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Badfinger... who was the vocalist who sounds like Paul?

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Stephen Rosenbach

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Apr 6, 1999, 3:00:00 AM4/6/99
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In a fit of nostalgia, I recently bought a Best of Badfinger CD. I remember
first hearing "No Matter What" in 1970, and thinking that it was a
1964-vintage Beatles song that I had somehow missed.

My question is: Who is the Badfinger vocalist who sounded so much like Paul
McCartney? Now that I have the CD and was able to listen to many more songs
than I remember from the early '70s, it's even more striking to me.

I think the most Paul-sounding piece is the beginning of The Name of The
Game, but the striking resemblance is there on many songs.

I also wonder if this fellow naturally sounded like Paul, or did he
cultivate that sound?

The CD has 21 tracks - quite a bargain for about $15, I'd say. In the early
'70's, I only remember being aware of 3 Badfinger songs: No Matter What, Day
After Day, and Baby Blue. So I was surprised to find that they actually
recorded several dozen songs. All in all, I'd judge them to be a pretty good
band.

Being a big Beatles fan, I especially like the Beatles-like songs, but some
of the other ones are quite good as well. I don't know if it was on purpose,
but there's even a pretty good "Country" song on the CD, Better Days, that
kind of fits in with the "Ringo" song that every Beatles album seems to have
had.

Thanks in advance for anything any of you Badfinger experts can tell me!


Best regards to all,
Steve Rosenbach
Arnold, MD

Newfilm99

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Apr 6, 1999, 3:00:00 AM4/6/99
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>Who is the Badfinger vocalist who sounded so much like Paul
>McCartney?

I believe you're speaking of Pete Ham, who, unfortuanately hung himself in (I
think) 1974.

I always liked Badfinger as well - I'm quite fond of "Baby Blue" and "Apple in
my Eye" -
but, I never really noticed the vocal similiarities. The music, most
certainly, especially when one of the Fabs wrote and/or produced for them, such
as "Come and Get It" or "Day after Day".

Of course, The Beatles were almost sponsors to the band - they appeared with
George at the Concert for Bangladesh - and, tragically, it's said that this
connection is what partially lead to Pete Ham's emotional demise.

Jim
________________
Not Really a Badfinger Expert


David Wren

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Apr 6, 1999, 3:00:00 AM4/6/99
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hi,

more than likely you are talking about Pete Ham. He had the "best voice" of
the four singers and wrote most of their "memerable" tunes. He also could
play a mean guitar (jamming) which is not evident on their studio LPs (check
out the boots which are available )

My advice , give the "best of " CD the flick and buy the cds of the albums,
because the "best of" is basically a load of crap... many many good songs
were for what ever reason left off the compilation.

Try starting with NO DICE , it has NO MATTER WHAT on it as well and is a
great 1970's album. btw Pete Ham also wrote No Matter What.

D
Stephen Rosenbach wrote in message ...

Jeff

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Apr 6, 1999, 3:00:00 AM4/6/99
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Unfortunately 2 members of "Badfinger" hung
themselves. Pete in "74" and I forget the other
member of the bands name in "83"


sean_...@my-dejanews.com

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Apr 6, 1999, 3:00:00 AM4/6/99
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Stephen,

You're speaking of Pete Ham. Pete's talents were "cultivated" through bands
going back to the early 60s. Frankly, Pete was head and shoulders above the
others in the band when it came to singing ability, playing ability and
songwriting. George Harrison had Pete play on a considerable number of tracks
of his and his guitar work appeared on Ringo's records too.

Pete's demo recordings are featured on 7 Park Avenue and the upcoming Golders
Green (both on Ryko). I offer the 7 Park Avenue CD from Japan with 5 bonus
tracks for $29.95 for domestic US shipment (includes shipping). It is now
discontinued and is hard to get. Link here for ordering:

http://www.sirius.com/~crimson

(The website belongs to the biographer of the band.)

For further reference, listen to these Real Audio samples:

http://www.rykodisc.com/RykoInternal/DatabaseSupport/RealAudio/689_2.ram
http://www.rykodisc.com/RykoInternal/DatabaseSupport/RealAudio/689.ram

A brief description of the album can be found at:

http://www.rykodisc.com/Catalog/dump/rykoalbums_689.asp

Golders Green samples will be around in the next month or so at the
biographer's site.

Thanks for putting up with this long reply...

sean in san diego

In article <cJfO2.183$BA4.3...@news-read1.qis.net>,

-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==----------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own

Jeff

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Apr 6, 1999, 3:00:00 AM4/6/99
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"and his guitar work appeared on Ringo's records too"

I didn't know Pete Ham Played guitar on Ringo's records. Interesting.


William Mulholland

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Apr 6, 1999, 3:00:00 AM4/6/99
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Stephen Rosenbach wrote:
>
> In a fit of nostalgia, I recently bought a Best of Badfinger CD. I remember
> first hearing "No Matter What" in 1970,

Is that the same 'No Matter What' that the Irish group Boyzone covered
recently?

DavisK

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Apr 6, 1999, 3:00:00 AM4/6/99
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It definitely was Peter Ham.  Badfinger makes an appearance in that Concert for Bangladesh movie, but unfortunately they don't get to perform (maybe they did, but it wasn't shown in the movie?).  It's too bad Peter Ham took his life in 1975.  Does anyone know why he did it.  From what I've read, Badfinger was still going strong at that point.
David Wren wrote in message ...
>hi,
>
>more than likely you are talking about Pete Ham. He had the "best voice" of
>the four singers and wrote most of their "memerable" tunes. He also could
>play a mean guitar (jamming) which is not evident on their studio LPs (check
>out the boots which are available )
>
>My advice , give the "best of " CD the flick and buy the cds of the albums,
>because the "best of" is basically a load of crap... many many good songs
>were for what ever reason left off the compilation.
>
>Try starting with NO DICE , it has NO MATTER WHAT  on it as well and is a
>great 1970's album. btw Pete Ham also wrote No Matter What.
>
>D
>Stephen Rosenbach wrote in message ...
>>In a fit of nostalgia, I recently bought a Best of Badfinger CD. I remember

R4949

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Apr 6, 1999, 3:00:00 AM4/6/99
to

Jeff wrote in message <20651-37...@newsd-134.iap.bryant.webtv.net>...

Unfortunately 2 members of "Badfinger" hung
themselves. Pete in "74" and I forget the other
member of the bands name in "83"

Don't want to be pedantic but... (I'm about to be...) MEAT IS HUNG, PEOPLE
ARE HANGED!


Don Rife

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Apr 6, 1999, 3:00:00 AM4/6/99
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Tom Evans was the other member of Badfinger to end his life.

R4949 <d...@globalnet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:7edml1$3mc$1...@newnews.global.net.uk...

Bill

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Apr 6, 1999, 3:00:00 AM4/6/99
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I was fortunate enough to attend the afternoon and evening "Bangla Desh" concerts. Badfinger did not perform solo at the Concert for Bangladesh.  Three of the group played acoustic guitars (for that full sound necessary for George's music).  Pete Ham joined George for an acoustic version of 'Here Comes the Sun" as seen in the movie.  
 

Barb Alan Atkinson

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Apr 6, 1999, 3:00:00 AM4/6/99
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Pete never played guitar on any of Ringo's records. He sang the back ups
with Tommy Evans on "It Don't Come Easy" but no guitar playing.
Barb

Barb Alan Atkinson

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Apr 6, 1999, 3:00:00 AM4/6/99
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Here's the Reader's Digest version: The band had signed with an American manager, Stan Polley, in '72. He set up an American company called Badfinger Enterprises where all Badfinger revenue went. Polley owned 51% of the company for tax purposes. The band members themselves were paid a small weekly salary. The plan was to play and record for five or six years, then split what had amassed in the pot. They were told they would end up millionaires. Unfortunately, Polley was a lying thief and stole all the money that ever went into Badfinger Enterprises (Estimates range from $4 million to $8 million dollars) Pete refused to believe Polley was a crook even when confronted by other band members. when he finally did realize the situation and that he was penniless; he killed himself.
By the way, I never thought Pete sounded a bit like McCartney vocally although he was certainly the most melodic and commercial songwriter of the band.
Barb

Tom

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Apr 7, 1999, 3:00:00 AM4/7/99
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>Don't want to be pedantic but... (I'm about to be...) MEAT IS HUNG, PEOPLE
>ARE HANGED!
>

"They said you was hung." "They was right."

CaseyAbell

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Apr 7, 1999, 3:00:00 AM4/7/99
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>>Not Really a Badfinger Expert<<

I'm not at all a Badfinger expert, but I can't resist talking about the Come
And Get It "demo" that Paul recorded in an hour before an Abbey Road session.
Lewisohn's notes to Anthology 3 say that Macca put down the first vocal with
the piano, then double-tracked the vocal with maracas, then added the drums and
finally tossed in the bass guitar.

I'll admit this is not the most complicated song ever written, but the hastily
and single-handedly recorded "demo" is of release quality. In fact, it sounds
almost identical to the Badfinger version that made it to the top five on the
singles chart. (Not too surprising - Paul produced the single.)

I'm starting to think the guys who said McCartney could do "anything" musical
were right.

Casey Abell

Jeff

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Apr 7, 1999, 3:00:00 AM4/7/99
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Casey
Paul's demo of "Come and get it" has already
been released officially. Unless I mis read your
thread, I got the idea that you aren't aware of
this.


Jeff

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Apr 7, 1999, 3:00:00 AM4/7/99
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Casey
sorry about that. I did misread your thread.


CaseyAbell

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Apr 8, 1999, 3:00:00 AM4/8/99
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>>Casey sorry about that. I did misread your thread.
<<

No sweat. Half the time I misread my own posts.

But the "demo" on Anthology 3 is still a startling piece of work by a single
musician in less than an hour. (I'm assuming that Mr. Lewisohn has the facts
straight.)

Casey Abell

Jeff

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Apr 8, 1999, 3:00:00 AM4/8/99
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"no sweat.Half the time I misread my own posts"

Me too Casey.LOL
Have you ever written 20 lines of a post before and see that you goofed
on the 3rd line and left
a word out or something and/or said the opposite of what you really
meant, and you didn't want to have to write the damn thing all over
again, so you just leave it like that hoping
others will know what you meant? Or have you
ever written 20 additional lines and realize your
just repeating over and over what you just said,
so you go back and wipe those 20 lines out?
I think we tend to think when reading others posts that they just
knocked off very quickly
what you read. For me, I can change things in a
post that has nothing to do with the way it originially intended to
look.:)
This ought to make for good discussion and chase the trolls out.


silk...@aol.com

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Jul 22, 2019, 9:31:42 AM7/22/19
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Tom Evans, the bass player, is the one who sings the high harmonies and sounds a lot like Paul. Pete ham, the usual lead singer, has a unique voice that does not sound a lot like Paul's. Watch some of their live performances, Tom Evans is the one hitting the Paul notes.

P-Dub

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Jul 22, 2019, 4:53:31 PM7/22/19
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On Monday, July 22, 2019 at 9:31:42 AM UTC-4, silk...@aol.com wrote:
> Tom Evans, the bass player, is the one who sings the high harmonies and sounds a lot like Paul. Pete ham, the usual lead singer, has a unique voice that does not sound a lot like Paul's. Watch some of their live performances, Tom Evans is the one hitting the Paul notes.

It's interesting that this thread is 20 years old...

Anyway - I saw 'Badfinger' in 2018! But there's only one guy left. Joey Molland. He put together an excellent tribute band to himself, and they sounded great!

This band's history is tragic. They should've been one of the best 70s bands. But Ham was depressed, and killed himself. Very sad.

RichL

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Jul 22, 2019, 9:09:40 PM7/22/19
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So did Tom Evans. After an argument with Joey Molland, of all people.

Them boys was cursed.

Doug Oliver

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Nov 13, 2023, 10:35:08 PM11/13/23
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On Tuesday, April 6, 1999 at 2:00:00 AM UTC-5, Don Rife wrote:
> Tom Evans was the other member of Badfinger to end his life.
> R4949 <d...@globalnet.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:7edml1$3mc$1...@newnews.global.net.uk...
> >
> > Jeff wrote in message
> <20651-37...@newsd-134.iap.bryant.webtv.net>...
> > Unfortunately 2 members of "Badfinger" hung
> > themselves. Pete in "74" and I forget the other
> > member of the bands name in "83"
> >
> > Don't want to be pedantic but... (I'm about to be...) MEAT IS HUNG, PEOPLE
> > ARE HANGED!
> >
> >
> >
It was tom Evans in 1983
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