Summary
"Bad to Me" is a song credited to Lennon–McCartney. In late interviews, John Lennon said that he wrote it for Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas[2] while on holiday in Spain. However, in a 1964 interview he said that he and Paul McCartney wrote it in the back of a van, declaring McCartney a contributor.[3] Lennon's original demo of the song was released on iTunes in December 2013 on the album The Beatles Bootleg Recordings 1963. It became one of the first occasions a Lennon–McCartney composition made the US Top 40 recorded by an artist other than the Beatles (the first being "A World Without Love" by Peter & Gordon).
| "Bad to Me" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas | ||||
| from the album Little Children | ||||
| B-side | "I Call Your Name" | |||
| Released | 26 July 1963 (UK) May 1964 (US) | |||
| Recorded | 26 June 1963 | |||
| Genre | Pop, beat | |||
| Length | 2:22 | |||
| Label | Parlophone R5049[1] | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Lennon–McCartney[1] | |||
| Producer(s) | George Martin[1] | |||
| Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| "Bad to Me" | |
|---|---|
| Song by the Beatles | |
| from the album The Beatles Bootleg Recordings 1963 | |
| Released | 17 December 2013 |
| Recorded | 1963 |
| Genre | Merseybeat |
| Length | 1:29 |
| Label | Apple, Universal Music Group |
| Songwriter(s) | Lennon–McCartney |
Chart performance edit
Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas released their recording of the song in 1963 and it became their first number 1 in the UK Singles Chart.[1] Paul McCartney was present during the recording session at Abbey Road Studios. The single was released in the US the following year, and was a top-ten hit there, reaching number 9.[4]
Cover versions edit
- Terry Black released a version of the song on his 1965 debut album, Only 16.[5]
- Graham Parker recorded a version of the song for the 2003 album Lost Songs of Lennon & McCartney, new versions of 17 Lennon–McCartney songs that were originally released by other artists.[6] Leif Garrett also recorded a version of the song for his self-titled debut album. Finnish rock band Hurriganes covered this song in their third album, Crazy Days.
- Recordings of "Bad to Me" as the Beatles may have performed it are available on the 1989 album by Bas Muys entitled Secret Songs: Lennon & McCartney[7][8] and on the 1998 release It's Four You by the Australian tribute band The Beatnix.[9]
References edit
- ^ a b c d Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 73. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
- ^ David Sheff, All We Are Saying. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000, ISBN 0-312-25464-4, p. 170
- ^ Compton, Todd (2017). Who wrote the Beatle songs? : a history of Lennon-McCartney. San Jose, California: Todd M. Compton. p. 50. ISBN 978-0998899701.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 353.
- ^ Terry Black, Only 16 Retrieved 15 June 2015
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review of Lost Songs of Lennon & McCartney". AllMusic.
- ^ "Bas Muys, Lennon & McCartney Secret Songs (Vinyl)". Tagtuner.com. 18 December 2006. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
- ^ "Bas Muys - Lennon & McCartney Secret Songs (Vinyl)". Gnudb.org. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
- ^ "It's Four You". Amazon. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
External links edit
- Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas - Bad to Me on YouTube