Honeybus — “Ceilings No. 1/Ceilings No. 2”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — February 3, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,100) Honeybus — “Ceilings No. 1/Ceilings No. 2”

Two versions (with different tempos) of the same gorgeous, honeyed song from the Story LP. Of this “hypnotic pop” (Jittery White Guy, https://www.jitterywhiteguymusic.com/2021/02/honeybus-story-1970.html), Roger Dopson says:

The outstanding track is [the] enigmatic “Ceilings No. 1”, a country-ish jaunt which . . . has all the hallmarks of a huge hit. Equally memorable were “Ceilings No. 2″ (a similar number, but taken at a different tempo)”.

Roger Dopson, liner notes to the CD comp Honeybus at Their Best

45rpy adds:

Each side [of the LP] closes with a different rendering of the same tune—“Ceilings No. 1,” a melancholy but still finger-snapping jaunt, and both versions compound the personal and the political, imploring world leaders to “Stop wasting your god-given lives on useless pursuits that will end with the grave.” But only the introspective “Ceilings No. 2” features the more vulnerable appeal “Oh help me in what I must do / And show me the things that are true / Don’t give me the mask that disguises your face…”

https://45rpy.wordpress.com/2018/09/30/honeybus-story-1970/

Honeybus is one of my favorite bands (see #6, 52, 207, 434, 562, 605, 764), with the honey being especially bittersweet with what should have been, what could have been. LN writes:

When I once lent a friend a copy of my beloved Story he quipped that it sounded almost like a Beatles album from the 1960s that had somehow escaped release. I had for some time lacked just the right phrase to describe the album, and here it was; my friend had completely summed up my feelings about one of rock music’s true lost treasures in one neat soundbite.

http://lyndslounge.blogspot.com/2008/01/1000-great-albums-honeybus-story-1970.html

Jittery White Guy also puts it perfectly:

Honeybus had the pop touchstones of the Beatles and the Hollies, while balancing the more sunshiny, twee aspects of the early Bee Gees with some mild touches of post-Sgt. Pepper psychedelia. . . . Their songs were unusually tuneful, some lovely little hooks paired with sweet harmonies, and it’s almost shocking to hear these songs today and realize the band had pretty much zero commercial success (at least here in the US).

https://www.jitterywhiteguymusic.com/2021/02/honeybus-story-1970.html?m=1

Bruce Eder beautifully ponders what made the band so special and what could have been:

Considering that most have never heard of them, it’s amazing to ponder 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 . . . . The pop sensibilities of Honeybus’ main resident composers, Peter 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, 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. . . .

Dello and Cane . . . were the prime movers behind Honeybus. In 1966, they formed the Yum Yum Band . . . . 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. . . . It was a novel strategy, paralleling the approach to music-making by the Beatles in their post-concert period, and all the more daring for the fact that they were a new group . . . . The group was one of the best studio bands of the period, reveling in the perfection that could be achieved . . . .

They were duly signed to England’s Decca Records and assigned to the company’s newly organized Deram label . . . . The critics were quick to praise the band . . . [but their first two singles were commercially] unsuccessful. Then . . . their third release, “I Can’t Let Maggie Go,” [see #6] . . . . . . peaked at number eight. . . . [It] should have made the group, but instead it shattered them. Peter 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 . . . but he couldn’t accept the physical or emotional stresses of performing live on a regular basis, or the idea of touring America . . . . Dello left . . . . [and] Jim Kelly came in on guitar and vocals, while Ray Cane . . . took over most of the songwriting, and Honeybus proceeded to play regular concerts. The group never recovered the momentum they’d lost over “Maggie,” however, despite a string of fine singles . . . . [that] never charted . . . . [T]he group had pretty well decided to call it quits once they finished the[ir] LP . . . . The Honeybus Story . . . was released in late 1969, but without an active group to promote it, the record sank without a trace. . . . [I]t 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 . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/honeybus-mn0000259186/biography

Here is “Ceilings No. 2”:

In Italian:

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Please consider helping to support my website/blog by contributing $6 a month for access to the Off the Charts Spotify Playlist. Using a term familiar to denizens of Capitol Hill, you pay to play! (“relating to or denoting an unethical or illicit arrangement in which payment is made by those who want certain privileges or advantages in such arenas as business, politics, sports, and entertainment” — dictionary.com).

The playlist includes all the “greatest songs of the 1960’s that no one has ever heard” that are available on Spotify. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.

All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.

When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.