3 weeks Ago By Dan Haygarth,Scarlett O'Toole
While Paul McCartney and John Lennon are best known for their iconic songs written for The Beatles , their songwriting genius extended beyond their own band. In the early part of the 1960s, The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein used John and Paul's talents to boost the careers of other artists under his management. This involved commissioning new songs from the duo or repurposing existing ones for artists like Cilla Black and Billy J.
Kramer with his band The Dakotas. Interestingly, John and Paul were also behind The Rolling Stones first hit I Wanna Be Your Man, and they generously gave away A World Without Love to Peter and Gordon. American Idol fans divided over 'disrespectful' song choices for Easter special Gene Hackman's New Mexico property has scary update as pictures emerge of home Peter and Gordon reaped significant benefits from John and Paul's work.
Paul had written A World Without Love at just 16 years old. When he moved in with then-girlfriend Jane Asher in 1963, her brother Peter Asher (of Peter and Gordon) heard the song and requested it. Believing the song wasn't quite up to The Beatles' standard, Paul was more than willing to pass it on, having previously offered it to Billy J.
Kramer. Peter and Gordon recorded the song, releasing it in February 1964 on an album bearing the same name. The track soared to number one in both the U.
K. and the U.S.
Following the hit, Paul wrote Nobody I Know for the duo and later another Lennon-McCartney tune I Don't Want to See You Again. DON'T MISS..
. Paul McCartney notes his all-time favorite song - and it's not by The Beatles [REVEALED] Ringo Starr fans amazed over Beatles star appearance at Nashville performance [REACTION] Ringo Starr 'refused to sing' one Beatles line that was a 'challenge' for Paul [LATEST] Eager to test the waters, Paul embarked on an intriguing experiment with the next song he composed for Peter and Gordon. Adopting the pseudonym Bernard Webb, and sometimes A.
Smith in the U.S., he wrote the 1966 single Woman under this alias.
During a 1966 press conference, Paul clarified why, "People come up to them (Peter And Gordon) and say, 'Ah, we see you're just getting in on the Lennon-McCartney bandwagon.'" Seeking to dispel such notions, he continued, "That's why they did that one with our names not on it, Woman, because everyone sort of thinks that's the reason they get hits. It's not true really.
" Though Woman only scored a modest success in the charts both in Britain and America, skepticism soon arose due to Northern Songs — the venture of John, Paul, and Brian — being the publisher, hinting that it might be another creation from the typical songwriters for Peter and Gordon. The charade fully collapsed by April 1966 when Peter and Gordon disclosed on the American TV program Hullabaloo that Woman had indeed been written by Paul McCartney. The track earned accolades for its composition.
Billboard's critique highlighted it was "a powerful ballad featuring strings, cellos in the baroque fashion and with an easy beat in strong support.".
