Badfinger
In November 1969, The Iveys changed their name to Badfinger, and Paul McCartney of The Beatles gave the group a boost by offering them his song "Come and Get It", which he produced for the band. It became a featured track for the film The Magic Christian, which starred Ringo Starr and Peter Sellers. Evans was chosen by McCartney to sing lead on this track. It reached the Top 10 worldwide. The B-side, Rock Of All Ages, co-written by Evans with Pete Ham and Mike Gibbins, features Tom Evans singing lead. Paul McCartney also produced this, and even sang scratch vocals with Evans on the basic track. A third Magic Christian song, Carry On Till Tomorrow was co-written by Evans and Ham.
Badfinger enjoyed more major successes in the early 1970s with singles such as "No Matter What," "Day After Day," and "Baby Blue". Each featured some of Evans vocals; background harmony and dual lead. Evans' high-career moment was with his composition "Without You," a song co-written with bandmate Pete Ham. The song became a #1 hit worldwide for Harry Nilsson and has since become a standard in the music industry.
Badfinger dissolved following Ham's suicide in 1975, after which Evans joined a group called The Dodgers with Badfinger bandmate Bob Jackson. The Dodgers released three singles produced by Muff Winwood and toured the UK before recording an album with producer Pat Moran. Evans was eventually asked to leave the band midway through the recording sessions and he briefly retired from the music industry.
Evans resurfaced in 1977 to join Joey Molland for two Badfinger "comeback" albums. The first single of two from the first album, "Airwaves" was an Evans composition "Lost Inside Your Love" but it failed to chart after its release in March 1979. The second album, "Say No More" spawned the Evans single "Hold On," which reached 56 on Billboard in 1981. Evans and Molland went their separate ways after this second album was released, and the two put together rival "Badfinger" touring bands in the U.S.
In 1982, Jackson rejoined Evans in the latter's version of Badfinger. Original Badfinger drummer Mike Gibbins was also enlisted for Evans' band for one tour. But after Evans and Jackson signed separate management contracts with a Milwaukee businessman, the trio of Evans, Gibbins and Jackson said they found themselves stranded in the U.S. without tour dates, food, money and much duress from physical threats. After returning to England, Evans was sued for $5 million in damages for abandoning his touring contract.
Read more about this topic: Tom Evans (musician)