♫ A Taste Of Honey ♫

Posted on by under music

For no earthly reason, this popped into my head today in the shower and has refused to leave all day, so … you know what that means!  A few centuries ago when I was a teenager, I was a big fan of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.  They were by no means the first, nor the last to record this song, but theirs is my favourite version.

Songwriters Bobby Scott and Ric Marlow wrote this as the theme to a play of the same name by Shelagh Delaney that was made into a movie in 1961. This instrumental version was recorded by piano player Martin Denny and won a Grammy for Best Instrumental Theme.

In 1966, Alpert received Grammys with his version of the song in three different categories: Best Instrumental Arrangement; Best Instrumental Performance, Non-Jazz; and Record of the Year. In addition, Larry Levine (the engineer for this song) received a Grammy with Alpert’s version for Best Engineered Recording – Non-Classical.

This song has been recorded both as an instrumental and as a vocal by so many artists it would make your head spin.  The Beatles recorded it in 1962, and Tony Bennett in 1964.  Acker Bilk recorded an instrumental version in 1963 that reached #16 in the UK. Barbra Streisand also recorded it in 1963.  I had never heard The Beatles version, so tonight I listened to it, thinking I might play it alongside Herb Alpert’s.  Um … no.  I like The Beatles, mind you, but … not their rendition of this song.  I also listened to Streisand’s version, and again, while I love Barbra … no, just no.  And so, tonight you get … Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass …

Discover more from Filosofa's Word

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

22 thoughts on “♫ A Taste Of Honey ♫”

  2. Herb and the Brass had a lot of great hits, this being one of the best. Iknow I’ve mentioned this to you before, but I miss instrumentals. I don’t know if they are stll be recorded, but they never hit the radio anymore. Lyrics are my main thing, but in an instrumental the music is the words, so it has to be able to say a lot more.

    Liked by 1 person

      • I hope you are doing this for yourself as well as for us. I had to search out A Taste of Honey on YouTube yesterday because your video wouldn’t play, and it was followed by the Peter Gunn Theme, though a poor quality recording. Still, it was nice to hear it again. It has always been one of my favourites.

        Liked by 1 person

        • But of course … I’ve said from the beginning that these music posts are for my pleasure … I won’t play songs I don’t like. Happens that I have always loved Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, especially their instrumentals. Tonight I had the Theme from Love Story going through my head, but I didn’t want to play it … instead I did a ‘redux’ of “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” by the Platters. It was what I was in the mood for. Peter Gunn!!! Wow … that takes me back a few eons!!!

          Like

  4. Love not only Herb Alpert, but the Latin American sound of that era in general. I own LPs of Herb Alpert, Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, The Monterey Brass, and mi favorite de los todos, Antonio Carlos Jobim (remember THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA, DESAFINADO, ONE NOTE SAMBA, etc.?).

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Jill, our whole family loves Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. My oldest son played trumpet for eight years in band, so we played a lot of Herb’s music. Keith

    Liked by 1 person

    • I love them too! I’ll be playing more of them soon. Daughter Chris played the trumpet for a time in high school. We lived, at that time, in the mountains of Virginia, and we made her go into the woods to practice! Then she switched to bass drum in the high school marching band. At barely 5′ tall, she could not see over the top of the drum and on occasion went rolling down the football field during Friday night football half-time! Good memories. 🙂

      Like

Comments are closed.