A Taste of Honey (song)

Infobox Song
Name = A Taste of Honey
Artist = Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass
Album = Whipped Cream and Other Delights
Released = April 1965 (LP); 1990 (A&M Records CD); March 2005 (Shout! Factory CD)
track_no = 1
Recorded = 1965
Genre = Jazz; Instrumental pop
Length = 2:43
Writer = Bobby Scott/Ric Marlow
Label = A&M Records; Shout! Factory
Producer = Herb Alpert; Jerry Moss
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Whipped Cream and Other Delights
Type = studio
Tracks = ;Side one
# "A Taste of Honey"
# "Green Peppers"
# "Tangerine"
# "Bittersweet Samba"
# "Lemon Tree"
# "Whipped Cream"
# "Love Potion No. 9"
# "El Garbanzo"
# "Ladyfingers"
# "Butterball"
# "Peanuts"
# "Lollipops and Roses"

"A Taste of Honey" is a pop standard written by Bobby Scott and Ric Marlow in 1960. It was first performed by Scott, and its title may have been inspired by the 1958 British play "A Taste of Honey", which reached Broadway in 1960.

The most famous version of this song was the instrumental cover by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass on their album, "Whipped Cream & Other Delights". This version of the song became a #7 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1965; it also spent five weeks at #1 on the adult contemporary chart. In addition, the song won Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards of 1966. While this is the best remembered version, two others had competed in the charts in 1962: both Martin Denny and The Victor Feldman Quartet had minor hits with their takes on the song. The only vocal version to chart was the 1964 minor hit for Tony Bennett. The newest version recorded as a single release was by Howard Bailey. Sticking close to the Herb Alpert version, Bailey played all the main brass melodies on the guitar.

Song infobox
Name = A Taste of Honey


Artist = The Beatles
Album = Please Please Me
Released = March 22 1963 (mono)
April 26 1963 (stereo)
track_no = 12
Recorded = February 11 1963
Genre = Beat, pop
Length = 2:01
Writer = Bobby Scott/Ric Marlow
Label = Parlophone
Producer = George Martin
prev = "Do You Want to Know a Secret?"
prev_no = 11
next = "There's a Place"
next_no = 13
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Please Please Me
Type = studio
Tracks = ;Side one
# "I Saw Her Standing There"
# "Misery"
# "Anna (Go to Him)"
# "Chains"
# "Boys"
# "Ask Me Why"
# "Please Please Me";Side two
# "Love Me Do"
# "P.S. I Love You (The Beatles song)"
# "Baby It's You"
# "Do You Want to Know a Secret"
# "A Taste of Honey"
# "There's A Place"
# "Twist and Shout"

Beatles' version

"A Taste of Honey" was a personal favourite of Paul McCartney's, and formed part of the Beatles repertoire from 1962. It was included on their 1963 debut album "Please Please Me". In 1967, McCartney would write “Your Mother Should Know” based on a line taken from the screenplay of the same name cite book |first=Ian |last=MacDonald |authorlink=Ian MacDonald |title=Revolution in the Head |year=1998 |pages=231|publisher=Pimlico |location=London |isbn=0-7126-6697-4] The Beatles performed "A Taste of Honey" on many BBC radio shows, including "Here We Go", "Side by Side" and "Easy Beat".

*Satirist Allan Sherman recorded a parody version called "A Waste of Money".

Credits

*John Lennon – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
*Paul McCartney – bass, double-tracked lead vocals
*George Harrison – lead guitar, backing vocals
*Ringo Starr – drums

Movie

Shelagh Dalaney's script "A Taste of Honey" was filmed in 1961 by Tony Richardson and starred Liverpool actress Rita Tushingham. As part of the pioneering wave of British northern “kitchen-sink” literature from that period (see also: "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning" and "A Kind of Loving") the genre also seemed to fit in well with the Beatles' own outspoken image, and reflected the social changes in attitude that were then taking place within the UK.

References

*"The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits", 6th Edition, 1996