Rating: 
Summary: Defining Badfinger
Review: Great book, well written, easy to follow and hard to put down. Gives a new meaning to the name Badfinger, where everyone point's the blame but noone excepts responsibilty. It is a tragic story that didn't have to be and I agree with the other reviewer who said it's a good book to read and see how not to act in a band setting.
I'd also like to add, shame on Joey Molland and the useless contributions of his wife and Bill Collins. If it weren't for Pete Ham & Tom Evans I'm sure myself and the rest of us wouldn't even have a Badfinger album in our collection right now.
Thanks to Dan Matovina for a good book.
Rating: 
Summary: Dan Matovina = Geoffrey Gulianno?
Review: I am glad someone finally published a book about Badfinger, although it has taken nearly 25 years to do it. But, ask yourself this: If the first biography written about the Beatles was by someone like Geoffrey Gulianno instead of say... Hunter Davies, Ray Coleman or Nicholas Schaffner (or any good writer) what would your impression of the group have been? Certainly it would be quite different. "Without You" is a very detailed book with great pictures, worth a read and a recommendation simply because Badfinger deserves to be remembered. But casual readers should know it has also caused much division among Badfinger fans and been scorned by many of the principles involved. I guess controversy is good for sales though. The question of biased accounts of the stories and whether the author has his own agenda in presenting these facts has been a sore point for those fans who have been most eagerly awaiting an event like this one. When you're a Badfinger fan, you have to accept the bad parts to get the wonderful music that resulted. This book fits that description well. There are more pieces of the puzzle to be revealed and hopefully future books will contain them.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor,poor souls...
Review: I came late to the magic of Badfinger.Throughout their heyday in the 70s I had a vague awareness of them,but their true magic only came to me after I bought The Best Of..collection.The apparrent simplicity of their songs (especially those of Pete Ham) hides a deeper emotional and melodic complexity that only comes to light after repeated listening.Songs like "Midnight Caller" and "Name of the Game" are at least as good as anything by that other "B" band from Liverpool. Which brings me to the first obstacle that the band had to face;the eternal comparisons to the fab 4,sure there were similarities,the main one being Petes vocal resemblance to McCartney,but what band emerging from the beat boom of the 60s didn't glean some influence from the Beatles? At least Badfinger did it well. The other (and far more insidious) obstacle was the all pervading presence of one Stan Polley,an old school shark whose place on the morals graph must be somewhere below bottom. As one plows through this impeccably researched and written biography one must ask the question "How did these boys (for thats all they were)let themselves be shafted so comprehensively?" Maybe that's the answer.As long as there are young men in the world who want to be stars,there will be bottom feeders like Polley around. Highly recommended read,if a little disheartening.At least we have the music.
Rating:
Summary: An important book
Review: I came to the conclusion that this book should he required reading for all musicians, or anyone for that matter, who are interested in making a career in music. Without You: The Tragic Story Of Badfinger covers virtually every aspect of the music business. The stories here are gritty and colorful, yet still kept in an entertaining light that will keep you engulfed. A fantastic tribute to a superb band.
Rating: 
Summary: This book misses the mark on many aspects!
Review: I find it very disappointing as to the way information was manipulated and presented. Casual readers will enjoy it and sadly learn history of the band in this shabby presentation. None of the principle or surviving members endorse the work. The majority of the work are interviews with many 3rd parties and excerpts from newspaper articles. The Author admits to never even having met the hit maker Pete Ham, the main focus for the author. As the book progress's it turns into many dead end witch hunts based on information the author carefully placed as important story fodder. Well, low an behold all this carefully crafted material is now widely regarded as bias information that has now polarized Badfinger fans into camps. Even founding Badfinger member Joey Molland is now publicly challenging almost every aspect of the book. It is a fun read because it has some good pictures, a lot of stone throwing, and a bonus CD. Some people have been praising the work because it is the only book out there at this time and they think that by being supportive of the book is being a supporter of Badfinger. Anything is further from the truth. Don't waste your money.
Rating:
Summary: A book that continues to Shine On
Review: I first heard of Badfinger back in November of 1997 due to my brother. That is when I had the pleasure to first listen to No Dice and Straight Up. Soon after this I read this excellent Book about them called the Without You: The Tragic Story of Badfinger by DAN MATOVINA. And let me say this IT IS THE BEST BIOGRAPHY OF A BAND THAT I HAVE EVER READ. Dan tells the entire story with them on the Stage, to behind the scenes, and many other things including events in there personal lifes. With this Dan backs these up with personal interviews done by him or reaccounts by the actual band members and family. Also something that is different about this book than any others is that Dan makes you get so close to the characters and makes you feel and experience what the had to live through. (Especially Pete Ham) After reading what happens to Pete and Tom you realize that you felt like you knew them and were close friends. And that in its self makes a book great, living with and experience the ups and downs with the people or characters. Anyways I WOULD LIKE TO THANK DAN for making this book possible along with 7th Park Avenue and Golders Green (CD's of Pete Ham) and the reissues of Badfingers Classic albums. :-) I just simply can't thank him enough for everything.
Rating:
Summary: How to make great music and make no money
Review: I have always liked Badfinger, but never knew the whole story behind what happened to the band, especially with Pete and Tommy's suicides. "Without You" gives out all the grim details...what a motion picture this story would make! The sad thing is it's a true story....and I am sure no one would want to play the part of the evil manager!
Hats off to Dan for a very well-written book...thanks for the CD insert too, it really adds a vocal narrative of music and voices to the story. Thanks to this book, I am looking forward to adding to my collection of Badfinger music.
(As a side note, it was great to learn the story of how the song "Baby Blue" was written...that song has always been one of my very faves!)
Long live on through your music, Pete and Tommy!
Rating:
Summary: A GIFT OF A BOOK!!
Review: I have always liked Badfinger, but never knew the whole story behind what happened to the band, especially with Pete and Tommy's suicides. "Without You" gives out all the grim details...what a motion picture this story would make! The sad thing is it's a true story....and I am sure no one would want to play the part of the evil manager!
Hats off to Dan for a very well-written book...thanks for the CD insert too, it really adds a vocal narrative of music and voices to the story. Thanks to this book, I am looking forward to adding to my collection of Badfinger music.
(As a side note, it was great to learn the story of how the song "Baby Blue" was written...that song has always been one of my very faves!)
Long live on through your music, Pete and Tommy!
Rating:
Summary: An Outstanding Book on an Outstanding Band
Review: I was floored when I saw this book in my local Borders store. I had loved this band in the '70s but had pretty much forgotten about them until I found this book. I bought it along with a few Badfinger CDs, which I have enjoyed since then. I really got a lot out of this book, too. One truly amazing aspect is the investigative work on the background of their former business manager, Stan Polley. Author Matovina dug up many facts of an apparently shady past of Polley. He was the man that group member Pete Ham named in his suicide note, stating, "Stan Polley is a soulless bastard." This aspect gives more context to what ultimately destroyed these guys. I had always wondered what the story was after reading that quote in Rolling Stone years ago. I was brought to tears on a number of occasions. The deaths of Pete Ham and Tom Evans were so sad. Apparently, they were tortured, talented, special human beings, and we lost them too early. But their contributions to the music world in writing many of the group's major signature songs, such as "No Matter What," "Day After Day," Baby Blue" and "Without You" will always be part of classic rock 'n' roll. Thanks to the author for keeping Badfinger's story alive. A superb job, Mr. Matovina! Well, back to Straight Up!
Rating:
Summary: An Outstanding Book on an Outstanding Band
Review: I was floored when I saw this book in my local Borders store. I had loved this band in the '70s but had pretty much forgotten about them until I found this book. I bought it along with a few Badfinger CDs, which I have enjoyed since then. I really got a lot out of this book, too. One truly amazing aspect is the investigative work on the background of their former business manager, Stan Polley. Author Matovina dug up many facts of an apparently shady past of Polley. He was the man that group member Pete Ham named in his suicide note, stating, "Stan Polley is a soulless bastard." This aspect gives more context to what ultimately destroyed these guys. I had always wondered what the story was after reading that quote in Rolling Stone years ago. I was brought to tears on a number of occasions. The deaths of Pete Ham and Tom Evans were so sad. Apparently, they were tortured, talented, special human beings, and we lost them too early. But their contributions to the music world in writing many of the group's major signature songs, such as "No Matter What," "Day After Day," Baby Blue" and "Without You" will always be part of classic rock 'n' roll. Thanks to the author for keeping Badfinger's story alive. A superb job, Mr. Matovina! Well, back to Straight Up!
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