 | Badfinger: Encyclopedia II - Badfinger - Warner Brothers
Badfinger - Warner Brothers
Merely six weeks after the Ass sessions were completed, Badfinger entered the studio to begin recording the material for their first Warner Brothers release, Badfinger. Neither Ass nor Badfinger were well-received by music critics, but owing to Badfinger's overwork, their lackluster quality can perhaps be understood in context. Badfinger and its two accompanying singles, "Love Is Easy" and "I Miss You," also did not reach chart positions. Badfinger did manage to consolidate some U.S. fan support in 1974, and reception of the band's performances on tour were generally favorable. Their live Cleveland Agora performance from March 1974, although a subject of controversy due to Molland's later studio overdubbing, is representative of the band's onstage energy at that time.
Following the group's last American tour, Badfinger recorded Wish You Were Here at the Caribou Ranch recording studio in Colorado. Unlike its last two albums, Badfinger's Wish You Were Here received exceptional reviews upon its release in 1974.
Internal friction continued to mount within Badfinger. Molland's wife began taking a more assertive role in the band's politics, advocating a complete break with Polley. This advocacy did not endear her to Molland's bandmates, particularly Ham. Just before the band began rehearsals for their October 1974 U.K. tour supporting British group Man, Ham left Badfinger to focus on his songwriting. Publicly, he expressed disgust over in-fighting, money disputes, and songwriting credits. Ham was temporarily replaced by guitarist/keyboardist Bob Jackson. However, just before the 1974 tour began, Ham rejoined the group. Jackson remained as full-time keyboardist, making the band a short-lived quintet. After the tour, Molland quit the band due to disagreements about how to handle the management situation.
With Polley's urging, Badfinger reconvened to record a quick follow-up to Wish You Were Here, shortly after the album was released. Head First was assembled during two tense weeks of recording sessions in early December 1974 at Apple Studios. Badfinger's line-up now consisted of Ham, Evans, Jackson and Gibbins. Warner Brothers, which was now inquiring about missing escrow money and was becoming suspicious of Polley, rejected the album and simultaneously initiated legal proceedings against Badfinger Enterprises, Inc., which was run by Polley. As a result of this legal fray, Wish You Were Here was removed from store shelves.
Head First became lost in more than a figurative sense, since Warner Brothers never returned the 16-track masters to the band. However, Bob Jackson had retained a copy of the rough mix completed by engineer Phil McDonald on 15 December 1974. This tape is the basis of the 2000 Snapper release of Head First. In reference, biographer Dan Matovina wrote in detail about the events surrounding Head First.
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 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Warner Brothers", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
