Badfinger — Magic Christian Music

For the longest time, there has been a Badfinger-sized hole in my record collection. Back when we were initially collecting records, in the early ’80s, my roommate Danny had several Badfinger albums, including this one, and so some of their great songs appeared on my cassettes, but once he took his records with him, I didn’t feel the need to fill in with missing Badfinger, even though I quite liked them. As the re-appreciation of the band has continued again in recent years, I did pick up a digital best-of with some nicely remastered Badfinger tracks, but I still lacked any of their original vinyl.

Recently Shawn had a copy of this, their first album, at Forever Changes here in Phoenixville and I had to bring it home. This was their debut album, from 1970, featuring their huge hit, “Come and Get It.” This isn’t the movie soundtrack, which I also do have (its incidental dialogue featured prominently on one of my mixed tapes). Three of the songs were in the movie, seven were by Badfinger’s previous incarnation the Iveys, and three were new releases. it’s all Beatlesque (no surprise, with McCartney’s fingers on the movie tracks, Mal Evans producing others, and the band being released on Apple Records), and that’s not a bad thing. You might say Badfinger really invented being Beatlesque.

Quite enjoyable, long missed; glad it’s back within reach of my turntable.