THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,583) The Honeybus — “Girl of Independent Means”
From Honeybus (see #6, 52, 207, 434, 562, 605, 764, 1,100, 1,439) 2.0, here is a ’68 A-side “which certainly deserved to do well” (Roger Dopson, liner notes to the CD comp Honeybus at Their Best): “quite catchy” (Vernon Joynson, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited), a “great upbeat single featuring brass and an insistent hook” (Story: The Honeybus Story, https://www.angelfire.com/pop2/honeybus/story.htm), an “excellent, quirky, commercial beat number”. (Roger Dopson again)
Honeybus is one of my favorite bands, with the honey being especially bittersweet given what should have been, what could have been. Jittery White Guy 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 “happened”:
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
As to the situation surrounding “Girl”, Story: The Honeybus Story tells us:
“I Can’t Let Maggie Go” . . . . hit number 8 in the UK and became a huge hit in dozens of territories but the resulting merry-go-round of gigs, press and TV conflicted with Dello’s vision. He saw Honeybus as essentially a studio project and had had enough of life on the road during the early 60’s. With a record in the top ten, the record company screaming for a follow-up and album and widespread adulation, Pete Dello quit his own group. Such a blow would have signalled the end for most bands but the remaining members of Honeybus were more resourceful than that. First, they recruited Jim Kelly on vocals and guitar, then set about recording a follow-up to “Maggie”. Before Dello’s departure, both “I’m A Gambler” and live favourite “Francoise” had been mooted, but his compositions were now unavailable. It was six months until Cane’s “Girl Of Independent Means” . . . was released. . . . “Girl” . . . failed to sustain the group’s success. The song was probably too far removed from it’s predecessor and was released too late to register.
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