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I Feel Fine / She's a Woman

Single by The Beatles • 27 November 1964 • Parlophone R 5200

Beatlemania (1962–1964) — Mod sharpness — sharp suits, sharper hooks.

status: review

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About this release

I Feel Fine / She's a Woman is a single on Parlophone (catalogue R 5200), released 27 November 1964. Famous for opening with deliberate guitar feedback — a pop first.

Recorded during the band's Beatlemania (1962–1964) period, produced by George Martin with Norman Smith engineering. The tracks were committed to tape at EMI Studios, Abbey Road on Twin-track BTR-2 (1962); Studer J37 four-track from late-1963 via the REDD.37 / REDD.51 valve consoles.

Release context

I Feel Fine / She's a Woman is a Beatles single issued in the United Kingdom on 27 November 1964 by Parlophone under catalogue number R 5200. It sits in the band's Beatlemania (1962–1964) period. The release arrived 140 days after the parent LP A Hard Day's Night, placing it firmly within that album's commercial window.

Sessions were produced by George Martin with Norman Smith engineering, working at EMI Studios, Abbey Road. The signal chain ran through the Twin-track BTR-2 (1962); Studer J37 four-track from late-1963 • REDD.37 / REDD.51 valve consoles, with vocals captured on Neumann U47, U48. This combination of room, tape format and outboard chain is the same one heard across the band's other releases from the era — meaning the release shares its sonic identity with its parent LP rather than departing from it.

The release features I Feel Fine.

Documented alternate masters and remaster passes can be found via the linked entries above; the editorial position throughout Beatles Answers is that the original UK mono master is the canonical point of reference for any single from this era, with the 2009 and 50th-anniversary stereo remasters treated as documented variations rather than replacements. Catalogue numbers, label copy and matrix data are taken from EMI/Parlophone primary documentation and cross-checked against Mark Lewisohn's The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (1988).

Track-by-track context

Each track on this single carries its own session history on the dedicated entry. The summary below pulls the most distinctive editorial detail from each:

  • I Feel Fine — The feedback entrance required careful amplifier placement and microphone positioning achieving specific tonal character. The overdub process built from feedback intro through rhythm section addition, then lead vocal and additional layers.

What's distinctive

2 tracks; average length 2:40. Lennon dominates the lead vocals (1/2). Lead writing credit: Lennon–McCartney (1 of 2). Estimated total takes across the release: 32.

Tracklist

Side A

Side B

Pattern analysis

Lead vocalists across I Feel Fine / She's a Woman
2
Lennon 1
McCartney 1
Songwriters credited on I Feel Fine / She's a Woman
Lennon–McCartney1McCartney1
Track lengths (seconds)
She's a Woman181I Feel Fine139
Estimated takes per track (top 10)
I Feel Fine19She's a Woman13

Era technical context

MicrophonesNeumann U47, U48; AKG D19 (drums); STC 4038 (overheads)
OutboardEMI RS124 compressor (Altec 436B mod), EMT 140 plate reverb, STEED tape echo
GuitarsRickenbacker 325 (Lennon), Gretsch Country Gent / Tennessean (Harrison), Höfner 500/1 violin bass (McCartney), Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl kit (Starr)
AmplifiersVox AC30 (TB & non-Top-Boost variants)

References & external databases