Bad to Me
| "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 | |||
| Recorded | 27 June 1963[a] | |||
| Studio | EMI, London | |||
| Length | 2:22 | |||
| Label | Parlophone | |||
| Songwriter | Lennon–McCartney | |||
| Producer | George Martin | |||
| 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 | Lennon–McCartney |
"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[4] 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.[5] 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).
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.[6] Paul McCartney was present during the recording session at EMI Studios in London.[3] The single was released in the US the following year, and was a top-ten hit there, reaching number 9.[7] In Canada "Bad To Me' reached number 12 on both the CHUM and RPM charts.[8][9][10]
Cover versions
[edit]- Terry Black released a version of the song on his 1965 debut album, Only 16.[11]
- 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.[12] 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[13][14] and on the 1998 release It's Four You by the Australian tribute band The Beatnix.[15]
Notes
[edit]- ↑ In Richie Unterberger's 2006 book The Unreleased Beatles, he dates Kramer's recording to 26 June 1963 on one page,[1] but later writes it was 27 June.[2] In The Beatles Diary, Barry Miles dates the recording to 27 June, adding that Paul McCartney attended the recording session at EMI Studios.[3]
References
[edit]- ↑ Unterberger 2006, p. 56: "[Kramer recorded] his own version ... [on] June 26."
- ↑ Unterberger 2006, p. 342: "Recorded: June 27, 1963."
- 1 2 Miles 2001, p. 99.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 353.
- ↑ "CHUM Hit Parade - May 11, 1964".
- ↑ "CHUM Hit Parade - June 8, 1964".
- ↑ "RPM Top 40-5s - June 29, 1964" (PDF).
- ↑ 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.
Sources
[edit]- Miles, Barry (2001). The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-7119-8308-3 – via Google Books.
- Unterberger, Richie (2006). The Unreleased Beatles: Music & Film. San Francisco: Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-892-6 – via Google Books.
