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A Taste of Honey (song)

"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.

For other uses, see A Taste of Honey (disambiguation).

"A Taste of Honey"

"Third Man Theme"

August 1965

March 10, 1965

A&M Studios, Hollywood, California

2:43

A&M

Bobby Scott, Ric Marlow

Herb Alpert, Jerry Moss

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

Eddie Cano and the Victor Feldman Quartet each scored minor hits in 1962 with their covers.

Martin Denny

released a version in the UK in January 1963, reaching number 16 in the UK Singles Chart.

Acker Bilk

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,[2] and number 4 in Canada.[3] This version is noted for the eight drum beats before the tempo increased, intended as an editing cue to be removed in the final version, but Alpert decided to keep it in.

Herb Alpert

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.

"A Taste of Honey"

March 22, 1963

February 11, 1963

EMI, London

Pop

2:01

Parlophone

Bobby Scott/Ric Marlow

George Martin

1971

R&B, soul

2:57

Tamla Motown

Bobby Scott/Ric Marlow

Clay McMurray, Duke Browner

– lead vocals, bass

Paul McCartney

– acoustic guitar, backing vocals

John Lennon

– lead guitar, backing vocals

George Harrison

– brushed drums

Ringo Starr

List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1965 (U.S.)

List of songs covered by the Beatles

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