"Badge" was originally an untitled track.[7] 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" (indicating the song's bridge section). Due to Harrison's handwriting, however, Clapton misread it as "badge"—and the song was thus titled soon thereafter.
Harrison remembered the story thus:
"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 [Starr] walked in drunk and gave us that line about the swans living in the park."[1]
Common legends or misconceptions are that the name came about because its chord progression was B–A–D–G–E (which is not true) or simply because the notation of a guitar's standard tuning (E–A–D–G–B–E) can be arranged to spell "Badge".[8]
Harrison was present on 21 November 1968 at Wally Heider Studios in Hollywood where the track was recorded, adding rhythm guitar, although for contractual reasons he was credited as "L'Angelo Misterioso" on the Goodbye sleeve. The song received later overdubs (without Harrison present) at IBC Studios a month later.[1]
Reception
Cash Box said "More subdued drumming and almost conventional instrumental work show the Cream in a new light, one which should have a tremendous impact on listeners of cleaner-cut rock who may not have been into the blues outings that hit earlier."[9]Billboard called it an "easy beat, driving rocker."[2]
Writing and publishing credits
In the US, Atco Records' initial releases of Goodbye and of "Badge" as a single gave the song's writing credit to Clapton alone, with publishing credit to Robert Stigwood's company Casserole (BMI).[10] Atco later corrected this in 1969 with the release of Best of Cream,[11] which lists both Clapton and Harrison as the song's authors. The UK single of "Badge" released by Polydor Records gave writing credit to both Clapton and Harrison, with publishing credit going to Dratleaf and Harrisongs Ltd.[12] Since the early 1990s the writing credit has been listed as Clapton/Harrison with publishing credit going to E.C. Music, Ltd. and Harrisongs.[13]
^. Later in Clapton's career he added a vocal refrain of "Where is my badge?" to an extended coda when "Badge" was played live.
Cream: Selections From Cream – Those Were the Days. Hal Leonard. 1999. p. 2. ISBN0-7935-9084-1.
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