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'She's A Woman' was written in the
studio on October 8, 1964, by Paul and performed in the
high-pitched scream which he used to emulate Little Richard.
Some lines and a middle eight were added by John. "We needed
a real screaming rocker for the live act," said Paul. "It
was always good if you were stuck for something to close
with or if there was a dull moment."
The song praised Paul's woman for
being selflessly devoted to him. It was perhaps a little
unfortunate that in order to find a rhyme for 'presents' he
also had to commend her for being 'no peasant'!
'She's A Woman' was also the first
Beatles' song to contain a veiled drug reference. John later
confessed that they were quite proud to have inserted the
line 'turns me on when I get lonely' and for it to have
escaped the attention of the censors. When they used the
phrase 'turn you on' three years later (in 'A Day In The
Life'), it led to a radio ban: by then, the authorities had
become aware of the growing drug culture and its
terminology.
Significantly, it was just five
weeks before recording 'She's A Woman' that the Beatles had
smoked marijuana for the first time. Until then, their only
experience of drugs had been Drinamyl and Preludin tablets
and the contents of Benzedrine inhalers. They were
introduced to marijuana in the company of Bob Dylan, who met
them for the first time in their suite at the Delmonico
Hotel in New York City. The Beatles were happy to drink
cheap wine into the small hours, but Dylan wanted to smoke a
joined and assumed that they were all dope smokers because
he mistakenly thought they had sung 'I get high', instead of
'I can't hide' in 'I Want To Hold Your Hand'.
The Beatles were apprehensive about
joining in at first , but before long the lights were
lowered, candles and incense were lit and towels were
stuffed along the bottoms of the doors. For the next few
hours, the musicians were "legless with laughing" as George
Harrison put it later. Paul thought that he'd suddenly been
blessed with amazing insights and asked road manager Mal
Evans to take notes.
'She's A Woman' was released as the
B side of 'I Feel Fine' in Britain and America. "At first,
it wasn't so well received," said Paul in 1965. "A lot of
people thought that I was just singing too high and that I'd
picked the wrong key. It sounded as though I was screeching,
but it was on purpose. It wasn't a mistake."
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