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(reviewed by Rob Eustace)
HIGH POINTS: Come And Get It, Dear Angie, Midnight Sun, Walk Out In The Rain. LOW POINTS: Knocking Down Our Home, Angelique, Carry On Till Tomorrow.
If ever there was band that deserved the tag Beatlesque then I guess it was Badfinger. "The Magic Christian" was a film starring Ringo, their breakthrough single (contained here) “Come and Get it” was written by McCartney, a subsequent album was part produced by Harrison who they indeed backed on All Things Must Pass and Concert For Bangladesh. They worked on Lennon's Imagine album, they were produced by Beatle associate Mal Evans, they were named after the working title of a Sgt Pepper track "Badfinger Boogie" and inevitably they were signed to Apple Records. The Beatle associations are endless and this would inevitably haunt the band in the end, the material itself is on this album more McCartneyesque than anything else but to their credit they are often up to the task.
Magic Christian Music is an odd album really, Badfinger had released a previous album for Apple under their earlier name of The Iveys and several of the stronger tracks from that album are included here. There are just three tracks included that were part of the Magic Christian soundtrack supplemented by some additional new material. The album I suppose is very much a Beatle style format with six pop rockers blending with an equal number of ballads and an out of character semi humorous track thrown in for good measure.
The stronger tracks are the McCartney composed single “Come and Get it” which appears to have followed McCartney's demo (from the Anthology series) note for note. Tom Evans “Beautiful And Blue” stands out as does the catchy “I’m In Love” with it’s delightful intro and playout sections. “Give It A Try” is another prime slice of 60’s power pop with a trademark sixties beat combo harmony ending. It’s Pete Ham who steals the show though (as he largely continued to do on subsequent albums) with the infectious pop rocker “Midnight Sun”, the classic style ballad “Walk Out In The Rain” with it’s charming acoustic guitar and wonderful interplay between vocal and the guitar. Pete's talent can also be heard on the exquisite jazz tinged guitar lines that lift “Dear Angie” from dreary ballad into another high point of the album.
The let downs come in the form of the overlong “Carry On Till Tomorrow” which simply has too many styles thrown into one, it starts kind of folky with a rocky mid section and builds to a orchestrated finale, doesn’t work for me at all I’m afraid, the simple stuff here is far more effective. The lightweight, brass backed, tongue in cheek“Pete Ham does Peter Skellern track “Knocking Down our Home” is also uncomfortable in the same way that tracks like “Rocky Racoon” and “Maxwell's Silver Hammer” were to Beatle albums. “Maybe Tomorrow” also sounds a little tired amongst the fresher material here and certainly sounds more Steve Marriott inspired than anything else, and Tom Evans “Angelique” whilst bearable sounds like one of the ballads Davy Jones would lay down to pad out a Monkees album.
It’s a fair album all in all, Badfinger would get stronger as their career progressed and became an extremely underrated outfit generally. The arrival of Joey Molland (who had joined in time for the supporting tour replacing Ron Griffiths) would benefit both the band and the songwriting in a positive way. Magic Christian Music remains a reasonable debut and laid firm foundations for the impressive albums that followed.
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(reviewed by Rob Eustace)
HIGH POINTS: No Matter What, I Can't Take it, Believe Me. LOW POINTS: Blodwyn, Love Me Do, Watford John
No Dice is the first complete album by the definitive Badfinger line up of Pete Ham, Tom Evans, Mike Gibbins and latest recruit, guitarist Joey Molland. The band feel a lot more confident for his arrival and Molland certainly brings something to the table that adds to a new maturity to the sound although on this particular album it’s certainly not classic composition. The album feels far more established than it’s predecessor, there remains the classic Beatle influence (for gods sake Molland even contributes a track named “Love Me Do”) but No Dice is a far more rewarding set on repeat listens and has a depth and warmth than was lacking on the previously pieced together Magic Christian Music.
Pete Ham once again steals the show but like the previous album at the same time contributes the lamest duck of the package. Lets deal with the disgraceful “Blodwyn” first, it’s Pete Ham living the Beatle myth again that to make a successful album you need to include a novelty sing-a-long, a “Yellow Submarine”, a “When I’m Sixty Four” an “All Together Now” or a “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”. “Blodwyn” is an unnecessary country tinged tale of folks in the valley offering spoons to the objects of their desire, it’s a bland novelty throwaway that’s feels more like a like a Smokie track than a Badfinger one and to think that Smokie made a bloody career out of such trite compositions is beyond belief.
Ham makes amends with his other material here which is generally top drawer with the power pop classic “No Matter What” probably being the pick of the bunch. Released as the follow up to the McCartney penned “Come and Get it” single the track instantly gave Badfinger their own identity and it remains to this day a no questions asked 70’s classic for sure. The opening Ham rocker “I Can’t Take it” is equally engaging with some wonderful guitar work throughout, Ham didn’t need to overplay anything, he simply had a wonderful touch and his briefest of phrases could be far more satisfying than many guitarists full length workouts. The piano led “Midnight Caller” is a sheer delight and the gentle acoustic closer “We’re for the Dark” is another strong track, my only criticism being that it's poorly sequenced and should have closed the set.
Mike Gibbons contributes the effective “It Had to Be”, another Pete Ham vocal and another enjoyable Harrisonesque guitar solo. The Tommy Evans “Believe Me” is another of the more Beatle like compositions this time round, some pleasant vocal arrangements all add to the flavour of a Let it be period outtake. The two Evans/Molland tracks are reasonable efforts, the rolling ballad “I Don’t Mind” figures early in the running order and the later “Better Days” is solid enough but presented far better in it’s live format as were many Badfinger tracks, this is one band who are constantly quoted as being an entirely different live act the band presented in the studio. The group composed bluesy “Watford John” is a little mundane for me and Molland’s dumb aimless plodder “Love me Do” is an absolute shocker.
I guess the most interesting and discussed track on the album is “Without You” the original version of the track Nilsson would transform into the million selling snoozy ballad that continues to litter "easy listening" and "old gold" radio playlists to this very day. Badfinger’s version is far from perfect and is nowhere near a high point on this album, it’s nowhere near as polished as the Nilsson version and you are generally left with a feeling that the band aren’t totally comfortable with the some of the vocal demands of the track. It certainly feels like a flawed classic in this format, a little incomplete, unrehearsed, under produced, I’m not sure which really, but I’d still always lean towards this version than the Nilsson take. No Dice was a step in the right direction for sure, things would improve further with subsequent releases but there certainly is some highlights from the bands tragic existence to be found here.
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(reviewed by Rob Eustace)
HIGH POINTS: Take It All, Flying, Suitcase, Sometimes, Day After Day. LOW POINTS: Perfection, I'd Die Babe
Straight Up arrived after an earlier aborted version of pretty much the same album was rejected by Apple Records to the bands dismay. Much of the aborted album has now been released in the form of bonus tracks on the Badfinger CD re-issues and frustratingly the original takes of the tracks that finally wound up on Straight Up and the out takes generally appear stronger than what is finally presented here.
The album was originally to be produced by George Harrison and indeed four of the tracks from those sessions make it to the album, but the four tracks all reek of Harrison's bland mid 70's production in the same way that 15 years later Harrison's own Cloud Nine album would be disfigured by Jeff Lynne's bland 80's production. Harrison jumped ship mid course to devote himself to "All Things Bangla Desh", Badfinger courteous as ever fully understood their idol's charity calling and eventually studio mastermind Todd Rundgren was drafted into finish the project. Rundgren makes a pretty good job of things all in all, the band apparently never became over friendly with their new producer but respected his studio craft all the same.
Joey Molland really begins to impose himself on Straight Up contributing five tracks four of which are solo compositions, Pete Ham also throws five into the ring and Tom Evans is restricted to three. Evans may have started falling away in the composition stakes but his efforts here are all towards the top end of the material contained. It becomes clear listening to Straight Up that generally Evans was the most Beatlelike contributor at this stage, Pete Ham had become the power pop and big ballad man (but thankfully ditched his novelty niche) and Joey Molland stretched himself covering a landscape of folky ballads and bluesy rockers.
"Money" and "Flying" (more Beatle titles following the previous albums "Love Me Do") originally linked by a George Martin (he sounds familiar) orchestration are both spacey beatlelike themes. The former jangles along gently and glides seamlessly into the semi pschedelia of "Flying" which is blatantly speeded up by Rundgren to a rate that nearly ruins the track, but not quite, Tom Evans other contribution is the pleasingly effective bluesy closer "It's Over" Pete Ham's efforts are a bit of a mixed bag, the opening "Take it All" is a staggeringly mature and polished composition but the following "Baby Blue" and the overlong and underachieving "Perfection" are totally different sides of the coin. "Name of the Game" is Ham's big ballad of the set and it's a bold enough venture but suffers under Beatle George's direction and ends up sounding like a mid 70's Harrison standard, "Day After Day" suffers a similar fate and even features the former Beatle on slide guitar. "Day After Day" was a big selling single for the band but it kind of never feels finished to me, its a good track but only the foundations of a song that could have been a classic with a little further scope and invention. Joey Molland offers his live tour de force "Suitcase" which in this studio format is a pale shade of it's live incarnation but nevertheless like the equally strident and confident "Sometimes" it adds a little guts and drive to the set which is in short supply from the Ham and Evans corners. Molland's ballads aren't quite so appealing "Sweet Tuesday Morning" is inoffensive enough but suffers from a limp vocal, "I'd Die Babe" though is just a "going through the motions" bouncy but uninspiring pop trip.
Great sleeve this time, Badfinger never appeared the most photogenic of bands but the simple cover shot captures a wonderfully casual image of the band in what I guess was their heyday. All things considered it's another solid effort from the boys and just about edges out the previous set to keep the chain of progression moving in the right direction. Financial matters were unfortunately not moving at the same rate for the band and the sad tale of Badfinger was slowly beginning to manifest itself in background.
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(reviewed by Rob Eustace)
HIGH POINTS: Apple Of My Eye, Timeless, I Can Love You, Constitution, Icicles, Blind Owl. LOW POINTS: Cowboy
After edging his compositions onto the last album to stand shoulder to shoulder with Pete Ham, Joey Molland finds himself totally dominating Ass contributing five tracks, six if you include the excellent album outtake bonus track "Do You Mind". Shockingly Pete Ham is restricted to just two tracks here albeit that both are excellent, two tracks is also the allocation for Tom Evans and a return of a novelty tune this time from Mike Gibbins rounds up the album.
Ass opens with Pete Ham's "Apple Of My Eye" which is supposedly lyrically inspired by the bands departure from Apple Records, by the time Ass was finally released (1974 in the UK) the band had already recorded their debut for Warner Bros. If this is the case the track (wonderful as it is) is lyrically dire, you would have thought that Ham would have been inspired to write a "thank you" verse to the open arms of new label offering financial enticement and hope for the future rather than a sentimental ode to a label who it appears to me did very little to market and promote the band (according to reference material I have, none of the bands Apple albums even charted). Forget then if you can (and if correct) the trite apologetic lyrics to the label that is "the apple of Pete's heart" and you will find a beautifully crafted acoustic led ballad and a fine start to the album. Molland's run of tracks kicks off with the McCartney influenced piano / guitar boogie of "Get Away" sounding a little close to Ram's "Smile Away" in places but enjoyable nevertheless. "Icicles" is a really well rounded Molland ballad with some sweet and effective guitar work throughout but "The Winner" a third consecutive Molland track is less impressive, lyrically its inspiration is said to be Lennon, the sleeve notes admire Molland for throwing mud and releasing the track on the man's own label, it's lost on me I'm afraid.
"Blind Owl" is an excellent upbeat Tom Evans pop rocker which lifts the tempo once again and is craftily funky in places. Molland's "Constitution" borrows more than a little from "Helter Skelter" but hangs together just as well the White Album track, the only criticism being that it's woefully short and just at the point when the band start to rear off into freeform improvisation territory the track fades out. At under three minutes Molland must have surely been horrified at having such a dominant composition cropped and disfigured so that you are only left with a glimpse of what could have been. Tommy Evans "When I Say" is another incredibly good power pop outing, kicking off acoustically like a Zeppelin folky ballad but quickly developing into a wonderfully structured piece. The novelty Mike Gibbins "Cowboy" sounds as though it could have been written instinctively for Ringo, thankfully however the band don't let it sink that far and while a low point here it doesn't drop the standard to quite the same level that Mr Starkey did to the Beatle albums.
"I Can Love You" is Molland's peak from Ass, a truly sublime melody is equalled by a wonderfully laid back vocal which combine to deliver an often delicate but irresistible track, Molland had truly come of age on this album. Pete Ham's two tracks had the honour of opening, and in the case of "Timeless", closing the album. Like many of the tracks on Ass the influences are crystal clear and once more the band delve deep into the back catalogue the of the world's most successful recording artists, this time using Lennon's Abbey Road tour de force "I Want You (She's so Heavy)" as it's inspiration. Like the aforementioned track "Timeless" is haunting, plays at around seven minutes and twists and turns with a long heavy coda dressed up in the same kind of swirling effects that graced the Lennon original. For all it's similarities Ham still pulls it off by adding his own impeccable guitar work to the mix which is clearly Badfinger at it's darkest and not simply The Beatles at their heaviest.
Ass is a incredible album, constantly overlooked, criminally ignored and worthy of more than a little attention and recognition. To me it's clearly the strongest and most consistent Badfinger album, it stands above the two acclaimed Apple albums that went before, and it's far superior to the limp Warner's debut Badfinger that appeared only months later and even surpasses the much respected final Warner's release Wish You Were Here. Ass is an album that those who delight in the power pop of #1 Record and Radio City should seek out, Badfinger for whatever reason will never be regarded in the same light as Big Star, listening to Ass will surely prompt you to question that notion.
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(reviewed by Rob Eustace)
HIGH POINTS: Give it Up, Lonely You. LOW POINTS: Miss You, Love Is Easy, Song For A Lost Friend, My Heart Goes Out
Badfinger's switch to Warner Bros could have heralded a new beginning for the band, or so we are led to believe. I'm not convinced what difference the switch was ever going to make, aside from the initial financial advance that the new deal would offer of course. Album sales to date had been poor on the high profile Apple label due to a general neglect of the band in terms of promotion, there may have been options for the band expanding their fanbase stateside backed by Warner's but the bolt had already been shot in the UK and the market would always perceive Badfinger as the pretenders to the crown and a pale imitation at that.
History reveals that Badfinger was recorded before the final Apple album Ass was released. Ass hit the UK market in the March of 1974, Badfinger followed it onto the shelves in the June of the same year, two albums in such a short space of time from a band who had not released an album since December 1971 and seen little sales activity of any description in the interim period was not an overly optimistic move. The reality of the two albums was that the final Apple album was as fine a swan song to the label that the band could have hoped for, Badfinger on the other hand was a complicated and uneven mix of styles devoid of any of the majestic and imposing melodies found on Ass. The final Apple album was heavily influenced by the Messrs John, Paul, George and Ringo, probably more so than any other Badfinger album, but whilst some of the influences where a little too close for comfort the album managed to still retain it's own Badfinger identity through the songcraft and band performance particularly in the vocal and guitar depts.
Badfinger appears to take on a totally different set of rules by steering as far away as possible from any kind of Beatle association, it's as though they had left the label and were free make their own moves and seek their inspiration from within themselves or least from sources outside of those they were previously heavily associated with, the result is a difficult listen with Pete Ham being particularly disappointing here. The opening Ham piano led "I Miss You" is a simple and soulless ballad which initially promises much but ultimately delivers very little. The following Ham/Evans acoustic shuffle "Shine On" is better but only marginally and would I guess have been the obvious upbeat assessable single from the album, the kind of track your Mum might like. Unbelievably Warner's chose to release firstly "I Miss You" and then follow it up with Joey Molland's "Love is Easy", inevitably both bombed. "Love is Easy" sounds so unrehearsed it unbelievable to the point that at one stage Molland appears to be filling in for incomplete or forgotten lyrics by humming. Ham's "Matted Spam" is a brass backed jazzy guitar workout and works to a point, "Song for a Lost Friend" is one of his more unconvincing ballad's, however the lush "Lonely You" is somewhat of a return to form.
Tom Evans "Why don't we Talk" and "Where do we go from here" are a little lightweight compared to his impressive contributions on the previous two albums and Mike Gibbins folk influenced "My heart goes out" is an improvement on his previous ventures but still nothing to lift the momentum of the set. Joey Molland who had over the past albums slowly risen to potentially challenge Pete Ham's status as band leader continues to make up for some of the shortcomings elsewhere here. Molland had begun to establish himself as the harder edge of the band and that formula is continued here most impressively in the dark and light mix of minimalist verse and the rasping guitar heavy chorus and coda of "Give it Up" which must take the honour of key track on this album. The closing "Andy Norris" is again an upbeat driving Molland rocker and together with "Give it Up" these final two tracks can leave you with a false impression that the album is stronger than it actually is, however repeat plays all to quickly expose it's shortfalls. Molland's other track here aside from the earlier mentioned "Love is Easy" is the driving "Island" which sadly lacks the impact and bite of his stronger compositions.
Two albums in three months, and albums of such differing style and quality did nothing but cloud the market view of Badfinger and the admittedly stronger and critically acclaimed (but no more successful) Wish You Were Here appeared only four months later. All in all three 1974 albums all released in the UK not much more than six months apart kind of leaves a feeling that it was Badfingers last throw of the dice. Badfinger is the weakest of all the bands albums, it feels rushed and untested, under rehearsed and unimaginative and if this had been handed as homework, "could do better" would surely have been the assessment.
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(reviewed by Rob Eustace)
HIGH POINTS: Meanwhile Back at the Ranch/Should I Smoke, Dennis, Love Time. LOW POINTS: Know One Knows, Got To Get Out Of Here
74 certainly was a frantic year for Badfinger with three albums issued in the UK in little over six months. Wish You Were Here is the third of those albums and is generally a highly regarded set (in Badfinger terms anyway) and a regular fan favourite. It’s the second and final Warner Bros album and the last to feature the definitive band line up as Molland choose to jump ship to form Natural Gas soon after. The first Warner Bros release Badfinger appeared a rushed and disjointed album seeing the band take their first backward step following the previous, hugely underrated, final Apple album Ass.
Wish You Were Here is a relative return to form, it’s a soundly produced exercise in very even, well balanced, and effectively sequenced pop. The real harsh edges have been cast aside for this album and there’s not really a hint of heaviness about the entire set. My main criticism of the album would be that it lacks a little of the diversity that heavier workouts like “Constitution”, “Timeless”, “Give it Up” added to the earlier albums. I kind of liked those heavier moments from the back catalogue even if they were often slanted re-workings of late period Beatle favourites. There are some upbeat power pop themes to be found here, but all are largely friendly and easily assessable on the average listeners ear.
So is Wish You Were Here really the album many critics sight it as, and is it really the album that should have seen the band climb the ladder to greater success. Well I guess it's a whole lot better than Badfinger, but to me it doesn't touch Ass and only sits on a par with No Dice and Straight Up. The high points are found in Joey Molland's divine acoustic ballad "Love Time", Pete Ham's wonderfully structured, if lyrically flawed "Dennis", and the closing twin offering "Meanwhile Back at the Ranch / Should I Smoke". The low points Molland's painfully dreary "Got to Get out of Here" and Pete Ham's limp throwaway "Know One Knows". Pete Ham could knock off a good tune for sure, but lyrically he was always a lightweight, remember "Apple of My Eye" for starters. "Dennis" is flawed by simply awful lyrics and "Know One Knows" suffers the same fate, Ham could never surprise you with imaginative, unexpected or thoughtful lyrics, the "body song", "body soul" and "body light" lines are particularly cringe worthy moments from this set.
Tommy Evans, who had recently played second fiddle in the writing stakes at the expense of Joey Molland only manages to scrape one track onto this set and it isn't one of his best, "King of the Load" is pleasant enough melodically but it suffers from a mushy vocal and it's a pale shade of his Apple material. Mike Gibbins to his credit scores well here, "Your So Fine" is a nice up tempo country tinged workout and "In the Meantime" is pretty adventurous, I'm just not convinced over the orchestral arrangement though. Joey Molland's "Some Other Time" and Pete Ham's bright opener "Just a Chance" both keep the balance of the tracks on the up side and therefore in summing up it's generally another good 8 rating Badfinger album, it's just not the grand swan song that many claim it to be.
The album was never given much of a chance back in 74 after Warner's decided to withdraw it following more financial and contractual complications that sadly permanently surrounded the band during their brief career. In all honestly though would all the promotion in the world have made any difference to the bands profile??. Wish You Were Here is a solid album from an undervalued band, but don't be misled by the music press assessments of this album, it's not their strongest, and it's only on a par with their earlier Apple releases.
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