The music industry can be a very cruel business. It can
actually kill people. Even writing one song can have tragic consequences. A
Facebook friend of mine yesterday shared a video of Nilsson singing Without You.
Everybody knows that song, it sold millions of copies all over the world in
1971 and Mariah Carey repeated this
success in 1994. The combined sales of these two versions make it one of the
most successful songs ever written. I wonder though how many people know the
sad story behind its creation? Hearing the song yesterday made me look on Youtube
for the original version by Badfinger. When
Nilsson first heard the original song he thought it was The Beatles singing it
and I agree, it has a very Beatles sound and the singer Pete Ham in the video reminds me a bit of John Lennon’s son Julian. It is
definitely my favourite version of the song. I have shared the video above if
you want to hear it.
Badfinger were originally called The Iveys and were formed in Swansea, Wales in 1961. Eventually the
line-up became Pete Ham, Tom Evans, Mike Gibbins & Joey Molland. They didn’t
have a great deal of success as The Iveys, but in 1968 their fortunes changed when
they were spotted by Mal Evans who worked for The Beatles and they became the
first group to be signed to The Beatles new Apple label. Their name was changed,
and they immediately had worldwide success with such hits as Come And Get It, No Matter What, Day After
Day & Baby Blue. Their music also featured in the film The Magic Christian.
 |
| Pete Ham & Tom Evans. |
Without You was written by Pete Ham & Tom Evans as a
track on their album No Dice in 1971.
One fateful night Pete Ham had arranged to go out with his wife Bev but Tom
Evans said he had an idea for a song. Bev said that was ok, she would go on her own and he should go to
the studio, but he could tell she was disappointed. In the song this became ‘Well, I can't forget this evening, and your
face when you were leaving, But I guess that's just the way the story goes, You
always smile, but in your eyes your sorrow shows’. Tom Evans was also
having problems with his relationship with his future wife Marianne. He
confided to a friend that he was worried that she would leave him and said he
couldn’t live without her. This statement evolved into the chorus of the song.
Neither of the writers realised the potential of the song to become a power
ballad when recorded by Nilsson & Carey and dozens of other singers.
 |
| Pete Ham. |
Pete Ham tragically took his own life in 1975 after
suffering with depression. This was largely caused by the band being scammed by
their manager called Stan Polley who disappeared with all the bands money and
left them penniless. Pete had just bought a large house that he now couldn’t
pay for and his wife was pregnant. In the suicide note he wrote ‘Stan
Polley is a soulless bastard’. You hear people like Van Morrison complaining about
the big-time operators in the music business, but I don’t think any band could
have been ripped off as badly as Badfinger. Tom Evans never got over the death
of his friend and he too committed suicide in 1983 possibly caused by a long running dispute with other band members over
royalties for Without You. The song
had become a curse. Neither of the two writers of the song lived to hear the
multi-million selling version by Mariah Carey. They could have been still alive
today having a happy retirement living off the royalties of just that one song,
but it never happened. That is why Without
You must be a contender for being the saddest song ever written.
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