Honey (Bobby Goldsboro song)
| "Honey" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Bobby Goldsboro | ||||
| from the album Honey | ||||
| A-side | "Honey" | |||
| B-side | "Danny" | |||
| Released | February 17, 1968[1] | |||
| Format | Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM | |||
| Recorded | January 30, 1968[1] | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 3:55 | |||
| Label | United Artists | |||
| Writer(s) | Bobby Russell | |||
| Producer(s) | Bob Montgomery | |||
| Certification | Gold (RIAA) | |||
| Bobby Goldsboro singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Honey," also known as "Honey (I Miss You)," is a song written by Bobby Russell. He first produced it with former Kingston Trio member Bob Shane. Then he gave it to American singer Bobby Goldsboro, who recorded it for his 1968 album of the same name, originally titled Pledge of Love.
The song's narrator mourns his deceased lover, beginning with him looking at a tree in their garden, remembering how "it was just a twig" on the day she planted it (with his disapproval). This single about the loss of a loved one hit No. 1 the week after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis and was the only entry on the Hot 100 to be in its top 10 every week from King's assassination through the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, with the first week and the last week of that top 10 run musically bookending the two tragedies.
Release
It was released as a single in the U.S. in 1968 and spent five weeks at No. 1 the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart, from April 7 to May 11 (the 200th song to do so), and three weeks atop Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart. It was preceded on the Billboard Hot 100 by "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding and was followed by Archie Bell & the Drells' "Tighten Up." It was Goldsboro's only No. 1 hit on the Pop Singles and Country Singles charts and it was his first song to top the Adult Contemporary chart. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 3 song for 1968.[2]
"Honey" reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart and a re-release of the single in the United Kingdom in 1975 (see 1975 in music) reached No. 2 again. In Australia, it spent four weeks at No. 1 on the ARIA Charts, replacing The Beatles' "Lady Madonna", and was the No. 6 song of 1968.
Reception
The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the song frequently appears on "worst songs of all-time" lists,[3] and in April 2006, Todd Leopold of CNN named it the "Worst Song of All Time."[4] In the 1970s when radio DJ Tony Blackburn was going through his divorce with his wife Tessa Wyatt, he regularly played "Honey" and would comment live on air about how much he missed his wife.[5] This was parodied in the "mockumentary" Smashie and Nicey: The End of an Era.
Cover versions
- Ronnie Aldrich ("This Way 'In', 1968)
- Ed Ames (1968)
- Eddy Arnold (Romantic World of Eddy Arnold, 1968)
- Ray Conniff and The Singers (Honey, 1968)
- Percy Faith (Angel of the Morning-Hit Themes for Young Lovers, 1968)
- David Houston (Already It's Heaven, 1968)
- Frankie Laine (Take me back to Laine Country, 1968)
- John D. Loudermilk (Country Love Songs Plain and Simply Sung, 1968)
- Charlie Louvin (Will You Visit Me on Sunday, 1968)
- Dean Martin (Gentle on My Mind, 1968)
- Roger Miller (A Tender Look at Love, 1968)
- Bobby Solo - Amore mi manchi 1968
- Nana Mouskouri (Les arbres sont en fleurs, 1968)
- Jimmy C. Newman (Born to Love You, 1968)
- Patti Page (Gentle On My Mind, 1968)
- Gary Puckett & The Union Gap (Young Girl, 1968)
- Sandro (1968) ("Querida" - "Quiero llenarme de ti", 1968)
- Björn Ulvaeus (Swedish-language version called Raring, 1968)
- Andy Williams (Honey, 1968)
- Tammy Wynette (I miss you, 1968)
- Leon Ashley (Mental Journey, 1969)
- Jack Greene (Love Takes Care of Me, 1969)
- Hank Snow (Hits Covered by Snow, 1969)
- Four Tops (Soul Spin, 1969)
- Heli Lääts / Mikk Mikiver (Mälestus, 1969)
- Lynn Anderson (Big Girls Don't Cry, 1971)
- Hana Zagorova (Hany, 1973)
- Orion (Reborn, 1978)
- Jim Nabors (Country Side of Jim Nabors, 1994)
- Roger Whittaker (Feelings, 1994)
- Sil Austin (Great Sax, 1995)
- Daniel O'Donell (From Daniel With Love, 2004)
- Lawrence Welk (Upstairs at Larry's: Lawrence Welk Uncorked, 2004)
- David Alan Grier (Amazon Women on the Moon, 1987)
- Rex Allen (Smooth Country Sound of Rex Allen, 1968)
- Aaron Neville (Aaron Neville & Friends, 2007)
Chart performance
| Chart (1968) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 1 |
| Preceded by "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding |
Billboard Hot 100 number-one single April 13, 1968 (five weeks) |
Succeeded by "Tighten Up" by Archie Bell & the Drells |
| Preceded by "Young Girl" by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap |
Cash Box Top 100 singles April 1, 1968 |
Succeeded by "Tighten Up" by Archie Bell & the Drells |
| Preceded by "Love Is Blue" by Paul Mauriat |
Billboard Easy Listening Singles number-one single May 4, 1968 (2 weeks) |
Succeeded by "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" by Hugo Montenegro |
| Preceded by "I Wanna Live" by Glen Campbell |
Billboard Hot Country Singles number-one single May 25-June 8, 1968 |
Succeeded by "I Wanna Live" by Glen Campbell |
| Preceded by "Wild Weekend" by Bill Anderson |
RPM Country Tracks number-one single June 1-June 8, 1968 |
See also
- List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1968
- List of songs in English labeled the worst ever
References
- 1 2 "You've come a long way Bobby.", Billboard, October 5, 1974. p. 62. Accessed December 3, 2015.
- ↑ Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1968
- ↑ "My, my, some rock 'n' roll should die". Norwich Bulletin (Cincinnati Enquirer). February 6, 2001. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
- ↑ Leopold, Todd (April 21, 2006). "The worst song of all time". CNN.com. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
- ↑ Ian Burrell (20 April 2004). "It's poptastic to be back". The Independent.
External links
- "Bobby Goldsboro's Biography". All Music.
- "Bobby Goldsboro's charting singles". All Music.
- Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics