A Taste of Honey (song)

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"A Taste of Honey"
A Taste of Honey - Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass.png
Cover of the 1965 single
Single by Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass
from the album Whipped Cream & Other Delights
B-side "Third Man Theme"
ReleasedAugust 1965
RecordedMarch 10, 1965
Studio A&M Studios, Hollywood, California
Genre
Length2:43
Label A&M
Songwriter(s) Bobby Scott, Ric Marlow
Producer(s) Herb Alpert, Jerry Moss
Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass singles chronology
"Mae"
(1965)
"A Taste of Honey"
(1965)
"Tijuana Taxi"
(1965)
Official audio
"A Taste of Honey" on YouTube

"A Taste of Honey" is a pop standard written by Bobby Scott and Ric Marlow. It was originally an instrumental track (or recurring theme) written for the 1960 Broadway version of the 1958 British play A Taste of Honey which was also made into the film of the same name in 1961. The original and a later recording by Herb Alpert in 1965 earned the song four Grammy Awards.

Contents

A vocal version of the song proved successful for Lenny Welch in mid-1962.

Instrumental versions

The original recorded versions of the song "A Taste of Honey", "A Taste of Honey (refrain)" and "A Taste of Honey (closing theme)", appeared on Bobby Scott's 1960 album, also titled A Taste of Honey, on Atlantic 1355. The composition won Best Instrumental Theme at the Grammy Awards of 1963.

Vocal versions

The first vocal version of "A Taste of Honey" was recorded in 1961 by Billy Dee Williams from his album Let's Misbehave. [4]

The Beatles

"A Taste of Honey"
A Taste of Honey.png
Cover of the 1964 Germany single
Song by the Beatles
from the album Please Please Me
ReleasedMarch 22, 1963
RecordedFebruary 11, 1963
Studio EMI, London
Genre Pop
Length2:01
Label Parlophone
Songwriter(s) Bobby Scott/Ric Marlow
Producer(s) George Martin

The Beatles performed Lenny Welch's adaptation as part of their repertoire in 1962, [5] slightly changing the lyrics in the chorus. Because the instrumental version by Acker Bilk was popular in the United Kingdom at the time, the song was chosen to be recorded for their 1963 debut album, Please Please Me . A version from that time was released in 1977 on the album Live! at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962 .

In the US, this song first appeared on the Vee-Jay Records album Introducing... The Beatles . They also performed "A Taste of Honey" seven times for BBC radio shows, including Here We Go, Side by Side, and Easy Beat . [6] In 1967, McCartney was inspired to compose “Your Mother Should Know” based on a line taken from the screenplay. [5]

Personnel

Engineered by Norman Smith [8]

Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand recorded the song for her debut record "The Barbra Streisand Album", produced by Mike Berniker in 1963.

The Supremes & Four Tops

"A Taste of Honey"
The Supremes & Four Tops - A Taste of Honey.png
One of sleeve variants of the 1971 Dutch single
Song by The Supremes & Four Tops
from the album The Magnificent 7
Released1971
Genre R&B, soul
Length2:57
Label Tamla Motown
Songwriter(s) Bobby Scott/Ric Marlow
Producer(s) Clay McMurray, Duke Browner

Personnel

The Supremes
The Four Tops

Charts

The Supremes & Four Tops version

Chart (1971)Peak
position
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade) [9] 7

Other artists

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ric Marlow</span> American actor

Eric "Ric" Marlow was an American songwriter and actor, best known for co-writing with Bobby Scott the song "A Taste of Honey" which won a Grammy in 1962. The song has been recorded by approximately 200 artists internationally, including The Beatles, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, and Johnny Mathis. He also had several acting roles, most notably on the television programs, Bonanza, Hawaii Five-O and Magnum, P.I.

"My Coloring Book" is a song written by Fred Ebb and John Kander. First performed by Sandy Stewart in 1962 on the television program The Perry Como Kraft Music Hall, she was one of the first artists to record the work in 1962 when it was released as a single. She also included the song on her 1963 album which was also named My Coloring Book. Stewart's single charted in the top 20, and so did another 1962 single version of the song recorded by Kitty Kallen. Stewart's recording of the song was nominated for the 1963 Grammy Award for Best Solo Vocal Performance, Female and Kander and Ebb were nominated for the 1963 Grammy Award for Song of the Year. Barbra Streisand also recorded the song as a single in 1962, but it was a financial flop. She made a different recording of the work on her 1963 album, The Second Barbra Streisand Album, which was a critical success and has enjoyed enduring popularity. Many other artists have recorded and performed the song in succeeding decades, most recently Kristin Chenoweth in 2014. While not originally written for one of their musicals, the song was included in the Off-Broadway musical revue And the World Goes ‘Round: The Songs of Kander and Ebb in 1991.

References

  1. Molanphy, Chris (January 13, 2024). "And the Grammy Goes to... Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate . Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  2. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001. Record Research. p. 19.
  3. "RPM Play Sheet - November 15, 1965" (PDF).
  4. Sarti, Doug (February 26, 2019). "Billy Dee Williams dishes on Fan Expo, the nature of coolness, and—yes—Star Wars Episode IX". The Georgia Straight . Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  5. 1 2 MacDonald, Ian (1998). Revolution in the Head. London: Pimlico. p. 231. ISBN   0-7126-6697-4.
  6. "The Beatles Bible: A Taste Of Honey". March 14, 2008. Retrieved August 16, 2009.
  7. Please Please Me (Album liner notes). The Beatles. 1963.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. A Taste Of Honey | The Beatles Bible
  9. "The Supremes & Four Tops - A Taste Of Honey | Top 40". Dutch Top 40 . Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  10. Holden, Stephen (September 2, 1985). "JAZZ: MORGANA KING". The New York Times. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
  11. The Interactive Tony Bennett Discography