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The Beatles recorded "She's a Woman" in a single, five-hour session on October 8, 1964, at EMI Studios in London, completing it in seven takes plus overdubs. McCartney composed it quickly, writing much of the song shortly before recording. The Beatles selected take six as the master for the official release; this acetate features the unreleased 'Take 7,' a longer and more unrestrained version of the song, boasting an extended instrumental jam and exuberant vocalizations from McCartney at the end.
The full take runs nearly 5:50, including more than three minutes of spontaneous jamming and Paul’s impassioned screams. This acetate presents a 4:37-minute edit, fading out neatly before the full conclusion of the session.
Following a couple of random notes from Paul McCartney’s bass guitar, the band jumps right into the beginning of the song but breaks down after about seven seconds. After a quick “one-two-three-four” count-in, the band restarts and launches into the take proper. The first three minutes mirror the structure of the released version, though McCartney’s vocal delivery is even more raw and impassioned. The final minute features an energetic jam with Paul’s ad-libbed shouts of “She’s a Woman!” and Little Richard–inspired whoops echoing across some bluesy guitar licks.
A distinctive feature of this version is its stripped-down instrumentation, with only three players: Paul McCartney on bass and lead vocals, John Lennon on rhythm guitar, and Ringo Starr on drums. George Harrison’s guitar overdub, McCartney's piano part, and double-tracked vocals were added later that evening to Take 6 for the commercial release.
Original EMI acetates featuring Beatles material are exceedingly scarce and of the utmost desirability, particularly those containing unreleased takes. The disc exhibits a number of surface scratches, but is in a very nice playable VG overall condition. Cut by sound engineer and record producer Geoff Emerick, the sound quality of the recording on the disc is excellent having been dubbed directly from the master tape recording. Accompanied by a high-fidelity digital transfer (.wav file) of the acetate's contents on a USB stick.
From the Mark Erbach Collection.
