Badfinger’s three Beatles-related songs
Badfinger were one of the first bands signed to the Beatles’ new Apple record label in the late 1960s. In a previous incarnation they were known as The Iveys and enjoyed a moderate hit in Europe with the song Maybe Tomorrow. However, Apple’s hierarchy decided that Iveys as a band name was not in line with the band’s new power-pop direction and was considered trite for the time. The Beatles’ road manager Neil Aspinall stepped in and suggested the new name Badfinger (allegedly a reference to the Beatles song With A Little Help From My Friends, which boasted the working title Bad Finger Boogie).
Badfinger’s association with The Beatles at the time brought them great praise, but it also haunted them somewhat, as comparisons to the Big Four became repetitive and tiresome for the main songwriters, Pete Ham and Tom Evans. They went on to enjoy some success in the US for the next three or four years, but were hampered by the poor management contracts they signed along the way. The endless stream of negative fallout stemming from these signings caused enormous strain within the band and proved toxic to their careers.
The first of three Badfinger songs to have a direct Beatles connection gave them their biggest UK hit:
* Come And Get It – From the Magic Christian Music album, the song was written by Paul McCartney and the eventual recording is almost a mirror image of McCartney’s demo version on which he plays all the instruments. It charted in the top ten worldwide, labeling them the “new Beatles” (for better or for worse).
* No Matter What – from the album No Dice, originally produced by Beatles roadie Mal Evans until final production was completed by one of the Beatles’ regular engineers since 1966, Jeff Emerick. There was no doubt that they had achieved a much heavier sound here than anything they had done as The Iveys. Outstanding lead vocal from Pete Hamm, who has drawn favorable comparisons to Lennon and many other heavy rockers of the time, such as Paul Rogers of Free and Ian Gillen of Deep Purple.
* Day After Day – from the 1971 album Straight Up, originally produced by George Harrison, whose involvement was suddenly cut short due to his Concert For Bangladesh commitments. Final production credit went to Todd Rundgren. To my ear, it sounds like the track’s crisp slide guitar could only belong to George.
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