‘No Matter What’ is a song originally recorded by Badfinger for their album No Dice in 1970, written and sung by Pete Ham and produced by Mal Evans. As a demo, ‘No Matter What’ was originally recorded at a slower tempo by Ham on acoustic guitar. A group demo version, played at the same tempo as Ham's acoustic demo, was recorded by Badfinger on 18 April 1970 with Mal Evans producing. The song was recorded again in a rockier fashion, at a faster tempo, by the band in May 1970 at Abbey Road Studios, and it was this version that appeared on the album and single.
Although the song and recording was a favorite of Badfinger's shortly after it was completed, the hierarchy at Apple Records reportedly was not inclined to release it in any format. It was not until Al Steckler, the American director of Apple in New York, heard the tape in August 1970 and considered it a strong entry by the band, that it was remixed by engineer/producer Geoff Emerick and slotted for the upcoming LP and as a single release.
According to AllMusic critic Ritchie Unterberger, the lyrics of ‘No Matter What’ are essentially "a pledge of eternal love." Unterberger says that these lyrics are "sung with great infectious lilting cheer, pioneering the 'power pop' style years before that was named by critics." Unterberger noted that the opening guitar chords are "not exactly hard rock and certainly not heavy metal, but dense and gripping." He also pointed out that similar to many Beatles songs, "the melody goes through a few different chord changes on the final line of the bridge than it does in the first half of the bridge, though retaining a similar progression."
The single was released in the United States (12 October 1970), Canada, the Philippines and a few other countries, with the Tom Evans-Pete Ham song ‘Carry On Till Tomorrow’ (the theme song for the movie The Magic Christian) as the B-side. This was an edited version of the recording that had appeared on Badfinger's previous album, Magic Christian Music. In all other countries, the single was backed with the Tom Evans-Joey Molland song ‘Better Days’, which also appeared on No Dice. It was the band's first UK Top 10 single to be composed by Badfinger, reaching number 5 in the UK in January 1971. In the US it peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. In South Africa it topped the charts. The band also scored with ‘Come and Get It’, number 4 in the UK in January 1970, which was composed by Paul McCartney, and ‘Day After Day’, number 10 in the UK in January 1972.
This song was the bane of disc jockeys because it has a very convincing false ending at the 2:40 mark, 17 seconds before the end time. Many air personalities were startled by the pause and rushed to fill the dead air, only to have the song resume.
Although Badfinger followed this up with two more hits from their next album: ‘Day After Day’ and ‘Baby Blue’, this wasn't reflected in their bank accounts. Apple Records was imploding around this time and never paid Badfinger their due. When they jumped to Warner Bros. in 1974, it got even worse - Warners withheld payments and put the band on hold when it appeared Badfinger's business manager had taken funds from an escrow account. The band was broke and broken by 1975, and, sadly, Pete Ham committed suicide in desperation, followed by another band member, Tom Evans, also taking his own life in 1983.
Label – Apple
Songwriter – Pete Ham
Producer – Mal Evans
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]No matter what you are
I will always be with you
Doesn't matter what you do, girl
Ooh girl, with you
[Verse 2]
No matter what you do
I will always be around
Won't you tell me what you found, girl
Ooh girl, won't you?
[Bridge]
Knock down the old grey wall
Be a part of it all
Nothing to say, nothing to see, nothing to do
If you would give me all
As I would give it to you
Nothing would be, nothing would be, nothing would be
[Verse 3]
No matter where you go
There will always be a place
Can't you see it in my face, girl?
Ooh girl, want you
[Guitar Solo]
[Bridge]
Knock down the old grey wall
Be a part of it all
Nothing to say, nothing to see, nothing to do
If you would give me all
As I would give it to you
Nothing would be, nothing would be, nothing would be
[Verse 1]
No matter what you are
I will always be with you
Doesn't matter what you do, girl
Ooh girl, with you
[Outro]
Ooh girl, you girl, want you
Ooh girl, you girl, want you