3 Paul McCartney Songs That Weren’t Beatles Hits

Paul McCartney may have had a hand in writing hits like “Here Comes The Sun” and “Let It Be”, but he also achieved success outside The Beatles through songs he wrote for other artists. Here are some of McCartney’s other hits. Good to know if you’re a Beatles fan, but even better if you love McCartney’s writing style.

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“I Wanna Be Your Man” by The Rolling Stones

When you think of the Stones and the Beatles, your mind might first go to the rivalry between the two. However, even Mick Jagger wasn’t oblivious to The Beatles’ influence. He spoke of this in a 90s interview. “There isn’t a real comparison with anyone now,” he said. However, just because they were competitors, that didn’t mean they couldn’t collaborate from time to time. In 1963, The Stones released “I Wanna Be Your Man”. It had the commercialness that Jagger said they were looking for at the time. Apparently, the Stones were shown the song during a practice. “We knew [Lennon and McCartney] by then, and we were rehearsing, and Andrew brought Paul and John down to the rehearsal,” he said. “They said they had this tune. They were really hustlers then.”

“Come And Get It” by Badfinger

In the late 60s, The Beatles launched their very own record label, Apple Records. The first artist they signed was a group called The Ivey’s. They would later change their name to Badfinger, inspired by an alternate title for The Beatles’ “A Little Help From My Friends”. John Lennon played the original demo with a “bad hand,” and they called it “Bad Finger Boogie,” according to UCR. McCartney, who wrote the song and constructed the demo, was determined to keep things aligned with his version. He told the band, “‘Okay, it’s got to be exactly like this demo,’ because it had a great feeling on it.” McCartney shared that, “They actually wanted to put their own variations on, but I said, ‘No, this really is the right way.’ They listened to me – I was producing, after all – and they were good.”

“A World Without Love” by Peter & Gordon

Another Lennon and McCartney collaboration, “A World Without Love” was given to Londoners Peter Asher and Gordon Waller. The duo could sing, but they didn’t write their own music, which is why they enlisted Lennon and McCartney. The songwriters were also starting to see success with The Beatles around the same time. Peter & Gordon got their own taste of success with “A World Without Love”, which topped the charts in both the U.K. and the U.S.

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