Rock Archeologia

 Honeybus  - Honeybus At Their Best (Compilation) 1989

Artist: Honeybus

Album: Honeybus At Their Best (Compilation)

Original sound recordings

made by Noon Music Ltd. 

Ⓟ & © 1989 by See For Miles Records Ltd. 

Catalog#: SEECD 264

Country: UK

Style: Rock, Soft Rock

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

• Honeybus существовала недолгое время, с 1967 по 1969 гг., но успела за это время создать великолепные песни, многие из которых не хуже тех, которые в середине 60-х сочинили The Beatles. Говорят, что любая копия хуже оригинала, но к Honeybus это не относится, потому что все же они были достаточно своеобразны. Впрочем, яркой особенностью того периода было всеобщее помешательство на музыке The Beatles, и популярностью пользовались в основном группы, которые старались воспроизвести битловское звучание.

• Считается, что Honeybus - это группа одной сублимированной песни "I Can`t Let Maggie Go", ставшей британским хитом весной 1968 г. Однако такие песни, как "Story", "Black Mourning Band", "Scarlet Lady", "Ceilings № 1", "She`s Out There", "I Remember Caroline", "(Do I Figure) In Your Life" - это явная классика тех лет, и я слушаю их до сих пор часто и с огромным удовольствием.

Лидером группы был лондонец Пит Делло (настоящее имя Питер Бламсон). Кроме него, в группу входили Рэй Кейн, Колин Хэй, Пит Киршер. Все они были очень талантливы, обладали прекрасным вокалом, многие их музыкальные находки предвосхитили то, что позднее делали The Moody Blues, Procol Harum, The Byrds. Не случайно исследователь их творчества Роджер Допсон в 1989 г. сказал, что известность группы настолько не соответствует их гениальности, что их в связи с этим следует включить в книгу рекордов Гиннесса.

• Группа выпустила всего один альбом - ""STORY" (1970), а в 1989 г. был выпущен сборник "At Their Best". Мне известно, что в начале 70-х Пит Делло и Рэй Кейн выпустили по сольному альбому, а позднее вообще перестали выступать и записываться. Более удачна была карьера у Киршера, который выступал в составе нескольких групп, в том числе Status Quo.

                                                                                                        - vataga (Январь 2009)

• All Music Guide

The story of the Honeybus is almost a cautionary tale. Considering that most of us have never heard of them, it's amazing to consider that they came very close, in the eyes of the critics, to being Decca Records' answer to the Rubber Soul-era Beatles. The harmonies were there, along with some catchy, hook-laden songs and usually tastefully overdubbed brass and violins. The pop sensibilies of the Honeybus's main resident composers, Pete Dello and Ray Cane, were astonishingly close in quality and content to those of Paul McCartney and the softer sides of John Lennon of that same era. What's more, the critics loved their records. Yet, somehow, the Honeybus never got it right; they never had the right single out at the proper time, and only once in their history did they connect with the public for a major hit, in early 1968. Their best known lineup consisted of Pete Dello (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Ray Cane (vocals, bass, keyboards), Colin Hare (rhythm guitar, vocals), Pete Kircher (drums, vocals), with Dello and Cane writing most of their songs. Dello and Cane, songwriting partners and ex-members of various minor early-'60s rock bands, were the prime movers behind the Honeybus. In 1966, they formed the Yum Yum Band with ex-Them drummer Terry Noon, which became popular in the London clubs and released five singles on the English Decca label. A collapsed lung put Dello out of action in early 1966, and it was during his recuperation that he began rethinking what the band and his music were about. He developed the notion of a new band that would become a canvas for him to work on as a songwriter — they would avoid the clubs, working almost exclusively in the studio, recreating the sounds that he was hearing in his head. Those sounds mostly featured lush melodies and lyrics that suddenly blossomed with the upbeat radiance of flower-power and the Summer of Love. Out of this came the Honeybus, with Noon stepping aside to manage the group and being replaced by Mike Kircher. The group was one of the best studio bands of their period, reveling in the perfection that could be achieved through multi-tracking and overdubbing, and an approach that also mimicked the Beatles' breadth, playing with either admirable taste or reckless abandon, depending on the song. Their debut single, "Delighted to See You," which was cut with the help of Roulettes Bob Henrit and Russ Ballard, sounded more like the Beatles than anything heard in British pop-rock since the Searchers had faded from view in early 1966. The B-side, "The Breaking Up Scene," could have been the work of the Jimi Hendrix Experience or the Creation. The critics were quick to praise the band and the record, but it never charted. Their second single was also unsuccessful. Then they hit with their third release, "I Can't Let Maggie Go," in March of 1968, which rode the British Top 50 for three months and peaked at number eight. The record should have made the group, but instead it shattered them. Pete Dello resigned during the single's chart run. He had been willing to play live on radio appearances and the occasional television or special concert showcase — during which the group used a Mellotron to replace the overdubbed strings and other backing instruments on their songs — but he couldn't accept the physical or emotional stresses of performing live on a regular basis, or the idea of touring America, which would have been the inevitable result of a British hit of that side. Perhaps a Brian Wilson/Beach Boys-type solution, with an onstage replacement, might have worked, but instead Dello left, and with him went his songs. Jim Kelly came in on guitar and vocals, while Ray Cane, whose talents and instincts were a near-match for Dello's, took over most of the songwriting, and the Honeybus proceeded to play regular concerts. Cane was a good songwriter, but the group never recovered the momentum they'd lost over "Maggie." The enthusiasm just wasn't there, and the music around them was changing into something harder and louder, and by mid-1969 it was all over. Their one completed album, The Honeybus Story (sic), was released in late 1969, but without an active group to promote it, the record sank without a trace. This was a real pity, because it was a beautiful album, with the kind of ornate production and rich melodies that had become increasingly rare with the passing of the psychedelic era. Ironically, the Dello lineup got back together in 1971 to record a new body of songs for the Bell label and a complete LP for British Warner Bros, which was never issued. Dello and Hare had recorded solo albums without success before those final group sessions, while Cane wrote songs and produced other groups without making any impact. Eventually, everybody except Kircher (who has played with everyone from Engelbert Humperdinck to Status Quo) gave up music as a profession.
                                                                                                                             - Bruce Eder

---------- ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ ----------

         ♪ Tracklist:

       1. Story 4:02

       2. Black Mourning Band 3:18

       3. Scarlet Lady 2:44

       4. Fresher Than Than The Sweetness In Water 3:05

       5. He Was Columbus 2:50

       6. Ceilings No.1 3:42

       7. Under The Silent Tree 3:59

       8. She's Out There 3:02

       9. She Said Yes 3:37

      10. 0I Remember Caroline 2:39

      11. How Long 3:06

      12. Ceilings No.2 4:05

      13. Delighted To See You 2:35

      14. The Breaking Up Scene 2:35

      15. (Do I Figure) In Your Life 2:35

      16. Throw My Love Away 2:21

      17. Girl Of Independent Means 2:48

      18. The Right To Choose 3:06

      19. Julie In My Heart 2:25

      20. I Can't Let Maggie Go 2:57

      21. She Sold Blackpool Rock 4:32

      22. She Sold Blackpool Rock (French Version) 4:37

      23. Would You Believe 3:28

      24. Tender Are The Ashes 2:47

      25. How Long (Single Version) 2:41

• Band Members:

Pete Dello - vocals, keyboards, guitar

Ray Cane - vocals, bass, keyboards

Colin Hare - rhythm guitar, vocals

Pete Kircher - drums, vocals

----- ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ ------

...