Bad Boy: Background

“Bad Boy,” about a young rock and roll rebel, is a Larry Williams song with a boogie rock sound made popular by The Beatles, who recorded it in 1965. Larry Williams (1935-1980) was a rhythm and blues songwriter from New Orleans whose most influential song was Bony Moronie (covered by The Who and John Lennon).—Rob Freedman, Rush Vault

“Rush featured the song in a Led Zeppelin–type arrangement during their early live shows. The Cleveland bootleg ‘New in Town’ features the song, as well as an extended solo from guitarist Alex Lifeson. Vocalist/bassist Geddy Lee introduces the song as being from the Beatles VI album. After 1974, the group no longer performed the song live.”—Wikipedia

The recording of that live Cleveland show was turned into an album in late 2011 called Rush ABC.

“‘Bad Boy’ . . . got some airtime, actually right up until December 1974.”—Martin Popoff, Contents Under Pressure

More about “Bad Boy”

Back to Rush Vault