Bad Boy

Its subject is a person rather than a feeling (Junior, a misbehaving kid), and it deals in the motifs of americanism and absurdist humor. Formally it is a list song, which also turns up in 'Long Tall Sally', a year earlier. The lyric turns to simile ('Junior's head is hard as rock'). One for the curious, the title is never sung, and the language is tonally neutral.

'Bad Boy' is a rock and roll piece, written in C major and taken at about 145 BPM. You can hear a vocal ad-lib ('Ow!', 'Ooh', 'woo' interjections), and a voice riding the outro (spoken band-name shout-out and final tag). It has a guitar solo, and it is a 12-bar blues, one of 32 in the catalogue, such as 'Chains' and 'Money (That's What I Want)'. On a smaller note, 'I Saw Her Standing There' plays A7 → E7 → B7 → E7 and 'Matchbox' plays D7 → A7 → E7 → A7: the same progression in different keys, which 'Rock and Roll Music', this song, and 'Birthday' also make.

Four takes in a single Studio 2 session, with vocals, double-tracked lead guitar, electric piano and tambourine overdubbed onto take four. Harrison reached for the Gretsch 6119 Tennessean, his guitar, which the band first reached for on 'Slow Down' eleven months earlier. The kit in the room included the Ludwig Super Classic, Starr's own kit since 1964. The sound was built with double tracked vocal, as on 139 of their records. This one came out of a two-song day, the 80th and 81st of their career.

Larry Williams wrote it and Lennon sings lead. It has everybody in their usual roles, with Lennon on rhythm guitar, McCartney on bass, Harrison on lead guitar and Starr on drums, and electric piano (Hohner Pianet) is in there too. The organ is a Vox Continental, 1965 being the year it turns up most.

The public first heard it on June 14, 1965. It sits now on Past Masters, the 1988 collection of the singles and B-sides. In America it came out the same day, on Beatles VI, a Capitol record, with remaining Beatles For Sale tracks plus early Help! tracks and singles. This track was the 3rd of 33 released in 1965, and the 72nd they ever made.