Badfinger Legend Tom Evans Releasing Rare Home Recordings

05-23-2024

(Glass Onyon) "I Am Myself" is a collection of never-before-heard home demo recordings by Liverpool's Tom Evans, bassist and co-lead singer of the iconic power pop group Badfinger. It will be released as a limited-edition CD by Y&T Music and available on all streaming platforms on June 5, 2024 to celebrate what would have been Tommy's 77th birthday.

Like his Badfinger bandmate Pete Ham, Tom Evans was a prolific songwriter; he gave the quartet many of their greatest 'deep cuts,' including "Money," "It's Over," "Believe Me" and "Blind Owl." Evans and Ham co-wrote "Without You," which went to No. 1 for both Harry Nilsson and Mariah Carey, and is considered by many to be one of the greatest pop ballads of all time.

He sang lead on "Come And Get It," Badfinger's smash hit debut, written and produced by Paul McCartney; his soaring tenor voice made "Maybe Tomorrow," recorded for the Beatles' Apple Records when they were still calling themselves The Iveys, an international sensation.

Among the 21 tracks on "I Am Myself," two went on to be recorded by The Iveys/Badfinger: "Fisherman," and "No Escaping Your Love".

Performed mainly on acoustic or electric guitar, with frequent vocal and instrumental overdubs, the album's freewheeling musicality, lyrical playfulness and clever song-construction showcase Tommy's songwriting talents at an early period in his musical career.

"I Am Myself" came to be after a long review of material. While reviewing Iveys demo recordings, Tom Brennan discovered that there was more than enough material of Tom Evans' solo recordings to put together a robust album. Before Brennan could even present the idea, mastering engineer Kevin McElligott proposed the idea of a Tom Evans solo album. McElligott felt strongly that the time was long overdue for Tommy's demos to have a formal release: "Such a supremely talented singer/songwriter who struck an emotional chord within so many. I felt a real strong responsibility to Marianne, Stephen and the Badfinger community to bring these songs out sounding as best they can. This is just the beginning of hopefully many more releases. It's an honor for me to sit down and work on these tracks. I do hope everyone enjoys this release." Everything just came together like it was meant to be. Badfinger historian Dan Matovina made the initial digital transfers. The recordings were then compiled & edited by Tom Brennan, and restored & mastered by Kevin McElligott.

Stephen and Marianne spent time listening to these songs during the process of putting this project together, as well as contributing photos to this album. Tim Boyle gave permission to use some of his pictures for this project and was excited to hear about a new Tommy album, as he is an Evans family friend and worked closely with the band as a booking agent and an assistant for many years.

Released with the full support and cooperation of the Evans Estate, "I Am Myself" is a limited edition of 1,000 CDs. An art print of a rare early photo of Tom is included.

Earlier in 2024, Y&T Music issued "Gwent Gardens," a collection of unreleased demo recordings by the late Pete Ham.

"I AM MYSELF" TRACK LISTING:
1. Hello
2. I Am Myself
3. Our First Night Together
4. Water Lily
5. Goldfish
6. How Does It Feel (original demo)
7. Honey Lovin' Ways
8. Uncle C
9. I Should Have Loved You (original demo)
10. Fisherman (original demo)
11. Dancing Girl
12. I Don't Want The Bother
13. Handsome Malcolm
14. In My World Of Yesterday
15. No Escaping Your Love (original demo)
16. Good Times Together
17. The Leaves
18. Stay By Me, Baby
19. A Simple Song
20. Wine, Women And Song
21. I Am Myself (reprise)