I Wanna Be Your Man

This song is a "work song" cranked out by Lennon and McCartney in September of 1963 to give Ringo another spot as vocal lead. Ringo had turned down the lead in Little Child, and his popularity with fans obligated the producer to feature Ringo in one or more tracks of the second album. The day before recording started for With the Beatles, in a chance meeting with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Lennon and McCartney offered them the song, which was still unfinished. That day the pair completed the composition, and the Rolling Stones released it, making it their first big British hit. The next day, Ringo was introduced to the song, and the Beatles recorded it for their next album. The structure is simple, with three sets of verse and chorus. A guitar solo separates verses 2 and 3. The verse is sustained on an E major chord with little change. The chorus is a bit more varied, but the essence of the song is the high-energy, rock-'n'-roll performance of the group, enhanced by the Hammond organ overdub by George Martin.