''Badfinger'' is the sixth studio album by British

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Badfinger Badfinger were a Welsh rock band formed in Swansea, who were active from the 1960s to the 1980s. Their best-known lineup consisted of Pete Ham (vocals, guitar), Mike Gibbins (drums), Tom Evans (bass), and Joey Molland (guitar). They are recog ...

. The album was recorded in autumn 1973 and released in 1974 on

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. It was the first of two albums released by the band on the Warner label. The cover art for the album shows a woman wearing a riding outfit and hat from the 1920s and smoking a cigarette in a

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Background

As Badfinger were completing work on their last album for

Apple Records Apple Records is a record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mar ...

, '' Ass'', the band's manager, Stan Polley, signed them to a three-year, six-album

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with Warner Bros. Records. 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.

Release and reception

Originally planned for release on 28 December 1973, the album was delayed due to ''Ass'' being issued that month. Although the album is technically untitled, it is referred to as ''Badfinger'' as this is its only identification outside its

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. 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 to Warner Bros. On release, ''Badfinger'' received an unfavourable review in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine. A British single released after the album, " Love Is Easy", failed to chart. A subsequent single issued in the US, " I Miss You", also failed. ''Classic Rock'' critic Rob Hughes rated "Lonely You" as Badfinger's 9th best song, saying it has "wistful piano, sensitive guitar shading and Pete Ham at his plangent best" but complaining that "inexplicably, it was overlooked as a single in favour of the inferior 'Love Is Easy' and 'I Miss You.'" In the

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, the album peaked at number 161 on ''

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''s Top 200 LPs & Tape listings, making it Badfinger's lowest-charting album there. Part of the reason for the poor commercial performance was that, due to litigation with Apple, this album and ''Ass'' came out within months of each other; in fact, in the UK, ''Badfinger'' actually preceded ''Ass''. The album was re-released on CD format in the 1990s in

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and

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only. The album was eventually issued on CD in the United States in 2007. Many tracks from this album have subsequently been released on various Badfinger compilation records and CDs. Real Gone Music released an "Expanded" version of the album 30 November 2018. A further expanded edition comprising 40 tracks including those from ''Wish You Were Here'' was released 3 January 2020 with the title ''Shine On 1974''. The album cover was designed by

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Track listing

Side one #" I Miss You" (

Pete Ham Peter William Ham (27 April 1947 – 24 April 1975) was a Welsh singer, songwriter and guitarist best known as a lead vocalist of and composer for the 1970s rock band Badfinger, whose hit songs include " No Matter What", " Day After Day" and " ...

) – 2:36 #"Shine On" (Ham, Tom Evans) – 2:52 #" Love Is Easy" (

Joey Molland Joseph Charles Molland (born 21 June 1947, Edge Hill, Liverpool) is an English songwriter and rock guitarist whose recording career spans five decades. He is best known as a member of Badfinger, the most successful of the acts he performed wit ...

) – 3:08 #"Song for a Lost Friend" (Ham) – 2:52 #"Why Don't We Talk?" (Evans) – 3:45 #"Island" (Molland) – 3:40 Side two #"Matted Spam" (Ham) – 3:09 #"Where Do We Go from Here?" (Evans) – 3:25 #"My Heart Goes Out" (

Mike Gibbins Michael George Gibbins (12 March 1949 – 4 October 2005) was a Welsh musician, most notable for being the drummer of Badfinger. Early life Mike Gibbins was born on 12 March 1949 in Swansea, Wales. He began playing drums at age 14, and joine ...

) – 3:16 #"Lonely You" (Ham) – 3:48 #"Give It Up" (Molland) – 4:34 #"Andy Norris" (Joey and Kathie Molland) – 2:59

2018 "Expanded" Real Gone Music version

#"I Miss You" #"Shine On" #"Love Is Easy" #"Song for a Lost Friend" #"Why Don't We Talk?" #"Island" #"Matted Spam" #"Where Do We Go from Here?" #"My Heart Goes Out" #"Lonely You" #"Give It Up" #"Andy Norris" #"Love My Lady" (Evans) (unreleased song outtake) #"Shine On" (work in progress mix) #"Song for a Lost Friend" (work in progress mix) #"Island" (work in progress mix) #"Matted Spam" (work in progress mix) #"Where Do We Go from Here?" (work in progress mix) #"My Heart Goes Out" (work in progress mix) #"Lonely You" (work in progress mix) #"Give It Up" (work in progress mix) #"Andy Norris" (work in progress mix)

Personnel

– guitar, piano, vocals * Tom Evans – bass, vocals *

– guitar, vocals *

– drums, vocals

Charts

References

{{Authority control Badfinger albums 1974 albums Albums produced by Chris Thomas (record producer) Warner Records albums Albums recorded at Olympic Sound Studios Albums recorded at AIR Studios