10 January 1975
Released: 10 January 1975
Recorded: July and December 1974
Producer: Chris Thomas
Track listing[1]
Side A
Lay Me Down
You're So Fine
Got to Get Out of Here
Know One Knows
King of the Load (T)
Rockin' Machine
Dennis
You're So Fine
Got to Get Out of Here
Know One Knows
King of the Load (T)
Rockin' Machine
Dennis
Side B
Just a Chance
In the Meantime (Some Other Time)
Saville Row Link
Love Time
Keep Believing
Back Again
Meanwhile Back at the Ranch (Should I Smoke)
In the Meantime (Some Other Time)
Saville Row Link
Love Time
Keep Believing
Back Again
Meanwhile Back at the Ranch (Should I Smoke)
Badfinger's eponymous album, their sixth overall, had been released on 1 February 1974, backed by the sole leading single "I Miss You"/"Shine On". It had managed to do a respectable #17 in the United Kingdom, but it was a dismal flop in the United States. The album had marked their first with producer Chris Thomas, who had also done some engineer work with the Beatles on albums such as Beatles '68 and Alice in Wonderland. Their next album with Thomas was intended to be released in December, but that same month, the band had returned to the studio following the initial July sessions (following a brief spring tour in Europe) to record a few new songs for possible inclusion.
JOEY MOLLAND: "We didn't know it when we began recording Head First in July, but when we did the final December sessions, we were certain that Badfinger was a spent force by that point. We just had to turn the album in to fulfill our contract with Apple." (1981)
Since Apple Records' formation in 1968, Badfinger had been a backbone for the label, achieving great success that almost rivaled the Beatles in their heyday up to 1971, alongside Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Elton John. In recent years, however, Badfinger was beginning to falter, most notably when putting out the self-produced Zoo at the end of 1972. The music landscape had greatly changed since 1970, and it seemed as though Badfinger had become irrelevant in favor of reggae, funk and soul music. It was better to burn out than to fade away.
Head First was the first album released under Apple Records in 1975, on 10 January. It was Badfinger's least impressive album performance wise, having decided not to tour in support of the record because of the breakup. As a result, the album only managed to reach #39 in the United Kingdom, and the sole single, "Lay Me Down"/"Queen of Darkness" (non-album B-side), did no better at #35. Neither the album nor the single charted in the United States.[2]
Badfinger was officially over, but it wasn't all bad news.
PETE HAM: "By that point, I wasn't interested in making music anymore. My heart just wasn't in it. Of course, I still wanted to be involved in the music industry and Apple itself, and so I told George [Harrison] that I wanted to become a record producer instead. Highway 61 Records was slowly taking off after it was launched forty years ago, and it needed people behind the console to produce potential hits." (2003)
Pete Ham wasn't the only person signed up to Highway 61 Records as a producer; Dave Edmunds and ex-Monkees member Peter Tork had been brought in to produce potential hit artists in 1973, and most recently, Dennis Wilson had also been brought into the portfolio, following the dissolution of the Passions. Throughout the past year, Highway 61 had brought in Alice Cooper, Supertramp, Nigel Olsson, Neil Sedaka, Tina Turner, Solution, and most famously, Tom Petty and his band Mudcrutch.
August 15, 1975
Tom Petty & Mudcrutch - Tom Petty & Mudcrutch
JOEY MOLLAND: "We didn't know it when we began recording Head First in July, but when we did the final December sessions, we were certain that Badfinger was a spent force by that point. We just had to turn the album in to fulfill our contract with Apple." (1981)
Since Apple Records' formation in 1968, Badfinger had been a backbone for the label, achieving great success that almost rivaled the Beatles in their heyday up to 1971, alongside Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Elton John. In recent years, however, Badfinger was beginning to falter, most notably when putting out the self-produced Zoo at the end of 1972. The music landscape had greatly changed since 1970, and it seemed as though Badfinger had become irrelevant in favor of reggae, funk and soul music. It was better to burn out than to fade away.
 |
| Joey Molland and Pete Ham performing live with Badfinger, 1974. |
Badfinger was officially over, but it wasn't all bad news.
PETE HAM: "By that point, I wasn't interested in making music anymore. My heart just wasn't in it. Of course, I still wanted to be involved in the music industry and Apple itself, and so I told George [Harrison] that I wanted to become a record producer instead. Highway 61 Records was slowly taking off after it was launched forty years ago, and it needed people behind the console to produce potential hits." (2003)
Pete Ham wasn't the only person signed up to Highway 61 Records as a producer; Dave Edmunds and ex-Monkees member Peter Tork had been brought in to produce potential hit artists in 1973, and most recently, Dennis Wilson had also been brought into the portfolio, following the dissolution of the Passions. Throughout the past year, Highway 61 had brought in Alice Cooper, Supertramp, Nigel Olsson, Neil Sedaka, Tina Turner, Solution, and most famously, Tom Petty and his band Mudcrutch.
August 15, 1975
Released: August 15, 1975
Recorded: 1971, 1974 - 1975
Producer: George Harrison and Pete Ham
Track listing[3]
Side A
Lost in Your Eyes
Don't Do Me Like That
Makin' Some Noise
Up in Mississippi Tonight
I Can't Fight It
Don't Do Me Like That
Makin' Some Noise
Up in Mississippi Tonight
I Can't Fight It
Side B
Cry to Me
Since You Said You Loved Me
On the Street
Another Lonely Night
Depot Street
Since You Said You Loved Me
On the Street
Another Lonely Night
Depot Street
TOM PETTY: "We were signed onto Highway 61 back in '74. Mike [Campbell], Benmont [Tench], Randall [Marsh], Danny [Roberts] and I were looking for a record contract in Los Angeles, and who should sign us up but George Harrison himself!" (1996)
MIKE CAMPBELL: "George did some test recording with us upon signing us up and could tell that we had great potential to be great artists. The initial sessions for our debut album were in 1974, but then they stopped when George went played live with the Ladders and Elton John. Luckily, he didn't forget about us and called in Pete Ham to finish the job he'd started." (2010)
The only recording outside of the 1974 and 1975 sessions was Tom Petty and Mudcrutch's first single, "Up in Mississippi Tonight", released in 1971 under Pepper Records. Its B-side, "Cause Is Understood", did not make it onto the album, and was not re-released until the CD reissue in 2001.
RANDALL MARSH: "Some of the songs had to be re-recorded when Pete Ham took over as producer, but I think the end result was worth it." (1983)
Tom Petty & Mudcrutch (#87 US) was released on August 15, 1975, with the production credit jointly shared between Harrison and Ham. The first single, "Depot Street"/"Wild Eyes" (non-album B-side), was released in June before the album but only reached #55 in the United States. However, the second single, "Don't Do Me Like That"/"Lost in Your Eyes", did much better, charting at #17 there and even managed to reach #38 in the United Kingdom. In retrospective years, the album was looked back as a modest start to Tom Petty's music career, and since its release, he has gone on to make even better albums and write up some greater songs.
But while Tom Petty & Mudcrutch was seen as a modest start for Tom Petty, many tend to overlook the fact that it was Pete Ham's first real success following the breakup of Badfinger. He had been seeing problems Apple had been facing at the time with a stagnating roster and wanted to make the effort to discover new, unknown artists for Highway 61.
Among Ham's first signings was a Canadian female-fronted band called Heart, led by sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson, and even produced their debut album Dreamboat Annie as well as the lead single "Magic Man"/"How Deep It Goes", which reached #9 in the United States. Following Heart's success, as well as approval from label president Jack Oliver, Ham would also go on to sign up Patti Smith and the Ramones to Highway 61. It was the beginning of the punk scene in the music world.
Dennis Wilson was also kept busy in singing up new artists. Most of his contributions in 1975 were signing up previously established artists in the music scene such as blues artist Dr. John, progressive rock band Genesis, Blue Öyster Cult, as well as ex-Faces member Rod Stewart. For both Ham and Wilson, their foresight would pay off as all would go on to achieve success in the future and even face a career revival in some cases, most notably Genesis and Rod Stewart. The only new signing that year not by either Wilson or Ham was Harry Nilsson, signed up by John Lennon.
19 September 1975
Electric Light Orchestra - Face the Music
MIKE CAMPBELL: "George did some test recording with us upon signing us up and could tell that we had great potential to be great artists. The initial sessions for our debut album were in 1974, but then they stopped when George went played live with the Ladders and Elton John. Luckily, he didn't forget about us and called in Pete Ham to finish the job he'd started." (2010)
The only recording outside of the 1974 and 1975 sessions was Tom Petty and Mudcrutch's first single, "Up in Mississippi Tonight", released in 1971 under Pepper Records. Its B-side, "Cause Is Understood", did not make it onto the album, and was not re-released until the CD reissue in 2001.
RANDALL MARSH: "Some of the songs had to be re-recorded when Pete Ham took over as producer, but I think the end result was worth it." (1983)
 |
| The members of Tom Petty & Mudcrutch, 1975. Not pictured: Benmont Tench. |
But while Tom Petty & Mudcrutch was seen as a modest start for Tom Petty, many tend to overlook the fact that it was Pete Ham's first real success following the breakup of Badfinger. He had been seeing problems Apple had been facing at the time with a stagnating roster and wanted to make the effort to discover new, unknown artists for Highway 61.
 |
| Nancy and Ann Wilson of Heart, 1975. |
Dennis Wilson was also kept busy in singing up new artists. Most of his contributions in 1975 were signing up previously established artists in the music scene such as blues artist Dr. John, progressive rock band Genesis, Blue Öyster Cult, as well as ex-Faces member Rod Stewart. For both Ham and Wilson, their foresight would pay off as all would go on to achieve success in the future and even face a career revival in some cases, most notably Genesis and Rod Stewart. The only new signing that year not by either Wilson or Ham was Harry Nilsson, signed up by John Lennon.
19 September 1975
Released: 19 September 1975
Recorded: May - June 1975
Producer: Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood
Track listing[4]
Side A
Fire on High
Brand New 88
Waterfall
I Dun Lotsa Cryin' Over You
Nightrider
Brand New 88
Waterfall
I Dun Lotsa Cryin' Over You
Nightrider
Side B
Rattlesnake Roll
Poker
Everyday I Wonder
Down Home Town
We're Gonna Rock 'n' Roll Tonight
Poker
Everyday I Wonder
Down Home Town
We're Gonna Rock 'n' Roll Tonight
The Electric Light Orchestra's fifth album, Face the Music, was preceded by the non-album single "Rattlesnake Roll"/"Strange Magic" (#14 US, #38 UK) and then followed up by "Evil Woman"/"Indiana Rainbow" (#10 US and UK), for September and December releases, respectively. The album itself would hit #8 in the United States and #27 in the United Kingdom, as well as marking the end of an era.
JEFF LYNNE: "Just two months after we finished recording for Face the Music, Roy called me up and said that he wanted a change. At first, I didn't know where he was coming from, but then he said to me that he wanted to leave the Orchestra and carve out a path for himself. By the end of August, Rick [Price] and Mike [Burney] had left the band as well and joined Roy to form Wizzo, and left Apple. There's no hard feelings between us, of course. We still hang out every now and again to catch up on the goings-on between us." (2000)
JEFF LYNNE: "Just two months after we finished recording for Face the Music, Roy called me up and said that he wanted a change. At first, I didn't know where he was coming from, but then he said to me that he wanted to leave the Orchestra and carve out a path for himself. By the end of August, Rick [Price] and Mike [Burney] had left the band as well and joined Roy to form Wizzo, and left Apple. There's no hard feelings between us, of course. We still hang out every now and again to catch up on the goings-on between us." (2000)
Face the Music received generally positive reviews from critics; for the tour supporting the album, many lamented the absence of Roy Wood and Rick Price, having been part of the band since its inception (Mike Burney had been part of the group since 1972), but it was still regarded as the turning point for ELO, which now had a bigger success in America. It was further exemplified the following year with A New World Record, which launched them into global success, making them one of the biggest bands of the 1970s.
Footnotes
- Tracks are sourced from Wish You Were Here (Badfinger) and Head First.
- In OTL, Head First remained unreleased until 2000, becoming their tenth album as opposed to their eighth. In addition, Joey Molland was replaced by Bob Jackson following the former's resignation from Badfinger, and Pete Ham took his own life just three days short of his 28th birthday.
- Seven of the tracks can be found on the 2000 box set Playback. "Lost in Your Eyes" can be found on the posthumous box set An American Treasure, and "Makin' Some Noise" and "Another Lonely Night" can both be found on the bootleg Mudcrutch and Solo Petty Outtakes.
- Tracks are sourced from OTL's Face the Music and Introducing Eddy and the Falcons, excluding "Rattlesnake Roll", taken from the 2000 reissue of Roy Wood's Mustard.
Author's Comments
A bit of a shorter chapter this time around, but it's fairly significant when it comes to the story's development. Badfinger has ended, but happily, Pete Ham's still with us and he's gained a new position at Highway 61 Records. But what'll become of the post-Ham Badfinger albums? Well, I figure that if there's no Pete Ham, then they probably can't be Badfinger albums. Maybe they'll exist in some capacity as a solo album for one of the members with Pete Ham producing, not dissimilar to how Joe Strummer produced for Mick Jones' album with Bad Audio Dynamite, No. 10, Upping Street.
As well as that, we're finally introduced to Tom Petty and Mudcrutch - Tom himself, Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Charlie Souza and Randall Marsh (taking the place of Ron Blair and Stan Lynch, respectively). Even though Mudcrutch broke up in 1975 in OTL, they still carried on under the Heartbreakers, or at least, Tom, Mike and Benmont did, almost like a metamorphosis. With Bob Dylan also at Highway 61 Records and George Harrison and Jeff Lynne at Apple, four of the five Wilburys are now all under the same banner - don't worry about Roy; they'll cross paths with him soon enough.
The next chapter will be up Monday the third, but before that, this Friday will come out with a post regarding the various ELO lineups up to 1975.
A bit of a shorter chapter this time around, but it's fairly significant when it comes to the story's development. Badfinger has ended, but happily, Pete Ham's still with us and he's gained a new position at Highway 61 Records. But what'll become of the post-Ham Badfinger albums? Well, I figure that if there's no Pete Ham, then they probably can't be Badfinger albums. Maybe they'll exist in some capacity as a solo album for one of the members with Pete Ham producing, not dissimilar to how Joe Strummer produced for Mick Jones' album with Bad Audio Dynamite, No. 10, Upping Street.
As well as that, we're finally introduced to Tom Petty and Mudcrutch - Tom himself, Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Charlie Souza and Randall Marsh (taking the place of Ron Blair and Stan Lynch, respectively). Even though Mudcrutch broke up in 1975 in OTL, they still carried on under the Heartbreakers, or at least, Tom, Mike and Benmont did, almost like a metamorphosis. With Bob Dylan also at Highway 61 Records and George Harrison and Jeff Lynne at Apple, four of the five Wilburys are now all under the same banner - don't worry about Roy; they'll cross paths with him soon enough.
The next chapter will be up Monday the third, but before that, this Friday will come out with a post regarding the various ELO lineups up to 1975.
With the ELO album, great job again as always. And a hearty hello to Mudcrutch, cool to see the band carry on in this manner.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant closing for Badfinger's career, you turned my favourite album of theirs (Wish You Were Here) and made it even better. It's also truly great to see Pete content with his life and carving out a long and fruitful career in producing! I just thought of an idea - what would you think of the idea of the other 3 members joining other bands?
1. Instead of Kelly Groucutt, Tom Evans replaces Rick Price in ELO?
2. Mike Gibbins becomes the longtime drummer for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young?
3. Phil Collins has stated in retrospect that people began to hate him due to the overexposure of his music both as a solo artist and in Genesis at the same time. He also said he didn't want to be the lead singer of the group, but only did so because they couldn't find anyone else. So I suggest that maybe Joey Molland could join the group in 1975 as the new lead vocalist and as a 2nd guitarist? These are all just ideas so you don't have to use them, but at least tell me what you think of them. :)
Also, you mentioned that the Passions disbanded, roughly when do you think this would happen?
I like the idea of Mike Gibbins being the new drummer for CSNY; I'll probably include that for one of the next chapters. I'll have to do more reading on Joey Molland to see how well he'll fit into Genesis, and as for Tom Evans? Well, I've already got the ELO lineups up to 1975 written out, but I may have him cross paths with Jeff Lynne at some point. Maybe as a touring member?
DeleteAnd as for the Passions disbanding? I figure it's around 1974, sometime after a final tour across North America.
Thanks for your reply! Glad to hear you like some of the ideas, although since I've had time to think about it, I do agree with your points and would like to make some changes to my original ideas. Pete's life trajectory has pretty much been sorted out now that he is a record producer. But poor Tom's hasn't yet. I feel it would be best if we swapped Tom and Joey's original places in the ideas. By that I mean:
DeleteTom would make a better vocalist/guitarist for Genesis because he has a higher range than Joey, is more accustomed to co-writing songs with other people than Joey, and Tom had a sad ending to his life. By having him in 1975 (and Daryl Stuermer in 1977 replacing Steve Hackett, as a full member rather than sideman) join the band, he will be happier, have an outlet for his songs and get to be in a band of friends.
Also, following Badfinger, Joey was able to make a reasonable career for himself, so I feel that his life could go on as OTL, with the exception of maybe having him as a touring member of ELO or something similar like you suggested.
Finally, you mentioned Pete could produce a solo album out of the OTL post-Ham Badfinger albums. I think Joey could still form a band not called Badfinger, as was originally intended when Joe Tansin and Kenny Harck asked him to form a band with them. Their first album released in 1979-81 ish could be called "Say No More", after Molland's song "No More". Pete might not produce it, as it is well documented that Joey didn't get along with some members of Badfinger post break up.
However, Pete would definitely produce Tom Evans' debut solo album released in 1979-81 called "Airwaves", named after the song of the same name. It would be recorded during the break that Genesis had in OTL in 1979 so Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks could do solo albums and Phil could work on his marriage problems. Mike Gibbins might even play drums on the album, making a de-facto Badfinger reunion album.
Well, that's my rant finished! Again sorry for writing a lot but this TL is really fascinating and you are a wonderful writer! :)
Yeah, I think Tom Evans could be a better fit to Genesis; I'll need to figure out which of his post-1975 songs best fit the Genesis songs. I'll also see what I can do with the Joey Molland's 1979-81 album and the Tom Evans solo album.
DeleteWould be fun to see Pete Ham producing a Big Star record!
ReplyDeleteYeah, a shame they broke up too early.
Delete