Honey (Ohio Players album)
1975 studio album by Ohio Players
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Honey is the seventh studio album by American band the Ohio Players. Released on August 16, 1975, by Mercury Records. It is generally regarded as a classic, the band's best album, and the last great full-length release of their dominant era in the mid-1970s.
| Honey | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 16, 1975 | |||
| Recorded | February–June, 1975 | |||
| Studio | Paragon (Chicago, Illinois) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 31:45 | |||
| Label | Mercury | |||
| Producer | Ohio Players | |||
| Ohio Players chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Honey | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B+[2] |
The cover image gained mild notoriety from urban legends involving one of the singles, "Love Rollercoaster", one to the effect that the honey injured model Ester Cordet's skin, ruining her career as a model and another claiming that she was stabbed to death in the recording booth, with her scream captured on the song. These stories are false.[3]
The album was recorded and mixed at Paragon Recording Studios in Chicago, with Barry Mraz as the recording engineer. Marty Link, Steve Kusiciel, Rob Kingsland, and Paul Johnson are credited as tape operators. Gilbert Kong mastered the final mix at Masterdisk in New York City.
The album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 during the week of September 27, 1975, kept out of the top spot by Jefferson Starship's Red Octopus.[4] In addition, it was the third album from the band to top the Soul/Black Albums chart, where it spent three weeks.
Release
In addition to the standard two channel stereo version, the album was also released in a four channel quadraphonic version in 1975. This version appeared on 8-track tape in the US and was the fourth of five Ohio Players albums available in this format. The quad version was re-issued on DTS Audio CD in 2001.
Track listing
All tracks are written by James Williams, Clarence Satchell, Leroy Bonner, Marshall Jones, Ralph Middlebrooks, Marvin Pierce and William Beck.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Honey" | 5:15 |
| 2. | "Fopp" | 3:45 |
| 3. | "Let's Love" | 5:15 |
| 4. | "Ain't Givin' Up No Ground" | 1:45 |
| Total length: | 16:00 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sweet Sticky Thing" | 6:13 |
| 2. | "Love Rollercoaster" | 4:52 |
| 3. | "Alone" | 4:40 |
| Total length: | 15:45 | |
Personnel
- James "Diamond" Williams – drums, timbales, congas, percussion, lead & background vocals
- Billy Beck – Hammond organ, acoustic and Fender Rhodes electric piano, RMI electric piano, clavinet, ARP Odyssey, ARP string ensemble, percussion, lead & background vocals
- Marvin "Merv" Pierce – trumpets, flugelhorn
- Marshall "Rock" Jones – electric bass
- Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner – guitars, lead & background vocals
- Ralph "Pee Wee" Middlebrooks – trumpets
- Clarence "Satch" Satchell – tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, flute
Production
- Ohio Players – producers
- Barry Mraz, Gilbert Kong & Tom Hanson; engineers
- Marty Linke, Steve Kusiciel, Rob Kingsland, Paul Johnson – tape operators
- Richard Fegley – photography
- Jim Ladwig – art direction
- Joe Kotleba – design
Cover versions
- "Fopp" by Soundgarden, from the 1988 EP Fopp
- "Love Rollercoaster" by Red Hot Chili Peppers, from the 1996 soundtrack to Beavis and Butt-Head Do America
- "Let's Love" by Vanessa Williams, on her 2005 covers album Everlasting Love
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US [11] |
US R&B [11] | ||
| 1975 | "Sweet Sticky Thing" | 33 | 1 |
| "Love Rollercoaster" | 1 | 1 | |
| 1976 | "Fopp" | 30 | 9 |