Badfinger wrote and recorded four of the most infectious hits from the early ‘70s: ”Come and Get It,” “No Matter What,” “Day After Day,” and “Baby Blue.” Yet they often don’t get credit for writing an even bigger hit they released during that same period. “Without You”—yes, the same “Without You” that was an enormous smash for both Harry Nilsson in the early ’70s and Mariah Carey in the early ’90s—was co-written by Badfinger’s Pete Ham and Tom Evans and included on their 1970 album No Dice.
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Had Badfinger chosen to release “Without You” as a single, maybe they’d be the ones most closely associated with the song. Or had Nilsson not heard it at a party and taken a liking to it (initially assuming it was a Beatles song), perhaps it would have languished in obscurity. Fortunately for us, he did hear it, and subsequently, Carey heard Nilsson’s version growing up (as plenty of other kids did in the ‘70s).
For Badfinger to have created a song that was a huge hit in two different decades, they were clearly doing something right. While Nilsson’s and Carey’s versions are, by far, the best-known, “Without You” has been covered by more than 200 artists from all genres.
Nilsson’s rendition was the first to hit it big. It’s the only version to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the only one to be listened to more than 10 million times on YouTube. It also won the Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Is his version the consummate interpretation of the song? Or did Badfinger get it right the first time? Or does Carey’s version, which is the only one to be certified Platinum and have received more than 200 million streams on Spotify, reign as the best performance? Let’s compare and see if there’s a case for one of them to be considered the best.
3. Mariah Carey
Carey recorded her version of “Without You” for her third album, Music Box, and released it as the third single from the 1993 LP. From the song’s keyboard-heavy arrangement to its inclusion of strings, Carey’s cover is remarkably faithful to the Nilsson version—which makes sense given it was the version she heard in her childhood.
Even though she puts her inimitable spin on the song’s vocal phrasings, its similarity to Nilsson’s rendition works against it, at least for listeners who are already familiar with that version. The familiarness of her arrangement takes away from the surprise and drama that make the Nilsson and Badfinger versions so effective. To be fair, comparing any version against the original and Nilsson’s is setting the bar exceedingly high. And as great as Nilsson’s vocal performance is, Carey’s is at least as good.
2. Badfinger
It’s a shame Badfinger never released “Without You” as a single. It’s clearly a phenomenal song, and their own arrangement only adds to its appeal. Their version is guitar-driven, and by starting with acoustic guitar and not introducing the electric guitar until just before the first chorus, they give the song the dramatic tension the lyrics require.
The final two minutes consist of a long build-up that brings an organ into the mix, which gives the outro a majestic feel similar to Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale.” If there’s anything that keeps the Badfinger original from being the definitive version, it’s that Ham’s and Evans’ vocals don’t draw in the listener’s focus the way Nilsson’s and Carey’s do. This is not a knock against Badfinger’s singers, of course. Putting them up against the nimble-throated Nilsson and the explosive Carey would be an unfair competition for just about any singer.
1. Harry Nilsson
Nilsson certainly deserves props for his performance on “Without You,” and particularly for the way he nails both the tenderness of the verses and the angst of the choruses. Credit also goes to producer Richard Perry, who had the idea to amplify the drama of Badfinger’s original. He accomplished this by having Nilsson bring the intensity of Badfinger’s outro into each of the choruses. Then Nilsson had the vocal chops to take the song’s agonized core to another level.
Making the Paul Buckmaster string and French horn arrangement the focal point of the outro magnified “Without You”’s pathos even more. Some might consider the move a little hokey, but it was an effective way to add even more emotion to the song once Nilsson’s vocals have tapered off.
Though the original is considered one of the first power ballads, Nilsson’s version—with his high, howling delivery of the chorus vocals—is much closer to being the prototype for future songs falling into that genre. Badfinger and Carey make it a close contest, and each version has something that makes it special. Despite it being a cover song, Nilsson’s “Without You” is a true original in that it helped pave the way for other artists to make massive theatrical statements in the span of a three- or four-minute pop gem.
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