Wish You Were Here (Badfinger album)

Infobox Album | Name = Wish You Were Here
Type = Album
Artist = Badfinger


Released = November 1974
Recorded = 1974, Caribou Ranch, Nederland, CO
Genre = Power pop
Length = 36:00
Label = Warner Bros. Records
Producer = Chris Thomas
Reviews =

*Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:px5ibkr96akn link]
Last album = "Badfinger"
(1974)
This album = "Wish You Were Here"
(1974)
Next album = "Airwaves"
(1979)

"Wish You Were Here" is the sixth 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. It was the second and last album the band released on the WB label.

History

Although the album received positive reviews in music magazine "Rolling Stone" upon its release and is sometimes considered to be the band's best work, it was pulled out of record stores in 1975, seven weeks after release, because of a lawsuit between WB music publishing and Badfinger's management. The album's abbreviated manufacturing run and short tenure on the market has made the original LP relatively rare.

Before being recalled, the album had time enough to chart, peaking at #148 in the US. In the 1990s it was re-released in CD format in Japan and Germany only, making "Wish You Were Here" difficult to find in this format as well. Most of the tracks, however, have been released on other Badfinger compilations.

"Wish You Were Here" was Badfinger's fifth and final album with "core" band member Joey Molland. After completing the album, Pete Ham decided to quit Badfinger; he was replaced by keyboardist/guitarist Bob Jackson. However, after Warners indicated that it would drop the band if Ham quit, he decided to return, and the band completed a tour as a five-member group. After the tour, Molland resigned from the band.

Although the next Badfinger album to be released was "Airwaves" in 1979, Ham, Evans, Gibbins and Jackson recorded an album titled "Head First" in December 1974, the band's seventh and last album with the original Ham-Evans-Gibbins nucleus that dated back to The Iveys. This album, however, was not released until 2000 due to more lawsuits between WB and Badfinger's management.

Track listing

#"Just A Chance" (Ham) - 2:58
#"Your So Fine" (Gibbins) - 3:03
#"Got To Get Out Of Here" (Molland) - 3:31
#"Know One Knows" (Ham) - 3:17
#"Dennis" (Ham) - 5:15
#"In The Meantime" (Gibbins)/"Some Other Time" (Molland) - 6:46
#"Love Time" (Molland) - 2:20
#"King Of The Load (T)" (Evans) - 3:32
#"Meanwhile Back At The Ranch" (Ham)/"Should I Smoke" (Molland) - 5:18

Personnel

* Joey Molland - Vocals, guitar
* Pete Ham - Vocals, guitar, keyboards
* Mike Gibbins - Vocals, drums, keyboard
* Tom Evans - Vocals, bass

with

* Average White Horns - Horns on "Should I Smoke"
* Mika Kato - Japanese spoken words on "Know One Knows" (uncredited)

Sources

Dan Matovina, "Without You: The Tragic Story Of Badfinger".