I Wanna Be Your Man

"I Wanna Be Your Man" is the first song we've encountered that shares history with The Rolling Stones. The Wikipedia page states that "the song was primarily written by Paul McCartney, and finished by Lennon and McCartney in the corner of a room while Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were talking." The Stones also recorded and released a version of this song, just a few weeks before the Beatles' version came out. In fact, Wikipedia's got an absolutely fantastic quote from music and film critic Bruce Eder, which I shall lazily copy & paste below to preserve its integrity. 

In his review, Bruce Eder says, "the Stones went into the studio and cut a slashing, savage rendition that betrayed not a trace of Beatlesque cuteness, Brian Jones', Keith Richard's, and Bill Wyman's amps were seemingly turned up to "11" while Mick Jagger turned the lyrics—which sounded like bold yearnings in Ringo's voice—into what could have been a prelude to sexual assault. That performance, coupled with Jones' distinctive (and equally savage) slide guitar work, said volumes about who the Stones were (versus the Beatles), even as it marked them as British rock & roll's premiere stylists, and put them out there on the cutting edge of what could even get played. And it did get played, and did sell — as a cover of a Lennon-McCartney song (released three weeks before the Beatles' own version), at a moment when anything about rock and roll from Liverpool would get a chance at a hearing, and anything to do with the Beatles demanded extra attention, the song made it to number 12 in the UK in the hands of the Rolling Stones."

That takes care of the Stones' version. The Beatles' version, however, was pretty much what Eder describes it as above--cute, romantic, fun, and "Beatlesque". Ringo's dulcet tones, which almost always lend a certain je ne sais quoi to any Beatles song, sound particularly rockin', and I found myself bouncing around in my seat while the song was playing. :) 

Despite my own fondness for this classic Ringo tune, "John Lennon was dismissive of the song in 1980, saying: 'It was a throwaway. The only two versions of the song were Ringo and the Rolling Stones. That shows how much importance we put on it: We weren't going to give them anything great, right?'" This rather condescending and off-handed comment, while not unusual coming from John (from what I've heard so far), was a bit misguided. Maybe I just enjoy the song more than everyone else. :P

Well, only three more songs left on this album... then we'll have another album summary. :) See you tomorrow!

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Heard It Tally: 1

Songs Completed: 25