The Iveys were first discovered by Mojos' manager Bill Collins while performing in Ammanford on March 1, 1966. *"Collins eventually travelled back to Wales to tape these performances at a workingmen's club in Neath on June the 7th. He placed a mic directly in front of the P.A. and -- despite a gravely unbalanced recording -- was able to capture the essence of their act, which at the time was heavily rhythm & blues oriented. The Iveys were being closely studied, and though the band was intrigued, they were still dubious..."

The collection of songs in The Iveys' set at this time was a mix of American Rhythm & Blues and Soul music combined with contemporary songs from the British music scene. The boys were heavily influenced by R&B based British groups such as: The Spencer Davis Group (Somebody Help Me, Keep On Running, My Babe), The Who (Daddy Rollin' Stone), Chris Farlowe (Buzz With The Fuzz [with The Thunderbirds], The Fool), The Moody Blues (I'll Go Crazy), The Hollies (What Kind Of Boy), John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers (Crocodile Walk, Crawling Up A Hill), The Small Faces (Hey Girl), The Graham Bond Organisation (Keep A-Driving), Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders (Young Blood), and The Kinks (Sittin' On My Sofa). Absent for the time are covers by The Beatles and other Mersey Beat groups, although The Iveys' cover of Love Hurts was copied from a live arrangement by The Merseybeats the boys heard as a support group at The Ritz in Skewen, near Swansea. On the American side, the R&B influences were James Brown and his Famous Flames (Tell Me What You're Gonna Do), Don Covay and The Goodtimers (See-Saw), The Impressions (It's All Right), Solomon Burke (Stupidity), and Willie Mitchell (Everything Is Gonna Be Alright).

Generally speaking, The Iveys would follow song arrangements by the original artists, however they made some exceptions by imitating other interpretations by some of their favorite artists from the mid 1960s. Although My Babe is known as a Righteous Brothers song, The Iveys based their version on the cover version that leads-off the debut album by the Spencer Davis Group from 1965. For the Coasters' classic song Young Blood, the boys decided to follow a more contemporary arrangement released in 1964 by Wayne Fontana and The Mindbenders, or as Pete Ham would call them in his introduction, Wayne Bender and the Mindfontanas! Although familiar with Dusty Springfield's hit version of I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself, Ron Griffiths was inspired by Chris Farlowe's solo version from his album of cover songs titled "14 Things To Think About" from 1966. Being huge Who fans, Ron Griffiths recalls interpreting several James Brown songs in the style The Iveys thought The Who might have played them even though The Who may have never performed them. The most unusual track from this live recording was The Iveys' interpretation of a Kinks B-side. Somehow, David Jenkins mis-heard the song Sittin' On My Sofa somewhere and thought The Kinks were singing "Sittin' On My Sad Side," so that's the way it ended up being performed live!

Essay by Tom Brennan

*Quote in italics from Dan Matovina's Badfinger biography, "Without You - The Tragic Story of Badfinger."

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