Album Review: The Iveys – How Much is the Sky

Seasoned Badfinger fans know the broad outlines of the story: before they were rechristened by The Beatles, Badfinger were The Iveys. Under that name, the Welsh group even made an album, the poorly-distributed Maybe Tomorrow, ostensibly released by Apple in 1969 but only in Germany, Italy and Japan. Good luck laying hands on any of those LPs; used copies start at $200 and go up from there. Save for some unauthorized reissues and a 1992 CD release, Maybe Tomorrow remains an obscurity, heard by few.

Which is a shame, especially when considered against the enduring popularity of Badfinger. The Iveys were, in fact, the same group, with three members – primary songwriters Pete Ham and Tom Evans plus drummer Mike Gibbins – forming the core of the celebrated lineup. The fourth member, Ron Griffiths would still be on board when the group recorded Magic Christian Music, though he was gone by the time of its release, replaced by Joey Molland. But the sound of Badfinger was largely in place when the group was still trading as The Iveys.

Significant music beyond Maybe Tomorrow has surfaced for release in recent years. Griffiths oversaw small-scale release of a pair of 2019 archival Anthology albums, including a live set from 1968. A third Anthology volume, Golden Delicious Demos was released in 2022. And the non-hits keep coming: a new release titled How Much is the Sky: Demos 1967-1969 bears the subtitle The Iveys Anthology Volume 4.

The first thought coming to mind is how remarkable it is that more than a half century on, previously unreleased Iveys material is still coming to light. Happily, this latest release is thanks to Y&T Music, current-day curators of record for all things Badfinger.

Even in their Iveys days, the group boasted formidable talent, not only musicianwise, but in terms of songwriting prowess. All four members contributed original material, and songs from all four have found their way onto How Much is the Sky. Not surprisingly, Ham and Evans have the most tracks, but songs from Gibbins and Griffiths are sprinkled into the mix as well (though notes point out that those latter songs weren’t ever included in Iveys sets).

Even though the 19 tracks on this set are demo recordings, the arrangements are well thought out, and the production values are first rate by late ‘60s standards. (Some unobtrusive cleanup work was done to bring these tapes to release.) Ham’s soulful vocals and the band’s tight playing make all of the music worth hearing. Some of the songs are a bit odd: Was Evans’ “Fresh” written as an advertising jingle? Ham’s “Sausage and Egg” sounds like something Giles, Giles and Fripp (or The Bonzos) might’ve done.

Had it been re-recorded with a fuller arrangement, Gibbins’ “Face the Sun” would have fit nicely on Magic Christian Music. The skeletal demo of the title track hints at what it could have become. Another catchy number is Ham’s “For My Sympathy.” Here it’s a nearly-campfire styled arrangement, though another (unreleased) version circulates among collectors, an acetate with a more electric feel. (Perhaps that’ll surface on a future volume; see below).

Ham’s Merseybeat-flavored “I’ll Kiss You Goodnight” is another winner, but there are plenty of fine tunes on this set. And while the lyrics of “Just Look Inside the Cover” are a bit preachy in a Five Man Electrical Band sort of way, it’s an appealing tune nonetheless. Evans’ “Stop Before You Go” is a lovely slice of pastoral-meets-freakbeat. The exceedingly lo-fi “Get High” is reminiscent of Jeremy Spencer’s retro-fifties excursions with Fleetwood Mac. Far from a barrel-scraping exercise, How Much is the Sky is a fascinating archival dig.

Here’s some arcana for those who’ve read this far. Remarkably, this new collection doesn’t exhaust the cache of unreleased Badfinger-related material. The press materials for How Much is the Sky note that an Iveys demo for “Blodwyn” (a song which would be recorded later for Badfinger’s No Dice LP) “will appear on a future volume.” Add to that the fact that my own collection of unofficial recordings includes many other Iveys tracks that have somehow not made it onto any of these four Anthology volumes. Here’s hoping, too, that a long-wished-for recording of late-period Badfinger (with Bob Jackson) live onstage during the band’s tour with Man will someday surface. In the meantime, fans should be grateful for this release. Kudos to Y&T, and to Badfinger archivists Kevin McElligott and Tom Brennan.