Do you know the tragic story of Badfinger? Behind such life-affirming songs as “No Matter What,” “Day After Day” and “Baby Blue” and the much-covered power ballad “Without You” lay a dark tale in which Badfinger’s manager defrauded the band and left them destitute. Bob Jackson played keyboards and guitar in the last Badfinger lineup that featured Pete Ham, the honey-voiced singer-songwriter behind most of those hits. This lineup recorded the album Head First in late 1974, but Warner Bros. refused to release it amid the manager’s financial misconduct. Ham took his own life months later. Bassist-singer-songwriter Tom Evans would take his own life in 1983. A rough mix of Head First finally came out in 2000, but Jackson, the last surviving member of the lineup that recorded it, marked its 50th anniversary by locating the original multi-tracks and releasing what he considers the definitive version. Jackson recounts his fraught yet creatively productive time with Badfinger, his chilling final visit with Ham, and how bringing the music of Head First to the world became his raison d'etre .
