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The Sweet Sound of the Honeys

Lisa Marie Smith | Wilton, CT USA | 07/08/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

""The Honeys Collection" is not just a must-have for Brian Wilson devotees, but a must-have for girl group lovers, pop aficionados, and for those who simply enjoy delicious harmonies accented by brilliant vocal arrangements that compliment, rather than compete with, the musical backing track. This collection really makes me wonder why The Honeys DIDN'T hit it big. It's painfully obvious that The Honeys had all the elements needed to have a high-charting single. The upbeat songs are full of energy, the slower songs full of emotion without coming across as sappy. I am amazed that tunes such as the Brian Wilson-penned "(Oly Oxen Free Free Free) Hide Go Seek" or "Pray for Surf" didn't crash (pardon the wave/surf related pun) into the top 20! By the end of the CD I was worried that the tunes from the late 60s and early 80s would be a horrible coda to an otherwise great disc, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that those last five songs were just as well vocalized and arranged as the earlier tunes where Brian, Gary Usher, and (believe it or not), Boyce & Hart were involved. I HIGHLY recommend this disc! It is a pleasure to listen to, a great addition to your "summertime" music collection. Plus, with its extensive Stephen McParland-authored liner notes and photos from the early 60s to 2000, you'll have an interesting read as you listen along and wonder why The Honeys didn't top the charts."

Have fun - surf with the ladies

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 08/24/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The first group anybody thinks of regarding surf music is the Beach Boys. No women made it big in surf music, but the Honeys certainly deserved to. Some people think the Honeys only got as far as they did because one of them was married to Brian Wilson, but that's not how it happened. Brian was introduced to them when they were an unknown group. The relationship between Brian and Marilyn blossomed as a result of them working together.The Honeys had great voices and harmonies, ideally suited to the surf music they recorded. They didn't cover any Beach Boys songs (or indeed anybody else's songs, unless you count their adaptation of Swanee river, titled Surfin' down Swanee river) but relied on their own material, and other songs written by others, including some by Brian.This collection includes five tracks in which the Honeys provide backing for others, something they did a lot. One of these is Guess I'm dumb, in which Glen Campbell is the lead singer. Although he had been a studio musician with Phil Spector, he hadn't yet made it as a singer. This track has appeared on Glen Campbell compilations, but not often.An earlier reviewer names some ladies who (he says) made better surf music than the Honeys - but the Honeys sang backup on their records too.This is great fun music which you can enjoy all summer long - indeed all year long, just as you can with the Beach Boys' own music."

The Honeys, from Surfer Babes to High Drama Girl Group

Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 06/15/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Produced by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, the Honeys had a pretty good run in the early Sixties starting with songs like "Shoot the Curl" and "Pray for Surf." After all, "Honeys" beach lingo for female surfers (or at least it mean the girl friends of the surfers). The group consisted of sisters Marilyn and Diane Royell, along with their cousin Sandra Glantz who went by the stage name of Ginger Blake had replaced a third sister, Barbara, and necessitated the change from the Royell Sisters to the Honeys. "The Honeys Collection" has 26 of the best songs by this minor girl group from both their early days recording with Capitol and their later albums with Warners, when they moved from the novelty surf songs (check out "Surfin' Down the Swanee River") and became more of a traditional girl group under the influence of Phil Spector. The big hit here is "He's a Doll," written by Wilson, who married Marilyn Royell in 1964 when the song had some modest chart success. "Raindrops" "The One You Can't Have," "Guess I'm Dumb," and "Goodnight My Love (Pleasant Dreams)" are the other choice songs in the collection, which ends with a couple of tracks from a 1983 comeback album that went nowhere. The result is not a great collection but certainly worth listening to for fans of the Beach Boys as well as those who like the girl group sound in all its myriad forms. In fact, you probably have already heard the Honeys sing because they were back up singers for both the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean (they also recorded some songs as Ginger & the Snaps)."