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Shine On: A Tribute To Pete Ham (Various Artists) [Import] on CD

Y&T Music is proud to announce the release of a special tribute album, "Shine On: A Tribute to Pete Ham, featuring 35 new recordings of songs written by the legendary founding member of the British rock band, Badfinger. All net profits will go to Mental Health America of Southeast Florida, the wonderful organization that is doing very important work in the field of mental health care and suicide prevention. The musicians who've come together to salute this lost genius chose the songs they wanted to cover, as Pete Ham, along with the legacy of Badfinger, continues to move and inspire every generation. "The more I learned about Badfinger," says longtime Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers drummer Stan Lynch, who contributed to three of the Shine On tracks, "the more upset it made me, because they were so rich with promise. It's not just a cautionary tale - it's truly heartbreaking." As part of the Speaker Wars, with vocalist Jon Christopher Davis, Lynch turns "No Matter What" - Badfinger's power pop anthem - into a gently swaying, country-rocking declaration of devotion. A second version of the song, with Davis and Indian vocalist Susmita Datta, re-imagines it as a psychedelic Hindustani dream. With ex-Georgia Satellite Dan Baird, Lynch put together The Chefs; the band contributed a raucous rave-up version of "I Can't Take It," one of the few full-tilt rave-ups in the Ham catalog."That stuff was so infectious and fabulous, so obviously good," Lynch says. "I never saw them live, but at the time when you heard those songs, you knew they were a cut above. The vocals were just so emotional. They weren't showbiz. 'Day After Day' ripped my heart out." That song, perhaps Pete's most indelible gift to the world, is interpreted on Shine On by singer-songwriter Shelby Lynne, who masterfully found the emotional core and gave it a searing soulfulness that brings to mind nothing less than the legendary Dusty Springfield. That sort of inside-out happens time and again on this collection, from the sweet heartbreak of Mary Lou Lord's bared-nerves take on "Baby Blue" to Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby's spellbinding "Midnight Caller," from Melanie's heartbroken "Without You" (written by Pete with his Badfinger bandmate Tom Evans) to the love-has-no-limits rendition of "We're For the Dark" by Mary Karlzen. Each of the artists on Shine On - a true labor of love - would agree. We are all the better for however briefly sharing the planet with him.