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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 fell victim to some of the worst elements of the music industry, resulting in its two principal singers and songwriters committing suicide in 1975 and 1983.
BiographyThe IveysBadfinger originated out of Swansea, South Wales in 1962 as The Panthers; the prominent lineup containing apprentice electrician Pete Ham (lead guitar) Ron Griffiths (bass guitar), Roy Anderson Drums, and David 'Dai' Jenkins (guitar). After a handful of moniker changes they settled in 1964 as The Iveys, named after a street called Ivey Place in Swansea, Wales. By March 1965, Mike Gibbins had joined as the drummer and the band graduated to backing locally such U.K. national groups 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 of 1966, the band had been taken on by a manager named Bill Collins and rented 7 Park Avenue, Golders Green, London, for the whole band to live in.[last= ] They performed briefly as a backing band for David Garrick ("Dear Mrs. Applebee") and as themselves across the U.K. landscape. In 1967, Jenkins was asked to leave the group due to a lack of seriousness and was replaced by Liverpudlian guitarist Tom Evans of Them Calderstones.
As a well-received stage act on the London circuit, performing a wide range of covers from Motown, Blues, Soul to Top 40, Psychedelia pop, and Beatles, The Iveys 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. However, it was not until Mal Evans, the longtime "roadie" for The Beatles and an employee of their Apple label, took up their cause that they were finally signed to Apple Records on 23 July 1968, the first artists signed to the label. Griffiths later said in Mojo magazine interview: "The ultimate goal was to get was to get a recording contract, but to get one from Apple was really exciting. Yet we were still living at Golders Green, getting £8 a week each."[last= ] Mal Evans had pushed several demo tapes of the group to each of the individual Beatles and got approval for signing them from Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon, who couldn't believe they were recorded on a sound-on-sound 2-track tape recorder.
The Iveys released their first single worldwide, "Maybe Tomorrow" (a Tom Evans song), in late 1968. It reached the Top Ten in a number of European countries and Japan, but only rated #67 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It also failed to chart in the U.K. An Evans composition, "Storm in a Teacup", was included in an Apple EP produced to promote Walls Ice Cream, along with songs by James Taylor, Mary Hopkin and Jackie Lomax.
Due to the chart success of "Maybe Tomorrow" in Europe and Japan, a follow-up Iveys single was released in July of 1969, "Dear Angie" (a Griffiths song), but only in those markets.
McCartney gave The Iveys a 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 for the band, as well as the group's original compositions of "Carry On Till Tomorrow" (commissioned as the
Griffiths left the group shortly after these sessions. Reportedly, the primary reason was because he was the only married occupant of the communal band home, now raising a child there, and this created some friction, mainly between his wife, Evans and manager Collins. Griffiths officially was out of the picture by the beginning of November 1969.
Badfinger: The Apple yearsIn October 1969, while the release of "Come and Get It" pending, the band and Apple Records agreed that a name change was 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.
The name Badfinger was suggested by Apple's Neil Aspinall; a reference to "Bad Finger Boogie", an early working title of Lennon's "With a Little Help from My Friends", so-called because Lennon had composed the melody on a piano using his middle finger, after having hurt his forefinger.
For over a month the group had unsuccessfully auditioned bass guitarists to replace Ron Griffiths and with the release date of "Come and Get It" fast approaching, Badfinger hired Liverpudlian guitarist Joey Molland (previously with Gary Walker & The Rain, Masterminds, and The Fruit-Eating Bears) at the last minute, which required Evans to shift to bass.
"Come and Get It" was released in December 1969 in the U.K. and January 1970 in the U.S. It reached the 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." but rejected by Apple. Geoff Emerick then took over as producer; completing the album by late July 1970.
While in America in April 1970 and scouting prospects for a tour, 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 first started recording its third album with Geoff Emerick as producer; however the album was rejected by Apple. George Harrison 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 due to his Bangladesh commitments and the album was then completed by Todd Rundgren.[last=Sanford ] Straight Up was released in the U.S. in December of 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" (U.K.) 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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