Without You: The Tragic Story of Badfinger [Paperback]

Dan Matovina (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 456 pages
• Publisher: Frances Glover Books; 1 edition (March 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965712214
• ISBN-13: 978-0965712217
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,263,158 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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71 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic 70's band Shines on inspite of their misfortunes, October 6, 2000

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WTDK "If at first the idea is not absurd, the... (My Little Blue Window, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Without You : The Tragic Story of Badfinger (with 72 minute cd) (Paperback)

This exhaustively researched book gives a full picture of the band during their peak. The word tragic shows up in descriptions of Badfinger quite a bit,but it doesn't begin to do justice to this terrific band's sad story. This second edition of the book cleans up a handful of minor errors and misstakes that appeared in the text of the original version. It also includes an additional chapter on the recent court case that involved the original members (and the estates of two decease members). There are also a number of photographs that didn't appear in the original edition and a complete discography that includes the latest reissues of the band's material.

Nevertheless, the inside look at the manipulators and sharks in the music business is a very good cautionary tale for modern musicians. Ultimately, this is a tale all too common in the music business. Although all four members of Badfinger were talented songwriters and singers, Matovina focuses accurately portrays Pete Ham as the driving force behind the band. The unique chemistry of the four members was still an important factor in this fine band and Matovina doesn't sell the other members short. If there is a villian in this story it was the short sightedness of the band and the person they chose to manage them in the United States. If the band had a flaw it was its inability to look past the bs of the business and their trusting nature.

Matovina does a terrific job of drawing a full picture of all the members of the band. He manages to provide the best insight into Pete Ham (the most talented singer/songwriter in the band). Ham is a complex figure who, when under emotional distress, habitually puts out cigarettes on his hands. Ham commuicates his emotions through his songs, and is a good friend to everybody but, unfortunately, no one is able to get close to Ham and help him with the enormous burden of trying to keep Badfinger together.

Matovina also manages to capture the other members of the band with the same detail. The chapters on the band's post-Ham years are both as tragic and compelling as those written about the first incarnation of Badfinger. Evans and Molland's struggle to revive the band and the indifference they faced is particularly interesting given the band's previous success.

Eventually the pressures caught up with everyone in Badfinger. It's impact was sharp and explosive for two members of the band resulting in their suicide. In many respects the aftermath of the implosion of this great band resembles a messy divorce; all the participants had their own agenda and couldn't get past their own personal issues.

The inclusion of the 71 minute CD provides a series of snapshots of the band from beginning to the very bitter end. Most of these tracks haven't been available before (with the exception of poor sounding bootlegs). We get to hear one of Pete Ham's first demos for the band along with their first offical studio recording made under the supervision of the Kinks' Ray Davies. We also get to hear a number of Iveys' demos that were never performed by the band after their name change. These demos range in quality from interesting (Take Good Care of My Baby) to terrific (She Came Out of the Cold and a live version of Maybe Tomorrow sans the overbearing string arrangement on the original).

Included on this disc are 5 interviews with Ham and original member Tom Evans. It provides further insight that compliments the book. We get to hear (in their own words) both the highs and lows that drove the band to produce some of their most enduring work. The CD ends with one of Ham's last demo recordings (the powerful Ringside which Matovina produced for the posthumous Pete Ham solo album 7 Park Avenue) and an unreleased pair of Tom Evans demos from his brief post-Badfinger career.

Matovina provides more than one smoking gun in the book demonstrating that the forces that tore this band apart wasn't jealousy as much as the vultures in the music industry. Without You is both a powerful reminder of the evil in the music industry and the talented individuals that are victimized by these vultures.

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Your heart will go out to Badfinger, July 17, 2001

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J. L LaRegina "Jim LaRegina" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Without You : The Tragic Story of Badfinger (with 72 minute cd) (Paperback)

Author Dan Matovina cuts no corners in WITHOUT YOU: THE TRAGIC STORY OF BADFINGER, which details the rise and fall of Badfinger, the pop band whose career spanned from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. You may find yourself staying up late as you turn every compelling page.

And your heart will break as you learn about the trust Badfinger musicians Pete Ham, Mike Gibbins, Tom Evans and Joey Molland put in several con artists who stole almost all the band's earnings. After Ham's resulting 1975 suicide, at times surviving band members end up working against each other for what's left of the money and glory. Instead of standing together, they let the show business parasites continue to divide and conquer.

Even the 1983 suicide of Tom Evans does not inspire enough people to do the right thing. WITHOUT YOU ends on the sad note of certain individuals standing on a bizarre technicality to take songwriting credit for the Pete Ham/Tom Evans standard, "Without You."

At least nothing will change the superb quality of Badfinger's music. Was there any other band where every member composed and sang on every album? Not even the Beatles can say that. In recent years Badfinger's records have been reissued. Get them while you can.

In the way the Securities and Exchange Commission protects investors from swindlers, there ought to be a "Badfinger Commission" to protect young artists from sleazy management. For now, read WITHOUT YOU: THE TRAGIC STORY OF BADFINGER.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Book on an Excellent Group, April 21, 2004

By 

Jan Sears (Bicester, Oxfordshire , England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Without You : The Tragic Story of Badfinger (with 72 minute cd) (Paperback)

What a fantastic book "Without You" by Dan Matovina is! I have read it through several times, and it has had such an effect on me. It is so good that sometimes it hurts to read it. I followed Badfinger in the early days and it brought back so many memories - happy and sad. I was lucky enough to know the boys when the song "Without You" was written, and Tommy gave me a rendition of his part before it was released, so I have very special memories.

Quite a few of the events in the book I can remember happening, and they have been retold with great accuracy, sometimes even bringing to mind bits I had forgotten, such as Bill Collins going on a separate flight when they went to Hawaii. Obviously Mr Matovina has delved deeply into Badfinger history, and spent a long time researching and writing the book. He has contacted hundreds of people - friends, families and business associates - in order to paint a clear and true picture of the good and bad times leading to the tragic consequences. Although I believe he never met Tommy or Pete, Dan Matovina got to know them well through interviewing other people.

It is clear that he put his whole heart into this brilliantly written book about the lives and work of Pete, Mike, Tommy, Joey and Bob. Truely a labour of love!