B-side "I Call Your Name" Genre Pop, beat Label Parlophone R5049 | Recorded 26 June 1963 Length 2:22 | |
Released 26 July 1963 (UK)
1964 (US) | ||
"Bad to Me" is a song written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney) for Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas while on holiday in Spain. 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. Paul McCartney was present during the recording session at Abbey Road Studios. The single would be released in the US the following year, and become a top-ten hit there, reaching number 9. 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; another being "Goodbye" by Mary Hopkin).
Bootlegs exist of Lennon's original demo of the song, which was recorded on 31 May 1963. An acoustic demo from the same era was released on iTunes in December 2013 on the album The Beatles Bootleg Recordings 1963.
Terry Black released a version of the song on his 1965 debut album, Only 16.
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. 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 and on the 1998 release It's Four You by the Australian tribute band The Beatnix.