Friday, May 1, 2020

That time Lennon & McCartney wrote a hit song for the Rolling Stones

That Time Lennon & McCartney Wrote a Hit Song for the Rolling Stones

Tina Foster

May 1, 2020

As part of my on-going effort to refute the disinformation that the Beatles did not write their own music, I am recounting the story about that time John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote a hit song ("I Wanna Be Your Man") for The Rolling Stones.

On September 10, 1963, the Rolling Stones were at De Lane Lea Studio in London’s Soho trying to come up with a song to cover. Their manager (and former Beatles' publicist), Andrew Loog Oldham, left the studio and ran into John Lennon and Paul McCartney on Charing Cross Road as they were getting out of a taxi. Oldham hurried over to talk to them. John and Paul agreed to meet with the Stones, and the three of them went back to the studio. Less than 30 minutes later, the Stones had their new hit single.

John and Paul had been working on "I Wanna Be Your Man" for Ringo Starr to sing. As the Stones watched, John and Paul finished the song and played it for them.

Mick Jagger said in 1968: "Andrew brought Paul and John down to the rehearsal. They said they had this tune, they were really hustlers then... 'Hey Mick, we've got this great song.' So they played it and we thought it sounded pretty commercial, which is what we were looking for... It was a hit and sounded great onstage."

Watching John and Paul write the song inspired Mick Jagger and Keith Richards to write their own music, because it gave "them a greater understanding of how to write a song."

John and Paul gave the song to The Stones to record, which they adapted to suit their own style (for ex, making it "dirtier.")

"I Wanna Be Your Man" was a hit for the Stones. It reached #12 on the UK singles chart in January 1964. This was despite the fact that it was, “Not one of Lennon and McCartney’s best numbers," according to the New Musical Express. However, at that point, a song written by Lennon and McCartney was almost guaranteed to be a hit.