Come and Get It - Badfinger (1970) 3/27/22

When many of us heard today's "Great Song of 1970" for the first time, we said to ourselves, "That's GOTTA be the Beatles."

We were wrong...but we were darn close.

"Come and Get It" was recorded by Badfinger, but the story behind it is rather "Fab," in a unique sort of way.

One day in 1969, Paul McCartney arrived at a Beatles recording session a few hours early. None of the other guys were there, so Paul used the time to record a demo version of "Come and Get It," playing ALL the instruments and singing ALL the harmonies.

It turned out pretty good, but it was never released as a Beatles single, and, to this day, it has only appeared on bootleg and rare compilation albums--including an extended version of "Abbey Road."

But its initial non-release was mainly because Paul was asked to provide a few songs for the 1970 movie "The Magic Christian," starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr.

At about the same time, a group called The Iveys was signed to Apple Records and Paul took them under his wing.

Macca promised the band he'd let them record a song for the film, and chose "Come and Get It.'

But there was one caveat: The finished song had to song EXACTLY like Paul's demo! He even had everyone in the group audition to see who could sound the most like him. The winner? Tom Evans.

Although the Iveys' version was a tiny bit faster and had a few extra harmonies, Tom did a darn good impression of Paul. Add the fact that it was released on Apple Records (as was "The Magic Christian" soundtrack), it's no wonder people thought it was the Beatles.

By the same token, hardly anyone knew it was The Iveys, either... because somewhere along the way, they changed their name to Badfinger.

Partly because it sounded like the Fab Four, partly because it was featured in "The Magic Christian," but mostly because it was a "Great Song," "Come and Get It" reached the Top 10 in several countries, including #1 in New Zealand, #4 in Canada and The UK, and #7 in the US!

Badfinger had a "Fab" debut...and a "Great Song of 1970." You "might" say, they "Came and Got It" from Paul McCartney.

Badfinger (1970):

Paul McCartney (1969):