Bbc In Concert 1972-3 Oak Park IL

Bbc In Concert 1972-3

Badfinger

Fuel 2000 Records, 1997

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 03/15/2000

For a while in the history of music, the only way you'd everhave heard of Badfinger was to either have tuned in to the localoldies station, stumbled upon an old, worn-out copy of one of theiralbums in a relative's collection or to have paid upwards of $100for said record in much nicer condition from a dealer. (I waslucky, and happened to find a copy of Straight Up in my uncle's records. I still have thatrecord.)

The re-release of most of Badfinger's catalog while on Applehelped to stir up some interest in the band (as well as the ghostsof the suicides of members Pete Ham in 1975 and Tom Evans in 1983),but after that, it again seemed like Badfinger was destined for thedeepest realms of the vaults of obscurity.

With the recent release of BBC In Concert 1972-3, that just might change. These 15tracks capture the band at the highest pinnacle of their career,and you can almost feel the glow coming through your speakers. Evenin the rare shaky moment or two, Badfinger will quickly make youwonder why you haven't heard more from these guys.

The first half of the disc, taken from a June 1972 concert,inexplicably includes two Dave Mason covers. Granted, they do akiller version of "Only You Know And I Know" and a passable job on"Feelin' Alright" - one of the few classic rock songs I can thinkof that gets worse the more I hear it. But, come on ! They were working their Straight Up album at this time! Where's "Baby Blue"? Where's"Day By Day"? Where's "No Matter What" from No Dice? If any collection screamed for the definitive liveversions of these tracks, BBC In Concert 1972-3 is it.