A Taste of Honey (song)
A Taste of Honey ( english A Taste of Honey ) is a 1960 by Bobby Scott composed and published by him first jazz title , by Herb Alpert 1965 million seller was.
History of origin
The story of the play begins with the stage drama A Taste of Honey by Shelagh Delaney , which premiered on May 27, 1958 in London and on October 4, 1960 in New York City . In the original version of the drama, no song is provided. The play is about a young white woman who became pregnant after a night of love with a black sailor. Her best friend, a homosexual , agrees to help raise the child.
At the US premiere in New York , the song, sung by stage actor Billy Dee Williams , first appeared in the first act of the drama. It comes from the jazz pianist Bobby Scott, who wrote it as the Bobby Scott Quartet With String Quartet on October 25, 1960 in New York with the line- up Bobby Scott (vocals / piano), Frank Socolow (tenor saxophone / clarinet / oboe), John Drew / Bill Vrow (Bass) and Charlie Persip (drums); the recording session was produced by David Merrick. It was released on Scott's LP A Taste of Honey (Atlantic 1355; November 1960).
Stage singer Bille Dee Williams released the piece on his LP Let's Misbehave (Prestige Lively Arts; LA 30001) in December 1961. The movie of the same name, which was released on April 30, 1962 in the USA (German title: Bitterer Honig ), built on this. In 1963 the piece received a Grammy for "Best Instrumental Theme".
First singles
After A Taste of Honey had only been hidden on LPs until then , the Victor Feldman Quartet - a British jazz band - consisting of Victor Feldman (piano), Buddy Collette (tenor saxophone), Leroy Vinnegar (bass) and Ron Jefferson (drums) was released on May 4 June 1962 the first single ( Infinity INX-020). The first in the hit parade recorded single version was on 18 June 1962 Martin Denny on the market and finished second in the US pop charts rank 50. On June 15, 1962 was a big band to Quincy Jones in the studio by Phil Ramone to record the piece in another jazz version (LP Big Band Bossa Nova ; August 1962). The first vocal version (with the text by Ric Marlow added later) is from September 17, 1962 by Lenny Welch , who missed the hit parade.
The Beatles
The Beatles recorded the piece, which was part of their early live repertoire at the Hamburg Star Club , on February 11, 1963 for their debut album Please Please Me in seven takes . The song was sung by Paul McCartney . This piece was the first to use double-tracking on a recording by the Beatles to double McCartney's vocals. It was also one of four tracks on Twist and Shout , their first UK EP , released on July 12, 1963. In the United States, A Taste of Honey was first released on January 10, 1964 on the Vee Jay album Introducing… The Beatles . On March 22, 1965, it also appeared in the United States on the sixth Capitol album of the Beatles The Early Beatles . A live version, which was made during a performance in the Star Club at the end of December 1962, was released in April 1977 on the album Live! at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962 . Another live recording, which was made as part of various radio appearances by the Beatles, was released in 1994 on the album Live at the BBC .
Herb Alpert
This was followed by Herb Alpert & Tijuana Brass with an instrumental version on the LP Whipped Cream And Other Delights (April 1965), which sold a total of 4.5 million copies by the end of 1966, making it number 1 on the US album charts. Striking here in the intro are the hits on the bass drum , which were imitated on some of the subsequent cover versions. For his version, Alpert received 1966 Grammys in three different categories: "Best Instrumental Arrangement", "Best Instrumental Performance, Non-Jazz" and "Record Of The Year". In addition, Larry Levine , the recording engineer , received a Grammy for “Best Engineered Recording - Non-Classical”. In February 1966, a German single from it reached number 33 on the German hit parade.
More cover versions
There are at least 87 cover versions in total . Acker Bilk came with his instrumental recording at number 16 in the British charts (January 1963), followed by Peggy Lee (recorded on January 3, 1963). This was followed by Barbra Streisand (debut LP The Barbra Streisand Album , recorded on February 25, 1963), Paul Desmond (LP Glad to be Unhappy , recorded on July 14, 1963). Allan Sherman developed the parody A Waste of Money about senseless consumer debt based on the melody (LP My Son, the Nut , October 1963). Other versions are available by Tony Bennett (August 1964, US-94), Chet Baker (LP Baby Breeze , recorded 14 and 20 November 1964), Lionel Hampton (January 1965), Bobby Darin (9 March 1965, LP Venice Blue , released May 1965), Trini Lopez (LP The Love , 1965), Hollies (US LP Beat Group ! , May 1966). The Danish vocal duo Jan & Kjeld brought out a German version with the music track by Herb Alpert with Ein Kuss zum Abschied (German text Günter Loose , April 1966) .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jazz disco on A Taste of Honey
- ^ Grammy - The Recording Academy, A Taste of Honey
- ↑ William J. Dowlding, Beatle songs , 2009, p. 38
- ^ Mark Lewisohn: The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions . London, Hamlyn 1988. p. 24.
- ^ Richie Unterberger: The Unreleased Beatles Music & Film . San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 2006. p. 38.
- ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, pp. 201 f.