Only Ever Have to Give Me

The B side of the fabulous "I Feel Fine" single was another great Lennon/McCartney composition mainly written by Paul entitled "She's A Woman". One of the great McCartney vocals as he purposely sang in a higher register than usual and gives it that great rock and roll feel. I really like this song and prefer it to the A side. A realy Bluesy number and it's got lots of "balls". The choppy guitar and the subtle piano make it a real interesting arrangement. It just goes to show you how talented this group was when the B sides of their singles were just - if not sometimes more - interesting than their A sides. The song was released 45 years ago ON THIS DAY!! November 27 1964.

"She's A Woman" was recorded on Tuesday October 08 1964 at EMI studio two with seven takes attempted. Outtakes for this song include takes 2, 3, 4 and 5 (a long jam). These are available on the "Ultra Rare Trax" series. Take six was the keeper and overdubs included a percussion instrument called the chocalho and Paul added the piano in addition to his bass and lead vocal.

Once again, "She's A Woman" was mixed twice for mono: one mix for the UK and the other mix (once again drenched in horrible reverb) for the North American market. The first UK mono mix and a stereo mix were all done in the control room of Studio Two on October 12 1964. The second reverb-drenched mono mix for the North American market was done on October 21 1964 at EMI studios room 65 control room.

"She's A Woman" appeared not only on the Parlophone UK single with "I Feel Fine", but also appeared on the North American Capitol LP/CD: "Beatles '65" drenched in horrible reverb. A cleaner version appeared on the EMI/Parlophone UK LP "Rarities" and a very cool extended version with Paul's count-in was contained in the bonus EP included in the EMI/Parlophone vinyl/CD "The Beatles E.P. Collection" blue box.

"She's A Woman" was a very popular live selection and was performed during their 1965 European and American tours as well as the final 1966 Far East/ North American tour. A live peformance of the song can be heard on the EMI/Capitol LP "The Beatles At the Hollywood Bowl".

Finally, "She's A Woman" was performed twice for the BBC Radio but it appears three times: The first time on "Top Gear", the same recording is featured on "Saturday Club" and the next time is on "The Beatles Invite You to Take A Ticket To Ride". A radio performance of the song is available on the Apple 2-LP/2-CD "Live At The BBC".