I Wanna Be Your Man (Lennon/McCartney)
Quotes
“John and Paul came down to rehearsal and laid the song on us. We just heard John and Paul on a piano banging it out. We picked it up and it was just one of those jams. They got enthusiastic, we got enthusiastic and said, ‘Right. We’ll cut it tomorrow,’ and that was it.” – Keith Richards
“Paul and I finished that one off for the Stones. We were taken down by Brian (Epstein) to meet them at the club where they were playing in Richmond. They wanted a song and we went to see what kind of stuff they did. Paul had this bit of a song and we played it roughly for them and they said, “Yeah, OK, that’s our style.” But it was only really a lick, so Paul and I went off in the corner of the room and finished the song off while they were all sitting there, talking. We came back and Mick and Keith said, “Jesus, look at that. They just went over there and wrote it.” You know, right in front of their eyes. We gave it to them. It was a throwaway. Ringo sang it for us and the Stones did their version. It shows how much importance we put on them. We weren’t going to give them anything great, right? That was the Stones’ first record. Anyway, Mick and Keith said, “If they can write a song so easily, we should try it.” They say it inspired them to start writing together.” – John Lennon, Playboy, 1980
“We often used to say to people, the words don’t really matter, people don’t listen to words, it’s the sound they listen to. So ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’ was to try and give Ringo something like ‘Boys’; an uptempo song he could sing from the drums. So again it had to be very simple.” – Paul McCartney, from Many Years From Now
“John and I were walking along Charing Cross Road when passing in a taxi were Mick and Keith…so they shouted from the taxi and we yelled, ‘Hey, hey, give us a lift, give us a lift,’ and we bummed a lift off them. So there were the four of us sitting in a taxi and I think Mick said, ‘Hey we’re recording. Got any songs?’ And we said, ‘Aaaah, yes, sure, we got one. How about Ringo’s song? You could do it as a single.’” – Paul McCartney
BBC Performances
See THERE WILL BE A SHOW TONIGHT: The BBC Performances for complete information on BBC performances and recordings
- Saturday Club – recorded January 7, 1964, broadcast February 15, 1964
- From Us To You – recorded February 28, 1964, broadcast March 30, 1964 and released on Live At The BBC (1994)
Personnel
- Ringo Starr – lead vocals, drums, maracas, tambourine, handclaps
- John Lennon – backing vocal, tremolo electric rhythm guitar, handclaps
- Paul McCartney – backing vocal, bass, handclaps
- George Harrison – electric lead guitar, handclaps
- George Martin – Hammond organ
Release history
- With The Beatles (1963)
- Rock N’ Roll Music (1976)
- Live At The BBC (1994) [live at the BBC, February 1964]
- Anthology 1 (1995) [live on Around The Beatles]
Notable covers
- Rolling Stones (single)
