Badfinger - Straight Up [1971][1995][320 KBPS][RMSTD][USA DCC Gold GZS-1088]

Track Listings:01. Take It All

02. Baby Blue

03. Money

04. Flying

05. I'd Die Babe

06. Name Of The Game

07. Suitcase

08. Sweet Tuesday

09. Day After Day

10. Sometimes

11. Perfection

12. It's Over

13. Money (Original Version)

14. Flying (Original Version)

15. Name Of The Game (Original Version)

16. Suitcase (Original Version)

17. Perfection (Original Version)

18. Baby Blue (US Single Mix)

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**320 KBPS CBR

**Cover Art

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Badfinger were a British rock band that originally consisted of Pete Ham, Mike Gibbins, Tom Evans and Ron Griffiths. The band evolved from an earlier group called The Iveys that was formed in 1961 by Ham, Ron Griffiths and David "Dai" Jenkins in Swansea, Wales. They were signed by the Beatles' Apple label in 1968 as The Iveys. In 1969, Griffiths left and was replaced by Joey Molland, and the band renamed itself Badfinger. In 1970, the band engaged American businessman Stan Polley to manage their commercial affairs. Over the next five years the band recorded several albums for Apple and toured extensively, before they became embroiled in the chaos of Apple Records' dissolution.



Badfinger had four consecutive worldwide hits from 1970 to 1972: "Come and Get It" (written and produced by Paul McCartney), "No Matter What", "Day After Day" (produced by George Harrison) and "Baby Blue". In 2013, "Baby Blue" made a resurgence onto the "Hot Rock Songs" Billboard 100 chart at number 14, due to its featuring at the end of the series finale of the hit TV show Breaking Bad. Their song "Without You" has been covered many times, including a Billboard number one hit for Harry Nilsson.



They signed to Warner Bros., but Polley's financial machinations resulted in a lawsuit by Warner over missing escrow account money. Warner's consequent withdrawal from market of the 1974 album, Wish You Were Here (seven weeks after its release), cut off the band's income. Three days before his 28th birthday, on 24 April 1975, Ham committed suicide by hanging himself, leaving a note that included damning comments about Polley.



Over the next three years, surviving members struggled to rebuild their personal and professional lives against a backdrop of lawsuits. The albums Airwaves (1978) and Say No More (1981) floundered, as Molland and Evans see-sawed between co-operation and struggle in attempts to revive and capitalise on the Badfinger legacy. Having seen Ham's body after Ham's wife had called him, Evans reportedly never got over his friend's suicide, and was quoted as saying in darker moments, "I wanna be where he is." On 19 November 1983, Evans also took his own life by hanging

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Straight Up is the third album by British 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. Although Straight Up received a mixed response from critics on release, many reviewers now regard it as the band's best album. Rolling Stone critic David Fricke has referred to it as "Badfinger's power-pop apex".



Production on what became Straight Up lasted nine months, at the start of which the group made an album's worth of recordings with producer Geoff Emerick, in between their touring commitments. Once Apple had decided to shelve these recordings, George Harrison took over production, only for him to become indisposed with events associated with the Concert for Bangladesh, at which Badfinger also performed. Harrison then handed the project to American producer Todd Rundgren, who oversaw recording for most of the album.



Straight Up was reissued on CD in 1993, with bonus tracks, and remastered again in 2010.

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Badfinger:Pete Ham: vocals, guitar, piano

Tom Evans: vocals, bass

Joey Molland: vocals, guitar

Mike Gibbins: drumsOther Contributors:George Harrison: slide guitar on "Day After Day", guitar on "I'd Die Babe", producer (tracks 5–7, 9)

Leon Russell: piano on "Day After Day", guitar on "Suitcase"

Bobby Diebold: bass on "Suitcase"

Klaus Voormann: electric piano on "Suitcase"

Bill Collins: accordion on "Sweet Tuesday Morning"

Todd Rundgren: producer (tracks 1–4, 8, 10–12