Well, this piqued my curiosity. An “all-star” tribute to Badfinger, one of the best UK bands ever, from a songwriting perspective. I will spare you their tragic story, if you’re unaware. Let’s just say they deserved so much more, both professionally and personally. And, with a few exceptions, they deserved better than what is on offer here. A few gems, but a missed opportunity to celebrate their talents with a melody.

Never mind. You can’t really mess up songs like ‘No Matter What’, though the lead vocal of Vanilla Fudge’s Mark Stein is somewhat perfunctory. The song shines through, even a favourite of the departed Wogan. He knew a good tune. ‘Come And Get It’, unmistakably McCartney, features Rick Wakeman tinkling the ivories here, and sounds almost exactly like the original.

I wasn’t aware of Carl Giammarese, but he does a creditable job of ‘I Don’t Mind’. However, the stand-out track is ‘Day After Day’ with the legendary Terry Reid on vocals and Ian Anderson on flute. Something in my eye, as they say. Quite beautiful.

Rick Springfield is a suitable singer for ‘Love Is Gonna Come At Last’, as it sounds much like his tunes, and is as professionally performed as you’d expect, while Matthew Sweet nails a lovely version of ‘Baby Blue’, another favourite of mine.

‘Midnight Caller’ wasn’t their strongest song, but the Legendary Pink Dots do it justice, and Sonny Landreth gets bluesy on ‘Suitcase’.

Another ‘lump in the throat’ moment comes courtesy of Albert Lee’s take on ‘Sweet Tuesday Morning’; a feather-light touch, he really pays tribute to the song. And even Todd Rundgren holds back to give a tasteful version of ‘Without You’ that I imagine would get a thumbs up from the band themselves.

Not a disaster, but it could have been so much more satisfying with perhaps some unexpected guests. The highlights are, however, a real treat.

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Author: Martin Chamarette