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TL;DR:

  • John Lennon and Paul McCartney gave a No. 1 single to another singer.
  • John played one of The Beatles’ most famous songs to this singer before it was a hit.
  • The singer in question also recorded a hit cover of one of The Beatles’ early tunes.
Paul McCartney and John Lennon with guitars
Paul McCartney and John Lennon | Bettmann / Contributor

John Lennon and Paul McCartney gave a No. 1 single to another singer. Subsequently, Paul explained why they did that. Notably, the singer in question had a few hits that were written by the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney played songs for another singer from the 1960s who worked with Brian Epstein

The Beatles’ original manager, Brian Epstein, was also the manager for Billy J. Kramer. According to the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul said he and John gave Kramer some of their songs because they were his friends. During a 2015 interview with The Vinyl District, Kramer discussed one of his interactions with Epstein. “He said, ‘We’ve been offered a record deal and you need an original song.’

“People ask me about demos but it was just John on an acoustic guitar, playing me the song,” Kramer added. “We made up our own arrangement and that was it. I’m proud to say that the Lennon/McCartney songs that I did record never came in demo form. The guys always came to the studio and played the songs for me.”

John Lennon played Billy J. Kramer his 1st No. 1 hit before playing him 1 of The Beatles’ biggest hit songs ever

Kramer discussed hearing one of his biggest hits for the first time. “For ‘Bad to Me,’ John called and said, ‘It must be your birthday, I’ve got a great song for you!'” he said. “I met him at EMI and he sat at the piano and played it for me.”

Kramer also tasted another bit of rock history that day. “When he finished ‘Bad to Me,’ he said, ‘I want to play you something else and get your honest opinion,'” Kramer recalled. “It was ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand,’ which I flipped about!”

How Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas’ ‘Bad to Me’ and some of their other songs performed on the charts in the United Kingdom

Kramer recorded “Bad to Me” with his band, The Dakotas, and the song became a massive hit in the United Kingdom. According to The Official Charts Company, “Bad to Me” reached No. 1 there for three weeks, staying on the chart for 14 weeks. It became the group’s first No. 1 single in the U.K.

Five of the group’s other songs charted in the U.K. Three of them — “Do You Want to Know a Secret?,” “I’ll Keep You Satisfied?,” and “From a Window” — were written by the Lennon-McCartney partnership. Notably, The Beatles’ version of “Do You Want to Know a Secret?” was a big hit as well.

“Bad to Me” was not the most famous song John and Paul wrote — but it was an important part of another artist’s career.

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