Badfinger Doc 2 of 6

From Wiki: Griffiths left the group shortly after these sessions. Reportedly, the primary reason was because he was the only married occupant of the communal band home, now raising a child there, and this created some friction, mainly between his wife, Evans and manager Collins. Griffiths officially was out of the picture by the beginning of November 1969.

In October 1969, while the release of "Come and Get It" was pending, the band and Apple Records agreed that a name change was critical. "The Iveys" were still sometimes confused with "The Ivy League", and the name was considered too trite for the current music scene. After much debate, the group changed their name to Badfinger. Other suggestions had included: "The Glass Onion," "The Prix", and "The Cagneys" from John Lennon, and "Home" by Paul McCartney.

The name Badfinger was suggested by Apple's Neil Aspinall as a reference to "Bad Finger Boogie", an early working title of Lennon/McCartney's "With a Little Help from My Friends", alleged by Neil Aspinall being that Lennon had composed the melody on a piano using his middle finger, after having hurt his forefinger.

For over a month the group unsuccessfully auditioned bass guitarists to replace Ron Griffiths. With the release date of "Come and Get It" fast approaching, Badfinger finally hired Liverpudlian guitarist Joey Molland (previously with Gary Walker & The Rain, Masterminds, and The Fruit-Eating Bears) at the last minute, which required Evans to shift to bass.

"Come and Get It" was released in December 1969 in the U.K. and January 1970 in the U.S. It reached the Top 10 throughout the world, including #3 in the U.S. Billboard charts. The track was also featured in The Magic Christian film. For the group's initial LP release, their three soundtrack songs were combined with some other Iveys tracks (including seven songs from the rare Maybe Tomorrow album) and released as Magic Christian Music. It peaked at #55 on the Billboard album chart in the U.S.