A Taste of Honey (song)

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* Jazz
* instrumental
* pop

"**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). Both the original and a later recording by Herb Alpert in 1965 earned the song four Grammy Awards. A vocal version of the song, first recorded by Billy Dee Williams (and released in 1961 on the Prestige label), was recorded by the Beatles for their first album in 1963. Barbra Streisand had performed the song as part of her cabaret act during 1962, and recorded it for her debut album The Barbra Streisand Album on Columbia, which won a Grammy for Album of the Year (1963).

## 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.

* Martin Denny and the Victor Feldman Quartet each scored minor hits in 1962 with their covers.
* Acker Bilk released a version in the UK in January 1963, reaching number 16 in the UK Singles Chart.
* Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass recorded the most popular instrumental version of the song with a cover on their 1965 album, *Whipped Cream & Other Delights*. This recording won four awards including Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards of 1966. The instrumental spent five weeks at number one on the easy listening chart, reached number seven on the *Billboard* Hot 100.
* Harry James recorded a live version in 1966 on his album *Live At The Riverboat* (Dot DLP 3728 and DLP 25728)
* Paul Desmond recorded a version in 1964 on his album *Glad To Be Unhappy* (RCA LPM 3407)

## Vocal versions

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### The Beatles

The Beatles performed Lenny Welch's adaptation, slightly changing the lyrics in the chorus, as part of their repertoire in 1962  and as 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 this 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 VeeJay 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*. In 1967 McCartney was inspired to compose “Your Mother Should Know” based on a line taken from the screenplay.

#### Personnel

* Paul McCartney - lead vocals, bass
* John Lennon - acoustic guitar, backing vocals
* George Harrison - lead guitar, backing vocals
* Ringo Starr - brushed drums

Engineered by Norman Smith

### Other artists

Lenny Welch recorded an early vocal version. It was released as a single in September 1962 on the Cadence Records label and included on his 1963 album *Since I Fell for You*. This version also credits Lee Morris as a writer but it is not known if it was he who provided the lyrics. This credit does not appear on any covers of the song, with only Marlow/Scott credited.

The song has also been covered by indie pop band, The Shins.

## Controversy

Reprise Records, pretending to be Liberty Records, sent fraudulent telegrams to disk jockeys to convince them to play Eddie Cano's version of the song instead of Martin Denny's version.

## In Top One Hundred

* Tony Bennett reached #94 in the US with a vocal version for his album *The Many Moods of Tony* in 1964.

## Television and film

* The song is used for the theme of the UK comedy series *Hardware*.
* The cover version of Herb Alpert is used to ID "Tutto il calcio minuto per minuto" (All the football minute by minute), an historical live commentary on sports events broadcast by the Italian radio RAI since the 1960s. The tune has begun to be used since the 1990s.
* The song is used in the 2000 Australian film *The Dish*, a partially fictionalised account of the role that the Parkes Observatory played in relaying the live television feed of man's first steps on the moon, during the *Apollo 11* mission in 1969.
* The tune is used as an interlude between programmes on Rok Radio.

## See also

* List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1965 (U.S.)
* List of songs covered by the Beatles

## References

1. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2002). *Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001*. Record Research. p. 19.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 MacDonald, Ian (1998). *Revolution in the Head*. London: Pimlico. p. 231. ISBN 0-7126-6697-4.
3. ↑ "The Beatles Bible: A Taste Of Honey". Retrieved August 16, 2009.
4. ↑ A Taste Of Honey | The Beatles Bible
5. ↑ "A taste of deception: The war over "A Taste of Honey"". MusicWeird.com. March 7, 2014. Retrieved April 12, 2014.

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

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