Different Kinds of Honey

Photo from eatlocalhoney.com

So I finally decided to listen to the original version of Bobby Russell’s “Honey” as sung by Bobby Goldsboro. A huge hit for Goldsboro in 1968, the song actually replaced “(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay” at the top of the charts. The public came to its collective senses five weeks later by listening to the wise counsel of Archie Bell and the Drells to get into it and “Tighten Up.” But for those five long weeks it seems America wanted to give their time over to a damned near unlistenable piece of fluff.

Bobby Goldsboro - Honey [buy]

Goldsboro has absolutely no connection to the song. Or at least his (and his producer’s) way of connecting to it creates so little emotional resonance that the song comes across as laughable. And those sappy strings dutifully do their best to heavy-hand you into some pre-programmed weepy response.

So if Goldsboro’s version is so damned awful, then why in the world did I ever listen to it? Because Milo Jones’ version is so damned good and I just had to hear the original.


Perhaps the key to why Jones’ version doesn’t sound like emotional corn syrup is that his guitar playing (always exceptional) pushes the song forward, not allowing it to get mired in bathos. And yet Jones seems much more caught up in the sad tale than the stock-still Goldsboro. However he does it, the song becomes an affecting take on married life and the loss of a spouse.

Milo Jones - Honey [buy]