’s no peasant
Only ever has to give me
Love forever and forever
My love, don’t give me presents
Turn me on when I get lonely
People tell me that she’s only fooling
I know she isn’t
“What D’You Think?”
Paul McCartney came up with the idea for “She’s a Woman” as he was walking near EMI Studios in North London. The song was recorded on the same day as its flip side, “I Feel Fine.” McCartney recounted his memory of the song’s origin to author Barry Miles in 1997, “I have a recollection of walking round St John’s Wood with that in my mind, so I might have written it at home and finished it up on the way to the studio, finally polished it in the studio, maybe just taken John aside for a second and checked with him, ‘What d’you think?’ ‘Like it.’ ‘Good. Let’s do it!”
She don’t give boys the eye
She hates to see me cry
She is happy just to hear me
Say that I will never leave her
She don’t give boys the eye
She will never make me jealous
Gives me all her time as well as loving
Don’t ask me why
A New Bass Player
Bassist Stuart Sutcliffe left The Beatles in July 1961 to concentrate on his painting, creating an instrumental void on the low end. McCartney borrowed Sutcliffe’s bass for a bit while he was saving money to purchase a Hofner 500/1 model. Because McCartney was left-handed, he had to play Sutcliffe’s instrument backward until he got his own. Lennon’s aggressive rhythm guitar part, paired with McCartney’s bass, really set the tone on the backing track.
In 2021, McCartney wrote in The Lyrics: 1956 to Present, “Often one of us would come up with something that put a spark in the recording, and I think the spark on the recording of ‘She’s a Woman’ was the combination of John’s backbeat guitar and my bass. I’ve never composed on the bass. Never. Not to this day. So how did I end up playing the bass in this band? Well, after my cheap Rosetti Solid 7 guitar fell apart in Hamburg, I had to find a new instrument. We already had two guitars, a drummer, and Stuart Sutcliffe, the bass player. There happened to be a piano on the stage where we played, so I took to that and just sort of worked all the songs out on piano. So, I became the pianist in the group. … When we were in Hamburg, Stuart fell in love with a local girl called Astrid and decided he was leaving the group. So we were now without a bass player. We couldn’t have three guitars and no bass. … I bought a Hofner bass, a lovely violin-shaped thing that appealed to me because, being left-handed, I knew I was going to turn it upside down. Its symmetry was a big attraction for me.”
She’s a woman who understands
She’s a woman who loves her man
My love, don’t give me presents
I know that she’s no peasant
Only ever has to give me
Love forever and forever
My love, don’t give me presents
Turn me on when I get lonely
People tell me that she’s only fooling
I know she isn’t, woo ooh
“Turn Me On”
Just six weeks before they recorded “She’s a Woman,” The Beatles had been introduced to cannabis by Bob Dylan. The band began regularly using the drug, and Lennon felt he was getting away with something when he suggested the Turn me on when I get lonely line. In 1980, he told author David Sheff, “We put in the words ‘turns me on.’ We were so excited to say ‘turn me on’—you know, about marijuana and all that, using it as an expression.”
She’s a woman who understands
She’s a woman who loves her man
Take No. 6
The band recorded the rhythm track over seven takes, with the sixth being chosen as the master. Later that evening, George Harrison added his lead guitar part, McCartney added piano and vocals, and Ringo Starr, who replaced Pete Best on drums in August 1962, added extra percussion. The song, along with “I Feel Fine,” was released on November 23, 1964. McCartney told Barry Miles, “John did a very good thing: Instead of playing through it and putting like a watercolor wash over it all with his guitar, he just stabbed on the off-beats. Ringo would play the snare and John did it with the guitar, which was good, it left a lot of space for the rest of the stuff.”
“She’s a Woman” peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, while its flip side went all the way to No. 1.
Her love don’t give me presents
I know that she’s no peasant
Only ever has to give me
Love forever and forever
My love, don’t give me presents
Turn me on when I get lonely
People tell me that she’s only fooling
I know she isn’t
She’s a woman. She’s a woman
She’s a woman, she’s a woman, she’s a woman
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