Magic Christian Music

Magic Christian Music
Studio album by Badfinger
Released	9 January 1970 (1970-01-09)
Recorded	1968 and 1969 at Abbey Road Studios, Trident Studios, IBC Studios and Olympic Studios, London
Genre	Rock, power pop
Length	41:58
Label	Apple SAPCOR 12 (UK), ST-3364 (U.S.)
Producer	Paul McCartney, Mal Evans, Tony Visconti
Badfinger chronology
Maybe Tomorrow (1969) (as The Iveys) Magic Christian Music (1970) No Dice (1970)

Magic Christian Music is an album by band Badfinger, released in early 1970 on Apple Records. Three tracks from the LP are featured in the film The Magic Christian, which also gives the album its title. However, Magic Christian Music is not an official soundtrack album for the film.

History

The film soundtrack for The Magic Christian featured three new songs by Badfinger that had been commissioned for the film, including their US/UK top-10 hit "Come And Get It"', which opened the film, and "Carry On Till Tomorrow", the title then. The soundtrack album, which also included incidental music by Ken Thorne, had originally been scheduled for release on Apple Records, but the addition of the Thunderclap Newman song "Something in the Air" to the movie prevented that. Instead, the soundtrack album was released on the little-known label Commonwealth United Records label in the US and on Pye in the UK. As a result, it received little promotion in the US and remained mostly unknown to American record buyers.

To capitalize on this gap, Apple Records released its own "pseudo-soundtrack." Apple combined the film's three Badfinger songs with four unreleased songs and seven older tracks released by the group when they were still known as The Iveys on the album Maybe Tomorrow, which had been quickly pulled off the market in 1969. The previously released Iveys songs were specially re-mixed for this album, significantly improving their sound quality in the process. One of them, "Fisherman", was also edited for this release.

The three tracks used in the film, "Come And Get It", "Rock Of All Ages" and "Carry On Till Tomorrow", bear the strongest "Beatle connection." They were produced by Paul McCartney (the first was also composed by McCartney), and the strings on "Carry On Till Tomorrow" were arranged and conducted by Beatles producer George Martin. The other tracks on the album were produced by Tony Visconti (sic songs, including both Iveys singles and the last recording made, "Crimson Ship") and Mal Evans (five songs).

Badfinger's line-up on these tracks includes bassist/vocalist Ron Griffiths. Griffiths departed The Iveys shortly after the McCartney sessions in late 1969, prior to the name change from The Iveys to Badfinger, which led to his exclusion from the credits and pictures on the album (although Griffiths does appear on the picture sleeve for "Come and Get It"). Guitarist Joey Molland was eventually added as Griffiths' replacement, causing Tom Evans to move from guitar to bass, but Molland's addition came after the album art had been prepared, so only Pete Ham, Tom Evans and Mike Gibbins are pictured on the cover.

The album peaked at #55 in the US charts.

Track listing

The following track listing is from the original UK issue of the album, and is also replicated on CD reissues. The original American LP had a rearranged order and two tracks missing ("Angelique" and "Give It A Try").

Tracks marked '†' were originally released by The Iveys on the album Maybe Tomorrow.

• Produced by Paul McCartney, except:
• +Produced and arranged by Tony Visconti
• ++Produced by Mal Evans

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Side one

1. "Come and Get It" (Paul McCartney) – 2:21
2. "Crimson Ship"+ (Pete Ham, Tom Evans) – 3:42
3. "Dear Angie"+^† (Ron Griffiths) – 2:39
4. "Fisherman"++^† (Evans) – 2:24
5. "Midnight Sun"++ (Ham) – 2:46
6. "Beautiful and Blue"++^† (Evans) – 2:40
7. "Rock of All Ages" (Ham, Evans, Mike Gibbins) – 3:16

Side two

1. "Carry On Till Tomorrow" (Ham/Evans) – 4:47
2. "I'm in Love"+^† (Ham) – 2:26
3. "Walk Out in the Rain"++ (Ham) – 3:27
4. "Angelique"+^† (Evans) – 2:28
5. "Knocking Down Our Home"++^† (Ham) – 3:40
6. "Give It a Try"+ (Ham/Evans/Gibbins/Griffiths) – 2:31
7. "Maybe Tomorrow"+^† (Evans) – 2:51

1991 CD bonus tracks

15. "Storm in a Teacup"++ (Evans) - 2:31
16. "Arthur"++ (The Iveys) - 3:20

CD bonus tracks (2010 remaster; replaces previous bonus tracks)

15. "And Her Daddy's a Millionaire" [Alternate Version]+ (Ham/Evans) - 2:24
16. "Mrs. Jones" [Remix]++ (Ham) - 2:19
17. "Sali Bloo" [Mono Mix]+^† (Ham) - 2:45
18. "See-Saw Granpa" [Mono Mix]++^† (Ham) - 3:32
19. "I've Been Waiting" [Unedited Remix]+^† (Ham) - 5:55

Digital bonus tracks (2010 remaster)

20. "Dear Angie" [Mono Mix]
21. "Think About the Good Times" [Mono Mix]
22. "No Escaping Your Love" [Mono mix]
23. "Arthur" [Stereo Mix]
24. "Storm in a Teacup" [Mono Mix]
25. "Yesterday Ain't Coming Back" [Mono Mix]

Personnel

• Pete Ham: guitar, keyboards, vocals
• Tom Evans: guitar, vocals, bass on "Rock of All Ages", "Crimson Ship" and "Midnight Sun"
• Ron Griffiths: bass (except as noted), vocals
• Mike Gibbins: drums, vocals
• Paul McCartney: piano on "Rock of All Ages", percussion on "Come and Get It"