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Badfinger was a rock band formed in Swansea, Wales in the early 1960s and was one of the earliest representatives of the power pop genre. During the early 1970s the band was tagged as the heir apparent to The Beatles, partly because of their close working relationship with the 'Fab Four' and partly because of their similar sound. However, Badfinger's two principal singers and songwriters committed suicide in 1975 and 1983.
BiographyThe IveysBadfinger originated in 1961 as a band out of Swansea, South Wales called The Panthers. The Panthers' lineup contained Pete Ham (lead guitar), Ron Griffiths (bass guitar), Roy Anderson (drums), and David 'Dai' Jenkins (guitar). After a handful of moniker changes, by 1964 they settled on The Iveys, named after a street in Swansea called Ivey Place.
In March 1965, Mike Gibbins joined as the drummer and the band graduated by also playing gigs around Swansea area opening for UK prominent groups such as the Spencer Davis Group, The Who, The Moody Blues and The Yardbirds.[ Matovina, Dan. Without You: The Tragic Story of Badfinger, Google Books, 2000. Retrieved 25 March 2008] By June 1966, they had been taken on by a manager named Bill Collins, who was renting a home at 7 Park Avenue, Golders Green, London, where the whole band moved in with another UK act called The Mojos.
As a well-received stage act on the London circuit, The Iveys performed a wide range of cover tunes from Motown, blues, soul to Top 40, psychedelic pop, and Beatles. They consistently garnered interest from record labels. Ray Davies of The Kinks auditioned to produce them by recording three of their songs at a demo studio in London, as Pye Records had encouraged him to do so. However, it was not until Mal Evans (the longtime "roadie" for The Beatles and an employee of their Apple Records label) took up their cause that they were finally signed on 23 July 1968, as the first non-Beatle recording artists for the Apple record company. Initially, Mal Evans had pushed several demo tape reels of the group to each of the individual Beatles and he received approval to sign them up from all four: Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon, the latter who was said could hardly believe they were recorded using a mono "sound-on-sound" tape recorder (two individual tracks bouncing each overdub on top of the last).
The Iveys first single was released worldwide, "Maybe Tomorrow" (a Tom Evans song), late in 1968. It did reach the Top Ten in a number of European countries (#1 in Holland) and Japan, but had only climbed to #67 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and failed to chart in the U.K. Another Evans composition, "Storm in a Teacup", was included in an Apple EP produced to promote Walls Ice Cream, with songs by other Apple artists such as James Taylor, Mary Hopkin and Jackie Lomax.
Because of the chart success of "Maybe Tomorrow" in Europe and Japan, a follow-up Iveys single was released in those territories in July 1969, "Dear Angie" (a Griffiths song).
McCartney gave The Iveys a needed boost when he offered them the chance to record and release "Come And Get It," a song he had written for the soundtrack of the film The Magic Christian. McCartney went on to produce the song, as well as the group's original compositions of "Carry On Till Tomorrow" (commissioned as the
Griffiths left the group shortly in October 1969. He was the only married occupant of the communal band home, now raising a new child, and this responsibility created some friction, mainly between Griffiths's new wife, Tom Evans and manager Collins. After he first quit and came back, the band soon agreed to force Griffiths out. He was out of the picture by November 1969.
Badfinger: The Apple yearsIn October 1969, while the release of "Come and Get It" was pending, the band and Apple Records agreed that a name change was now critical. "The Iveys" were still sometimes confused with "The Ivy League", and the name was considered too trite for the current music scene. After much debate, the group changed their name to Badfinger. Other suggestions had included: "The Glass Onion," "The Prix", and "The Cagneys" from John Lennon, and "Home" by Paul McCartney.
For over a month the group unsuccessfully auditioned band members to replace Ron Griffiths, chiefly bass players. With the release date of "Come and Get It" fast approaching, Badfinger finally hired Liverpudlian guitarist Joey Molland (previously with Gary Walker & The Rain, The Masterminds, and The Fruit-Eating Bears), which required Evans shift to bass guitar.
"Come and Get It" was released in December 1969 in the U.K. and January 1970 in the U.S. It reached Top 10 throughout the world, including #3 in the U.S. Billboard charts. The track was also featured in The Magic Christian film.
New Badfinger recording sessions commenced in March 1970 with Mal Evans producing. Two songs were completed and submitted for the next single, including "No Matter What." The song was rejected by Apple staff as a potential single. Geoff Emerick then took over as their producer and they completed the album by late July 1970.
While in America in April 1970 scouting prospects for a tour, manager Bill Collins was introduced to New York businessman Stan Polley. Polley eventually signed the group to a business management contract in November 1970.[last= ] Although Polley's professional reputation was touted at the time, his dubious financial practices would only later become known to the group and helped lead to their downfall.
Badfinger toured America for three months in late 1970 and were generally received well, although the group complained of constant comparison to The Beatles. For example, in his rave review of No Dice in 1970, Mike Saunders, a critic for Rolling Stone opined that "it's as if John, Paul, George, and Ringo had been reincarnated as Joey, Pete, Tom, and Mike of Badfinger." Media comparisons between Badfinger and The Beatles would continue throughout Badfinger's career.
During this time, various members of Badfinger also recorded on sessions for fellow Apple Records labelmates, most notably playing acoustic guitars on tracks from George Harrison's All Things Must Pass and providing backing vocals on Ringo Starr's single "It Don't Come Easy." Evans and Molland performed on John Lennon's album Imagine, and all four members of the band appeared as backup musicians throughout George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971, with Ham duetting with George Harrison on "Here Comes the Sun".
Badfinger finished recording its third album with Geoff Emerick as producer; however the album was rejected by Apple. George Harrison then took over as producer in spring of 1971.[Badfinger Biography bbc.co.uk/wales - Retrieved: 25 April 2007] Harrison later pulled out of the project because of his Bangladesh commitments and the album was then completed by Todd Rundgren.[last=Sanford ] Straight Up was released in the U.S. in December 1971 and spawned two successful singles: "Day After Day" (Billboard #4) and "Baby Blue" (#14). The album reached #31. It included some uncredited special guest appearances from George Harrison, Leon Russell and Klaus Voormann.
By 1972, the group was under contract to release only one more album with Apple Records. Despite Badfinger's success, Apple was facing troubled times overall and its operations were dwindling down. Label president Allen Klein informed Badfinger's management that the label would not be as generous regarding a new contract.
Badfinger's fourth and last album for Apple, Ass, had begun as far back as early 1972 and would continue at five recording studios over the next year. Rundgren, who was originally hired to produce, quit in a financial dispute during the first week; the band then produced itself, but Apple rejected that version of the album. Finally, Badfinger hired Chris Thomas to co-produce and complete the album. During the recording of Ass, Polley negotiated a deal with Warner Brothers Records that required an album from the group every six months over a three year period.
Badfinger: the Warner Brothers yearsSix weeks after the Ass sessions were completed, Badfinger entered the studio to begin recording material for their first Warner Brothers release titled Badfinger (the intended title, For Love Or Money, was excluded from the album pressings). Ass and Badfinger were released almost simultaneously and the accompanying singles from Badfinger, "Love Is Easy" (UK) and "I Miss You" (U.S.), were unsuccessful. Badfinger did manage to retain some U.S. fan support as a result of several American tours. One concert at the Cleveland Agora on March 4, 1974 was recorded on 16-track tape for a possible live album release, although the performance was deemed unsatisfactory at the time.
Following the American tours, Badfinger recorded Wish You Were Here at the Caribou Ranch recording studio in Colorado and AIR Studios in London.[last= ][
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