Badfinger

[scarygroover]

anybody have any info on the recording equipment, studios, techniques used in the recording of badfinger's records? I have been really into them lately and was curious.

-scarygroover

[sad iron]

I am not 100% on this, but I am pretty sure that they did some of their recording @ Air London in the 70s. I know that Air London had a Neve console back then. It now lives in Brooklyn @ mission sound. My old band made a record there and the board is quite nice.

Badfinger-most traguc story in rock? It's got my vote.

[scarygroover]

perhaps... achingly beautiful stuff nonetheless.

Happy holiday!!

[Randall]

somehow I missed out on the tragedy angle, fill me in

[flatcat]

Wish You Were Here was done at Caribou. A lot of the other stuff was done at AIR or at Apple, I think. I'm skimming through the book 'Without You' to see what I can see, but there's not a lot of technical information....some of the first Warner Bros record was done at Olympic...looks like some stuff for Ass was done at a place called Morgan in London...

Oh. I'm an idiot. There's a studio sessions log towards the end of the book...

Magic Christian - IBC and EMI
No Dice - EMI and Trident
Straight Up - EMI, Air, Morgan, Apple
Ass - The Manor, Trident, Air, Olympic
Badfinger - Olympic, a little at EMI and Air
Wish You Were Here - Caribou and Air

The last stuff Pete Hamm did with them before he killed himself was at Apple and at the Record Plant. I don't know if that was the Say No More stuff (I don't have that one, actually).

They were so great...I loved them. I have all the albums on LP. What a shame. So, so sad.

[swingdoc]

somehow I missed out on the tragedy angle, fill me in

Short story:
two suicides and horrible contract disputes.

Longer story:
Badfingers first 4 albums were recorded with Apple records. Then they switched to Warner Brothers. The contract required albums very quickly.
"Ass" followed by "Badfinger" in just a few months, neither of which soared.
Got pushed to do another, "Wish you were here" was their third WB album and had some good tunes. Warner Brothers however filed a lawsuit against the band for profits dispute. Despite the album looking promising, it was pulled just a month from its release. Right after this Joey Molland (vocals, guitar) left the band, and the band recorded another album "Head First". But because of the contiued lawsuit, WB refused to release this new album as well. 2 months later, Peter Ham (vocals guitar, keys) hung himself (4/75).
The band rested for four years. They got back together and put together two more records, but never really recovered. In 1983, Tom Evans (vocals, bass) also killed himself.
Many of their songs were finally released after their deaths.
Their music is still some of the most passionate and heartfelt tunes around. Awesome writing, wonderful live feel type recordings, not perfect, but a great vibe. Gotta love Badfinger, but hate the tragedy.
Mark

[flatcat]

Just to add about the albums - Ass was their last album for Apple. Badfinger and Wish You Were Here were the two they did with WB with Pete Ham. As for the contract requiring the records quickly, that's not what Dan Matovina says in his book 'Without You' - basically, he says their business manager, Stan Polley, forced the band back into the studio immediately after record releases to record again so that he could collect (and pocket) the advance money. WB sued him eventually, I think. Their contracts with Polley, according to this book, were written in such a way that they weren't able to get any money at all from their work - it all went through Polley.

Among the many horrible and sad ironies relating to Badfinger was that 'Without You' won a Song of the Year award from ASCAP when it was re-recorded by Mariah Carey in the early 90s - and the two guys who wrote the song - Pete Ham and Tom Evans - had both killed themselves because of stuff relating to the band.

[scarygroover]

Yeah I am just so into them right now. I read the book "without you" because I found it in a shelf at our studio. It got me wondering and now I have "straight up" and "no dice" which I live..

which is the next best one to get?

[endofanera]

Yeah I am just so into them right now. I read the book "without you" because I found it in a shelf at our studio. It got me wondering and now I have "straight up" and "no dice" which I live..

which is the next best one to get?

Those two are the best by far. I'd be inclined to get "Magic Christian Music" next, but some of the post-Apple stuff is good, too. I never really liked "Ass" that much, but mebbe I need to give it another listen.

[flatcat]

I don't think Ass is available on CD...

A lot of people seem to think that 'Wish You Were Here' was their real high water mark - they themselves thought it kind-of most sounded like them - a little harder, a little more rocking, than the hits they had.

Wish You Were Here is really a great record.

[NewYorkDave]

Badfinger! Wow... I had tickets to see them sometime around the late '70s, or maybe it was 1980. (It's been a LONG time). But the tour was cancelled.

[Seej]

Ass is available on cd as a Canadian and Euro import, but I'd reccommend the bootleg called Complete Ass, which you can find on eBay cos its better quality than the offical release and has more stuff on it like alternate mixes and versions.

ScaryGroover, get Wish You Were Here. Straight Up is nothing compared to it. Great album, man.

And to all us BFR fans in the Chicago area, Joey Molland will be at the Chicago Beatlefest in August. I met Mike at the fest in '01. Great bloke. He told me that you can have a crappy drum set and still be a good drummer. I still have my crappy TKO drum set, thanks to him.

[scarygroover]

hey seej, thanks. I 'll get wish you were here next.