Pete Ham

This second collection of previously unreleased home demos by Ham is almost as worthwhile and satisfying to the ear as its predecessor, 7 Park Avenue. Again, some musicians (including Bob Jackson, who was in Badfinger for a while shortly before Ham's death) enhanced these recordings with overdubs. And as with 7 Park Avenue, while it's impossible to tell if these were truly necessary without comparison to the original unadorned versions, these overdubs do not seem intrusive (as they are on most productions of this sort). Although there are 20 tracks, it's not as bountiful a platter as one might hope (adding up to only 42 minutes), as some of the songs are quite short, and three are nothing more than fragments lasting less than a minute. In the main, though, these are quality, sometimes enchantingly tuneful and tender performances, sometimes exhibiting a Beach Boys bent that's not so evident on Badfinger's official recordings. The cut to attract the most attention will be a demo of "Without You," although Ham's version is an incomplete skeleton of the track that Badfinger would record (and Nilsson would cover for a chart-topping hit), missing the chorus added by fellow Badfinger member Tom Evans. Otherwise a highlight is "Makes Me Feel Good," two drastically different versions (one slow, one fast) of which close and open the disc; it sounds like it could have made a first-rate Monkees track (which is a compliment, not a knock). On the whole, the effect of this CD, as was the case with 7 Park Avenue, is to make one wish that Badfinger had recorded more of Ham's material, and made less room for the songwriting efforts of the lesser composers in the band. [The Japanese edition features two bonus tracks, "Piano Red" and "Evening Sky"] ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide