I Wanna be your Man

The songwriters in surprisingly small writing

How did Lennon & McCartney end up writing I Wanna be your Man for the Rolling Stones? There are at least three different versions of what happened.

In an interview with  Playboy (1980) John Lennon, gave his account. 

Paul and I finished that one off for the Stones. We were taken down by Brian to meet them at the club where they were playing in Richmond. They wanted a song and we went to see what kind of stuff they did.

Like seasoned Tin Pan Alley professionals, they provided a song to order with minimum fuss.  

Paul had this bit of a song and we played it roughly for them and they said, 'Yeah, OK, that's our style.' But it was only really a lick, so Paul and I went off in the corner of the room and finished the song off while they were all sitting there, talking. 

Clearly there was an element of performance in this virtuoso display of songwriting speed and efficiency.

We came back and Mick and Keith said, 'Jesus, look at that. They just went over there and wrote it.' You know, right in front of their eyes. We gave it to them. It was a throwaway. 

Lennon appeared confident in his recollections - but Paul McCartney remembers things differently, while Mick Jagger offers yet another of the song's origin story:

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