"Badge"
Single by Cream
from the album Goodbye
B-side(s)	What a Bringdown
Released	April 1969
Recorded	October 1968
Genre	Rock
Length	2:47
Label	Polydor
Writer(s)	Eric Clapton George Harrison
Producer(s)	Felix Pappalardi / RSO
Cream singles chronology
"Crossroads" (1969) "Badge" (1969) "Sweet Wine" (1970)

The 1969 song "Badge", by Cream, was penned by Eric Clapton and George Harrison during a collaborative effort between Clapton, Harrison and Ringo Starr. Although it was paired with one of Cream's less notable songs, "What a Bringdown", Badge was nonetheless a major hit when it was released as a single in April of 1969, following release of the album Goodbye in January. Image File history File links Creams final album, Goodbye. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... Cream were a 1960s British rock band, which consisted of guitarist Eric Clapton, bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker. ... Goodbye (also called Goodbye Cream) was the final original album of the rock power trio Cream. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the 1968 Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For other uses, see Rock music (disambiguation). ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Polydor Records is a record label once headquartered in Germany. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... Eric Patrick Clapton CBE (born 30 March 1945), nicknamed Slowhand, is a Grammy Award winning English guitarist, singer and composer, who is one of the most successful musicians of the 20th century,[1] garnering an unprecedented three inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ... George Harrison, MBE (25 February 1943[1][2] – 29 November 2001[3]) was an Academy Award and Grammy Award-winning English rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, author and sitarist best known as the lead guitarist of The Beatles. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... Felix Pappalardi (December 30, 1939 – April 17, 1983) is best known as the producer of the psychedelic, blues-inspired rock trio Cream, beginning with their second album, Disraeli Gears. ... RSO Records was a record label, formed in partnership with Polydor Records by rock and roll and musical theatre impresario Robert Stigwood in the late 1960s, after the death of his business partner and mentor Brian Epstein. ... Cream were a 1960s British rock band, which consisted of guitarist Eric Clapton, bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker. ... For the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony song, covered by Blazin Squad, see Tha Crossroads Crossroads, from Creams 1968 album Wheels of Fire, is a famous and influential blues-rock song. ... // Perhaps the most famous musical events of 1969 are two legendary concerts. ... Cream were a 1960s British rock band, which consisted of guitarist Eric Clapton, bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker. ... Eric Patrick Clapton CBE (born 30 March 1945), nicknamed Slowhand, is a Grammy Award winning English guitarist, singer and composer, who is one of the most successful musicians of the 20th century,[1] garnering an unprecedented three inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ... George Harrison, MBE (25 February 1943[1][2] – 29 November 2001[3]) was an Academy Award and Grammy Award-winning English rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, author and sitarist best known as the lead guitarist of The Beatles. ... Richard Starkey, MBE (born 7 July 1940), known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an Academy Award and Grammy Award-winning English musician, singer and actor, best known as the drummer of The Beatles. ... Goodbye (also called Goodbye Cream) was the final original album of the rock power trio Cream. ...

It was originally an untitled track. During the production transfer for the album Goodbye, the original music sheet was used to produce the liner notes and track listing. The only discernible word on the page was "Bridge" — a notation intended to identify the transitional moment in the song. Clapton's handwriting, however, was so bad, that Ringo Starr looked at it and thought it said "Badge" — so the band named it Badge. Liner notes are the booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or any sound recording container. ... In popular music, especially occidental, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section. ...

Harrison told the story differently, however: "I helped Eric write 'Badge' you know. Each of them had to come up with a song for that Goodbye Cream album and Eric didn't have his written. We were working across from each other and I was writing the lyrics down and we came to the middle part so I wrote 'Bridge.' Eric read it upside down and cracked up laughing-- 'What's BADGE?' he said. After that Ringo walked in drunk and gave us that line about the swans living in the park."

A common legend or misconception is that the name came about because its chord progression is B-A-D-G-E (it is not)^[1], or simply because an anagram of a guitar's string tuning (E-A-D-G-B-E) can spell "Badge". A chord progression (also chord sequence and harmonic progression or sequence), as its name implies, is a series of chords played in order. ...

It was this musical bridge, a series of arpeggios played through a Leslie speaker, that provided the inspiration for Harrison's later Beatles song "Here Comes the Sun" for the album Abbey Road, and would inspire a similar arpeggio at the end of two other Abbey Road tracks, "You Never Give Me Your Money" and "Carry That Weight".^{[citation needed]} Various arpeggi as seen on a staff In music, an arpeggio (plural, arpeggi) is a spread chord played top-to-bottom or vice versa in sheet music, or rather the sounding of the tones of a chord in rapid succession rather than simultaneously. ... The Leslie speaker is a specially constructed amplifier/loudspeaker used to create special audio effects utilizing the Doppler effect. ... The Beatles were an English rock band from Liverpool whose members were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. ... Here Comes the Sun is a song by George Harrison from The Beatles 1969 album Abbey Road. ... Abbey Road is the eleventh official album recorded by The Beatles. ... You Never Give Me Your Money is a song by the The Beatles that opens the climactic medley on side two of the album Abbey Road. ... Carry That Weight is a song by The Beatles. ...

Original Goodbye performers

• Eric Clapton - lead guitar & vocals
• Jack Bruce - bass guitar
• Ginger Baker -drums
• Felix Pappalardi - piano & mellotron
• L'Angelo Misterioso (actually George Harrison) - rhythm guitar

Eric Patrick Clapton CBE (born 30 March 1945), nicknamed Slowhand, is a Grammy Award winning English guitarist, singer and composer, who is one of the most successful musicians of the 20th century,[1] garnering an unprecedented three inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ... Lead guitar refers to a role within a band, that provides melody or melodic material, as opposed to the rhythm of the rhythm guitar, bass, and drums. ... John Symon Asher Jack Bruce (born May 14, 1943) is a Scottish-born musician, composer and singer. ... The electric bass guitar (or electric bass) is a string instrument played with the fingers by plucking, slapping, or using a pick. ... Peter Edward Ginger Baker (born August 19, 1939, Lewisham, South London) is an English drummer and singer who gained fame as a member of the Graham Bond Organisation (GBO) and Cream from 1966 until 1968. ... Bass drum made from wood, rope, and cowskin A drum is a musical instrument in the percussion group that can be large, technically classified as a membranophone. ... Felix Pappalardi (December 30, 1939 – April 17, 1983) is best known as the producer of the psychedelic, blues-inspired rock trio Cream, beginning with their second album, Disraeli Gears. ... A short grand piano, with the top up. ... The Mellotron is an electromechanical polyphonic keyboard musical instrument originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. ... George Harrison, MBE (25 February 1943[1][2] – 29 November 2001[3]) was an Academy Award and Grammy Award-winning English rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, author and sitarist best known as the lead guitarist of The Beatles. ... Rhythm guitar is a guitar that is primarily used to provide rhythmic and harmonic accompaniment for a singer or for other instruments in an ensemble. ...

Trivia

• The song was used prominently in the 1983 UK television drama Good and Bad at Games. One of the characters plays air guitar to the song using a tennis racket. He writhes over the racket during the guitar break and another character who is listening says "I love this bit".
• The song was featured in the movie Fandango, as one of the characters played by Kevin Costner surveys the remains of their college graduation party.

Good and Bad at Games is a UK Television drama that was one of the first programmes broadcast on Channel 4 Television in 1983. ... Example of air guitar An Air guitar is the imaginary instrument used when pretending to play guitar. ... Fandango is a comedy/drama about five college students from Texas in 1971 who go on one last road trip together, celebrating the privilege of youth as they face graduation, marriage, and the draft. ... Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is a two-time Academy Award-winning American film actor and director who has often produced his own films. ...

External links

• Lyrics

References

1. ^ Cream: Selections From Cream - Those Were the Days. Hal Leonard, p. 2. ISBN 0793590841.