Herb Alpert was by no means alone for his time in his use of brass ensembles in a funky way.
But he was definitely good at it. More than a few hits have emanated from Herb Albert & The Tijuana Brass.
“A Taste Of Honey” is a song that’s been around. It exists in various incarnations, both with vocals and without, including a 1963 version by the Beatles.
The original was written by Bobby Scott and Ric Marlow. It was for a 1960 play of the same name, which was an American version of an English play from 1958.
There were a variety of covers before Herb Alpert’s, but his was by far and away the most famous, winning four Grammy awards in ’66 and got to #7 on the Billboard Top 100 chart.
The song begins with an entrancing, tranquil riff, before dropping into the jaunty main section. The main hook is joyous and exuberant, and the rhythm sections seems to easily keep pace. The bassline is not so much a walking one as a jogging one, and the drums have a pleasing shuffle to them.
One of the things that makes this song so cool, in my opinion, is that little breakdown at the end of the main sections, where all the parts hit together in a tidal wave of good vibes!
The song was released on the 1965 album, Whipped Cream & Other Delights, renowned for it’s fruity cover, featured at the top of this post.
Almost a perfect little song if that was ever a thing…