Album DescriptionJapanese edition of 1997 rarities compilation by the late Badfinger guitarist with five bonus tracks: ‘Just A Chance’, ‘The Heart That Can’t Be Understood’, ‘Come Come Tomorrow’, ‘Blessing In Disguise’ and ‘Know One Knows’. 23 tracks total. The album is comprised of solo studio demos from the late ’60s through the mid ’70s. A Rykodisc release.
Badfinger leader Pete Ham hung himself in 1975 three days before his 28th birthday, leaving behind six albums, a note state firmly the group’s manager a “soulless bastard,” and the demos collected here. Most of these songs didn’t make it to Badfinger’s records, a circumstance 7 Park Avenue‘s liner notes put down to a glut of material. A couple of tracks integrate bits that Ham would later adjust for “Day After Day” (a verse from “Matted Spam”) and “Baby Blue” (a melodic fragment in “I Know That You Should”); that both those hit singles are more distinctive pieces is a hint to why a great deal of of these numbers were rejected. Ham’s homemade music has galore of the same fragile quality of another Rykodisc reclamation project, Big Star cofounder Chris Bell’s I Am the Cosmos, but many times lacks the bite of both Bell’s record and the finest Badfinger studio cuts. It is, however, someplace among sad and appalling to listen Ham sing “Just How Lucky We Are” only months before his death. Much closer to that reality is the closing “Ringside,” with it is resigned passages with regards to being bid on. Happiness prevails on a few cuts (an acoustic “No Matter What,” “Hand in Hand,” “Catherine Cares”), but even if Ham had plainly faded into obscurity, this disc’s overall effect would be that of a thoughtful, downbeat craftsman at work–not always at the height of his powers, though filled with emotion. –Rickey Wright
From the LabelThe album’s introductory mono master recordings were sonically cleansed in 1993 to remove dropouts, clicks and in general brighten their quality. Additionally, new overdubs were added to some tracks in 1994 and 1995 by former Badfinger fellow member Bob Jackson and former Iveys fellow member Ron Griffiths.
A pure-pop songwriter in the truest sense, Ham’s writing is bright and infectious, while at the same time being highly personal and introspective. While all of the album’s songs are rooted in the pop idiom, Matovina remarks that “these songs show Pete’s capacity to write with authority and selfconfidence while incorporating the influences of a potpourri of musical styles. It belies the effigy that Pete was plainly the ballad/power pop writer that his work in Badfinger cast him in. It presents another facet of his writing.” Stripped-down, as they appear on 7 Park Avenue, Pete’s songs bear an intimacy that was often lost to production gloss on Badfinger’s studio albums.
Pete Ham – Pure Genius
A preview into genius