Badfinger released five albums at
Apple, three of which now are available on CD. They began as the Iveys with
Maybe Tomorrow, a debut which shows the group finding their feet. It’s full
of accessible pop tunes, with standout tracks like “See Saw Grandpa” and the
funky “Think About The Good Times”, but lack the real clout to make lasting
impression. The most iteresting moment comes with the uncharacteristically
heavy “I’ve Been Waiting”- the neares Iveys or Badfinger for that matter,
came to psychedelia. Sadly the group didn’t pursue that particular direction
any further. The reissue has four bonus cuts, “No Escaping Your Love”, “ And Her
Daddy’a A Millionaire”, and the previosly unreleased “ Mrs. Jones” and “Looking
For My Baby”.
After a line-up change which signalled a new direction, The Iveys
became Badfinger and began toughen up their sound. Their next release, though,
Magic Christian Music, Was still in effect an Iveys recording, and the
development was not immediatly apparant. In fact, the album fetured six songs
lifted wholesale-via a little remixing- from their previos collection. Of the
eight new tracks “Carry On Till Tomorrow”, and the raucous” Rock Off All Ages”,
and the McCartney penned Come And Get It, were featured in the zany Peter
Sellers/Ringo Starr comedy of the albums title. Neither the Albom nor the film
made much impression, but “Come And Get It ” launched Badfinger into top ten.
No Dice, the first propper Badfinger LP, followed less than a year after and
demonstrated a remarkable transformation. Now the group began to show its true
colours, carvin out their own niche within the no-frills , melodic rock genre.
Most of the excesses of early 70s self-indulgence had up to then passed by, and they relied instead on straightforward three minute pop songs like “ No Matter What”. The results were never less impressive, with Pete Ham’s and Tom Evans’ songs displaying a promising maturity. Perhaps as many as half-a-dozen tracks on No Dice were strong enough to go alone as singles.
But it took Harry Nilsson to pick the obvious hit “Without You”, which he turned
into an international million seller. Unfortunately for Badfinger they never
enjoyed such succes with their own recordings, and had to content to bask in
Nillson’s reflected glory. No Dice now features five bonus tracks all previously
unreleased: Get Down, Friends Are Hard To Find, Mean Mean Jemima, Loving You
and I’ll Be The One
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