Woman (Paul McCartney song)

"Woman" is a 1966 single by Peter and Gordon, written by Paul McCartney under a pseudonym (to see if it would be a success without the Lennon-McCartney label).

"Woman"
Single by Peter and Gordon
B-side"Wrong from the Start"
Released10 January 1966 (USA)
11 February 1966 (UK)
RecordedDecember, 1965
GenreFolk rock
Length2:25
LabelCapitol #5579 (USA)
Columbia (EMI) DB7834 (UK)
Songwriter(s)A side: Bernard Webb (Paul McCartney)
Peter and Gordon singles chronology
"Baby I'm Yours"
(1965)		 "Woman"
(1966)		 "To Show I Love You"
(1966)

Authorship

Under the Lennon–McCartney moniker, McCartney had written three previous Peter and Gordon singles (viz. “A World Without Love”, “Nobody I Know”, and “I Don't Want to See You Again”). On this occasion, McCartney used the pseudonym Bernard Webb (though some Capitol pressings carry the name A. Smith instead) to see if the song would be a success without the Lennon–McCartney credit. McCartney commented at a press conference in August 1966, "People come up to them and say, 'Ah, we see you're just getting in on the Lennon–McCartney bandwagon'. That's why they did that one with our names not on it...because everyone sort of thinks that's the [only] reason they get hits. It's not true, really." [1]

However, the publishing credit was Lennon and McCartney's company Northern Songs, and according to Gordon Waller it took only two weeks for the song's real pedigree to be revealed, as the first review of the record said, "This Bernard Webb has an amazing talent. Could even be Paul McCartney!"[1] "Woman" would be overtly introduced as written by McCartney when Peter and Gordon performed the song on the 11 April 1966 broadcast of the US TV show Hullabaloo.

Reception

Weekly charts
Chart (1966) Peak
position
Canada RPM Top Singles[2] 1
New Zealand (Listener)[3] 7
UK (OCC)[4] 28
US Billboard Hot 100[5] 14
US Cash Box Top 100[6] 17

Notes
  • Although Peter & Gordon had several hits which charted higher than "Woman", Gordon Waller would cite "Woman" as the ultimate Peter and Gordon track and his personal favourite: (quote) "You can sing it without any music, you can sing it with one guitar, you can sing it with a band, or you can sing it with a bloody orchestra. I think it envelops a lot of our other songs from that period, which were basically all love songs."[7]
  • McCartney gave a casual performance of the song on piano during the Beatles Get Back sessions in January 1969. It can be heard on bootleg recordings.
  • The 1981 single “Woman” by John Lennon, is a different song.

References
  1. Unterberger, Richie (2006). The Unreleased Beatles. Backbeat Books. p. 347. ISBN 0-87930-892-3.
  2. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1966-04-04. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  3. http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20listener&qartistid=457#n_view_location Flavour of New Zealand, 5 August 1966
  4. The Rough Guide to the Beatles, page 384, Chris Ingham, Rough Guides, 2003, ISBN 1-84353-140-2
  5. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  6. Cash Box Top 100 Singles, April 9, 1966
  7. Smiley Childs, Marti; March, Jeff (2011). Echoes of the Sixties. Davis CA: EditPros LLC. ISBN 978-1-937317-02-7.


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