Badfinger (album)

Badfinger is the fifth album by rock band Badfinger. The album was recorded in autumn 1973 and released in 1974 on Warner Bros. Records. It was the first of two albums released by the band on the Warner label. The cover art for the album is a woman wearing a riding outfit and hat from the 1920s and smoking a cigarette in a cigarette holder.

History

As Badfinger was completing work on its last album for Apple, Ass, Badfinger's manager, Stan Polley, signed the band to a three-year, six-album deal with Warners. As a result, shortly after the band and producer Chris Thomas completed recording of Ass, they found themselves back in the studio making a new album for Warner.

Although the album is technically untitled, it is referred to as Badfinger as this is its only identification outside its matrix number. The intended title, For Love Or Money, was rejected by the label at the time of production and was never used. The intended title referred to Badfinger's label change from Apple Records to Warner Brothers.

Like Ass, Badfinger received weak reviews in the influential American music magazine Rolling Stone upon its release. A UK single released prior to the album, "Love Is Easy", failed to chart. A subsequent single released in the US, "I Miss You", also failed.

The album only reached #161 in the Billboard Hot 200, making it Badfinger's lowest charting album. Part of the reason for the poor chart performance was that, due to litigation with Apple Records, this album and Ass came out within months of each other; in fact, in the UK, Badfinger actually came out before Ass.

The album was re-released on CD format in the 1990s in Japan and Germany only. The album was eventually released on CD in the United States in 2007. Many tracks from this album have subsequently been released on various Badfinger compilation records and CDs.

Track listing

Side one

1. "I Miss You" (Ham) - 2:36
2. "Shine On" (Ham, Evans) - 2:52
3. "Love Is Easy" (Molland) - 3:08
4. "Song for a Lost Friend" (Ham) - 2:52
5. "Why Don't We Talk?" (Evans) - 3:45
6. "Island" (Molland) - 3:40

Side two

1. "Matted Spam" (Ham) - 3:09
2. "Where Do We Go from Here?" (Evans) - 3:25
3. "My Heart Goes Out" (Gibbins) - 3:16
4. "Lonely You" (Ham) - 3:48
5. "Give It Up" (Molland) - 4:34
6. "Andy Norris" (J & K Molland) - 2:59

Personnel

• Pete Ham – guitar, piano, vocals
• Tom Evans – bass, vocals
• Joey Molland – guitar, vocals
• Mike Gibbins – drums, vocals

Sources

Dan Matovina, Without You: The Tragic Story Of Badfinger.