A worthy homage to an often-overlooked figure.
Tribute albums are a very democratic form of praise since any artist, no matter how big or small, can potentially receive this honour. Be it compositions in the style of a particular figure, collections of cover songs, or simply music inspired by another artist, there have been many such albums recorded, in both the world of americana (see Americana UK’s top 10 americana tribute albums) and elsewhere.
Just Look Inside the Cover, aptly titled beyond the track it references, is a tribute to Pete Ham, best known as the lead vocalist and main composer of the band Badfinger. Ham was a prolific songwriter, creatively responsible for three worldwide hits: No Matter What, Day After Day and Baby Blue, four if you count Without You, which would reach the top of the charts as a cover performed by Harry Nilsson (and later Mariah Carey). However, in 1975, Badfinger’s financial ruin, the result of their manager Stan Polley’s fraudulent dealings, led to his death by suicide, aged twenty-seven, putting an end to an already impressive career. Decades later, starting in the late 90s, several posthumous records would be released under Ham’s name, a testament to the lasting interest in his music.
For Just Look Inside the Cover, a number of Ham’s unrecorded compositions are performed by artists such as Tobin Sprout (Guided by Voices), Richard Barone (The Bongos) or Fernando Perdomo. Overall, the songs work better as a reminder of Ham’s creative prowess than as a cohesive album, as tends to be the case with tributes, especially those that, like this one, follow diverging approaches. Whereas some of the featured artists lean into Badfinger’s classic sound as a way of showing what direction Ham might have followed had he lived long enough to record them, others opt for a more personal approach, letting their own creativity determine the final sound. It’s interesting to see how, even so, Ham’s personal touch is clearly identifiable in each track, through powerful melodies, inspired chord changes and heartfelt lyrics.
Worthy of note in this tribute is the presence of two of Ham’s old bandmates: Ron Griffiths, who left The Ivies just before the band’s change to Badfinger, and Bob Jackson, who was part of the band’s lineup in their final years. Their presence is a nice touch to a remarkable collection of compositions brought to life by musicians still in awe of Ham’s creative genius fifty years after his death.
