"She's a Woman" | |||||||||||
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US picture sleeve
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Single by the Beatles | |||||||||||
from the album Beatles '65 | |||||||||||
A-side | "I Feel Fine" | ||||||||||
Released | 23 November 1964 | ||||||||||
Format | 7-inch single | ||||||||||
Recorded |
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Genre | |||||||||||
Length | 3:03 | ||||||||||
Label | Parlophone | ||||||||||
Writer(s) | Lennon–McCartney | ||||||||||
Producer(s) | George Martin | ||||||||||
The Beatles UK singles chronology | |||||||||||
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"She's a Woman" is a song by the Beatles, written mainly by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. John Lennon contributed to the lyrics and middle eight (the bridge). The song was finished in the studio the morning of the session. It was released as the B-side to "I Feel Fine" in 1964, their last single release that year. It reached number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 from frequent airplay.
"She's a Woman" has been described as an example of the rock and roll and rhythm and blues genres. The song, penned mainly by Paul McCartney (Lennon helped with the lyric and bridge) was his attempt at imitating the vocal style of Little Richard. This is why the song is in such a high register, even for McCartney's tenor range. Some takes of the song (especially recordings of live concerts) feature an extended outro.
The structure of the song is fairly simple, with the melody carried mostly by McCartney's voice. His bass and a backing piano produce a countermelody, with Lennon's guitar playing chords on the backbeat. After the first verse, the piano also plays chords on the upbeats. George Harrison plays a bright guitar solo during the middle eight.
Author Ian MacDonald noted in his book Revolution in the Head that the final mix of "She's a Woman" at the time of its original release was unusual of the time, with the bass kick on Starr's drum kit being barely audible due to it being compressed in the mixing process. MacDonald suggested that McCartney's bass part might be responsible for the rearrangement of the mixing as its more prominent volume was in sacrifice of the drums' usual mixing due to limiting problems.