Head First is the tenth and final studio album by British rock band Badfinger, released on 14 November 2000. It was recorded over 25 years earlier at the Beatles' Apple Studios in London, but was not released at the time. Originally intended to be Badfinger's third LP under its six-album contract with Warner Bros. Records, the recordings were shelved when legal difficulties erupted between the band and the label.
The version that was finally released in 2000 was a rough mix of the album made in December 1974 by Phil McDonald, one of the recording engineers at Apple Studios. Head First was released again on 13 December 2024, featuring a remix from the rediscovered master tapes by surviving member Bob Jackson and musician Andy Nixon.[2]
History
After the recording of Badfinger's previous album, Wish You Were Here, founding member Pete Ham decided to quit Badfinger. To replace him, the band added keyboardist/guitarist Bob Jackson and started rehearsals for a U.K. tour supporting the Welsh band Man. During rehearsals, Ham decided to rejoin the group after advice from Warner Brothers. The tour ended up as a quintet, during which long-time member Joey Molland decided to quit the group after the tour ended. Following the tour, Badfinger was told by its management to go back in the studio to record another new album. Their American manager Stan Polley hired producers Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise, who had just become successful by producing Kiss.
The remaining members of Badfinger recorded Head First in just two weeks. Rough mixes were made at Apple Studios by engineer Phil McDonald the day after sessions ended on 16 December 1974, and further remixes were made in Los Angeles by producers Kerner and Wise between 19–24 January 1975, in an effort to get the album released as soon as possible. A photo session took place in February 1975 and artist Peter Corriston sketched a picture of a lion for the potential album cover design.
The difficult circumstances that surrounded Badfinger at this time contribute to the album's tone and provide the theme for at least two of its songs. In particular, an investigation by WB's publishing division discovered that approximately $100,000 was missing from a Badfinger escrow account related to music publishing. Inquiries made by WB as to the whereabouts of the money were reportedly met with silence by Polley, arousing suspicions within WB. Angered by what itclaimed to be a lack of cooperation, WB launched a "breach of contract" suit against Polley and Badfinger virtually simultaneously with the Head First recording sessions, which also sought to attach the royalties due from Wish You Were Here. Consequently, WB suspended sales of Wish You Were Here.
Although the master tapes of Head First were delivered to and accepted by WB's A & R division in Los Angeles, WB's publishing arm there refused to accept and publish the songs because of the lawsuit. With a lack of publishing protection, the A & R division shelved the tapes and the album was not released.
Unaware of the lawsuit at the time, the group had nevertheless argued amongst themselves regarding Polley's honesty and his handling of their money, factors which had contributed to Molland's departure. These sentiments came to the surface in the lyrics for at least two Head First tracks, "Rock and Roll Contract" and "Hey, Mr. Manager", which are indictments of Polley by bassist Tom Evans.
Badfinger became aware of the lawsuit in early 1975, simultaneous to a discontinuation of the group's salary checks from Polley. As financial turmoil mounted for the band members and its future became more uncertain, group leader Pete Ham committed suicide on 24 April 1975, only four months after the album was completed. Because of continuing financial difficulties related to Polley, which led Apple Records to also suspend the group's royalty payments and pull the group's albums from distribution, Evans later took his own life on 19 November 1983.
It appeared for many years that Head First would never be released, as the litigation between WB and Stan Polley remained unresolved, the master tapes had been misplaced, and the audio quality of known copies was so poor as to be unusable. However, four remixed songs from January 1975 for Head First — "Lay Me Down", "Passed Fast", "Keep Believing", and "Moonshine" — turned up on the original Rhino Records CD Best of Badfinger Vol. 2 (featuring Badfinger songs recorded for WB and Elektra after the band's departure from Apple Records), which was released in 1990. These songs were eventually removed from the CD after the unresolved litigation was brought to Rhino's attention.
Head First was finally released on CD in 2000 on Snapper Records, using the rough mix of the recordings that was prepared by Phil McDonald at the end of the recording sessions in December 1974, which was rediscovered in the late 1990s. This was the last Badfinger studio album to include Pete Ham and Mike Gibbins, and the only one to feature Bob Jackson as a group member.
In 2024, after years of inquiries, the original multi-track masters were found by WB (after having been digitized), so Jackson (the sole surviving member of this lineup), with musician Andy Nixon, remixed the entire album from scratch for a brand-new release just in time for the 50th anniversary of the album's recording sessions in December 1974. The new remixes were released in December 2024 by Y&T Music on both vinyl and CD, with booklets including song lyrics and original memorabilia related to the album’s recording sessions.[2]
Track listings
Original track listing
This was the track listing as listed on the original Apple Studio stereo mix tapes from 16 December 1974:
Side One
"Lay Me Down" – 3:35
"Turn Around" – 4:21
"Keep Believing" – 4:08
"Rockin' Machine" – 1:27
"Passed Fast" – 4:18
Side Two
"Savile Row" – 1:00
"Moonshine" – 3:55
"Rock and Roll Contract" – 4:39
"Back Again" – 2:55
"Mr. Manager" – 3:32
2000 Snapper edition
The original track listing was not used on the Snapper release. These are the 16 December 1974 mixes. "Savile Row" was edited by Dan Matovina. The songs on the second CD are demo bonus tracks.
CD 1
"Lay Me Down" (Ham) – 3:35
"Hey, Mr. Manager" (Evans) – 3:34
"Keep Believing" (Ham) – 4:09
"Passed Fast" (Evans/Jackson) – 4:19
"Rock 'N' Roll Contract" (Evans) – 4:44
"Savile Row" (Ham) - 0:36
"Moonshine" (Gibbins/Jackson/Evans) – 3:53
"Back Again" (Gibbins) – 2:54
"Turn Around" (Jackson) – 4:17
"Rockin' Machine" (Gibbins) – 1:32
CD 2
"Time Is Mine" (Ham) – 1:45
"Smokin' Gun" (Ham) – 1:22
"Old Fashioned Notions" (Gibbins) – 4:12
"Nothing to Show" (Ham) – 1:03
"You Ask Yourself Why" (Gibbins) – 2:17
"Keep Your Country Tidy" (Ham) – 2:23
"To Say Goodbye" (Jackson) – 3:46
"Queen of Darkness" (Evans) – 2:13
"I Can't Believe In" (Ham) – 2:10
"Thanks to You All" (Gibbins) – 2:41
"Lay Me Down" (Ham) – 2:55
2024 remix (Y&T Music, YT-35 vinyl)
This is the first officially released remix endorsed by the estates of Ham, Evans, Gibbins and surviving member, Bob Jackson:
Side One
"Lay Me Down" (Pete Ham) - 3:46
"Hey Mr. Manager" (Tom Evans) - 3:35
“Turn Around” (Bob Jackson) - 4:21
"Back Again" (Mike Gibbins) - 2:52
"Rock ’N’ Roll Contract" (Tom Evans) - 4:48
Side Two
"Keep Believing" (Pete Ham) - 4:12
"Moonshine" (Tom Evans, Bob Jackson, Mike Gibbins) - 3:51
"Rockin’ Machine" (Mike Gibbins) - 1:35
"Passed Fast" (Tom Evans, Bob Jackson) - 4:17
"Savile Row (2024)" (Pete Ham, Badfinger) - 1:50
2024 remix (Y&T Music, YT-35 CD)
"Lay Me Down" (Pete Ham) - 3:46
"Hey Mr. Manager" (Tom Evans) - 3:35
“Turn Around” (Bob Jackson) - 4:21
"Back Again" (Mike Gibbins) - 2:52
"Rock ’N’ Roll Contract" (Tom Evans) - 4:48
"Keep Believing" (Pete Ham) - 4:12
"Moonshine" (Tom Evans, Bob Jackson, Mike Gibbins) - 3:51
"Rockin’ Machine" (Mike Gibbins) - 1:35
"Passed Fast" (Tom Evans, Bob Jackson) - 4:17
"Savile Row (2024)" (Pete Ham, Badfinger) - 1:50 [citation needed]
Personnel
Pete Ham - guitar, electric piano, harmonica, vocals
Badfinger were a Welsh rock band formed in Swansea in 1961. Their best-known lineup consisted of Pete Ham (guitar), Mike Gibbins (drums), Tom Evans (bass), and Joey Molland (guitar). They are recognised for their influence on the 1970s power pop genre. It is estimated that the band sold 14 million records.
No Dice is the third studio album by British rock band Badfinger, issued by Apple Records and released on 9 November 1970. Their second album under the Badfinger name, but their first official album under that name, and first to include guitarist Joey Molland, No Dice significantly expanded the British group's popularity, especially abroad. The album included both the hit single "No Matter What" and the song "Without You", which would become a big hit for Harry Nilsson, and later a hit for Mariah Carey.
Straight Up is the fourth studio album by the Welsh rock band Badfinger, released in December 1971 in the United States and February 1972 in Britain. Issued on the Beatles' Apple record label, it includes the hit singles "Day After Day" and "Baby Blue", and the similarly popular "Name of the Game", all of which were written by singer and guitarist Pete Ham. The album marked a departure from the more rock-oriented sound of Badfinger's previous releases, partly as a result of intervention by Apple Records regarding the band's musical direction.
Peter William Ham 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 "Baby Blue". He also co-wrote the ballad "Without You", a worldwide number-one hit for Harry Nilsson that has become a standard covered by hundreds of artists. Ham was granted two Ivor Novello Awards related to the song in 1973.
Ass is the fifth studio album by British rock band Badfinger, and their last album released on Apple Records. The opening track, "Apple of My Eye", refers to the band leaving the label to begin its new contract with Warner Bros. Records.
Maybe Tomorrow is the debut album by British rock band Badfinger. Maybe Tomorrow is the only release under the band's original name as The Iveys. It was issued in 1969 on the Apple label in Japan, West Germany and Italy. Although the album was scheduled to be released worldwide, the release in the US and UK at that time was halted without explanation. Many reasons for halting the album have been suggested by the band and Apple employees, but the most common theory is that Apple's newly hired president, Allen Klein, stopped all non-Beatle releases on Apple until he could examine the company's finances, which were in disarray at the time.
Michael George Gibbins was a Welsh musician, most notable for being the drummer of Badfinger.
Robert Jackson is an English rock musician most famous for being a member of Badfinger from 1974–75 and 1981–83, and of The Fortunes from 1995–2019. He currently tours under the name Badfinger in the United Kingdom.
Wish You Were Here is the seventh studio album by rock band Badfinger and their third consecutive album produced by Chris Thomas. It was recorded in the spring of 1974 at Colorado's Caribou Ranch and released in November of that year on Warner Bros. Records. Wish You Were Here was the second and last album the band released on the Warner Bros. label.
"Come and Get It" is a song composed by English singer-songwriter Paul McCartney for the 1969 film The Magic Christian. The song was performed by Badfinger, produced by McCartney and issued as a single 5 December 1969 in the UK, and 12 January 1970 in the US, on the Beatles' Apple label. It was the band's first release under the Badfinger name and was their international breakthrough, hitting the top 10 in both the UK and US singles charts.
Badfinger is the sixth studio album by British rock band Badfinger. The album was recorded in autumn 1973 and released in 1974 on Warner Bros. Records. 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 cigarette holder.
Magic Christian Music is the second studio album by the British rock band Badfinger, released on 9 January 1970 on Apple Records. It was their first release under the Badfinger name, having previously released the album Maybe Tomorrow in 1969 under the name The Iveys. It includes the band's first international hit, "Come and Get It", written and produced for them by Paul McCartney.
Day After Day: Live is a CD release by Rykodisc in 1990 of live recordings made by the British rock group Badfinger in 1974.
"No Matter What" is a song originally recorded by Badfinger for their album No Dice in 1970, written and sung by Pete Ham and produced by Mal Evans.
Thomas Evans was an English musician. He is best known for his work as the bassist of the band Badfinger. He also co-wrote their 1970 song "Without You," which has been recorded by over 180 artists — most notably Harry Nilsson and Mariah Carey. Evans died by suicide in 1983, one of two members to do so.
Dan Matovina ) was an American record producer, recording engineer, video producer, publishing agent, author and curator who restored hundreds of hours of tapes by Beatles protegés, Badfinger and its precursor group, The Iveys, along with songwriting demos by Pete Ham and Tom Evans. His 1997 biography of the band, Without You: The Tragic Story of Badfinger, was considered one of the top rock biographies upon its release.
BBC in Concert 1972–1973 is a CD of live recordings by the British rock group Badfinger released in 1997 by Strange Fruit Records and then re-released in 2000 by Fuel 2000 Records. The recordings were made for the BBC in 1972 and 1973, in two separate concerts at the Paris Theatre in London. The album also includes a 1970 BBC recording of Badfinger's first Top 10 hit, "Come and Get It".
"Baby Blue" is a song by Welsh rock band Badfinger from their fourth studio album, Straight Up (1971). The song was written by Pete Ham, produced by Todd Rundgren, and released on Apple Records. As a single in the US in 1972, it went to #14.
"Maybe Tomorrow" is a song composed and sung by guitarist Tom Evans of The Iveys, which was released as the group's first worldwide single on Apple Records. It also served as the title track for the album Maybe Tomorrow, and it was also included on the Badfinger album Magic Christian Music released in 1970.
"Apple of My Eye" is a song recorded by the rock/pop band Badfinger for inclusion on their 1973 album, Ass. The song was written and sung by Pete Ham, produced by Chris Thomas and Badfinger, and released on Apple Records.
Dan Matovina, Without You: The Tragic Story of Badfinger, 2nd ed., illustrated, revised, Frances Glover Books, 2000, ISBN0-9657122-2-2ISBN9780965712224
Head First (CD & LP) booklet, Y&T Music (YT-35), 2024
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