Hippiefest 2008, the latest rock festival that rolls into town Wednesday, July 16 at the Greek Theatre, is all about peace and love. But Badfinger’s Joey Molland’s life, most of it anyway, has been anything but.

A great songwriter for one of pop’s legendary bands – “Day After
Day,” “No Matter What,” “Baby Blue,” and “Come and Get it” were among
Badfinger’s lasting masterpieces – Molland endured the worst of the
1970s music business: impresarios who stole his money; record
companies that ripped him off; music lawyers who unjustly sued him;
and tons of dramatic tragedies that included the suicide deaths of
two Badfinger members in 1975 and 1983.

It has taken a long time for Molland to reclaim Badfinger’s glory
(all Badfinger royalties were withheld from 1975 to 1986), and the
Welshman is slated to celebrate with a greatest-hits set at the Greek
Theatre, where Cream’s Jack Bruce, the Animals, the Turtles, Melanie
and Jonathan Edwards also are on the bill.

Molland is the only member from Badfinger’s prime era who is still in
the band, and he is happy to be there considering that during the
leanest of times Molland was laying carpet for a living.

“It was terrible,” said Molland, calling in the other day before an
Arizona tour stop. “All the money that we had made from all the
original hits and concerts got spent by our manager – we just got a
little bit of a salary ourselves. These managers had no way of making
money themselves, so they did the normal thing that most managers did
and took our money and hung us out to dry. I just couldn’t deal with
the business anymore and quit in 1974.”

Badfinger was first signed to the Beatles’ Apple Records, then
Molland played on records for John Lennon (“Imagine”) and George
Harrison, and also recorded a few solo records, but he has always
felt most at home back in Badfinger.

“Although Badfinger did go through hell, it’s actually turned around
really well in the end,” Molland said. “I’m as strong musically as
ever. I think I can sing and play better than I ever did because I
quit smoking 15 or 20 years ago, and my voice got stronger. We don’t
even lower any of the keys in concert.”

The Greek concert is the fourth Hippiefest stop on a 22-date trek
that so far has been very well-received, as Flower Power survivors in
force come dressed in psychedelic tie-dye shirts and love beads.

Tickets are available through hippiefest.net and ticketmaster.com.

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HIPPIEFEST LINEUP
Eric Burdon & The Animals
Jack Bruce (of Cream)
The Turtles
Badfinger
Jonathan Edwards