Get honeyed up with Cuban flautist José Fajardo’s 1968 boogaloo version of Herb Alpert’s 1965 cover of Bobby Scott and Ric Marlow’s A Taste of Honey. Originally a recurring instrumental theme written for the 1960 Broadway perfomance of Shelagh Delaney’s 1958 play A Taste of Honey, Herb Alpert turned the song into a pop hit and a few years later José made it boogaloo.
Both the original and Herb Alpert’s recordings earned the song four Grammy Awards. As far as I know José’s cover is the only version with the chanting refrain toward the end, which I just love.
On the same album this is pulled from, José and his orchestra also put their spin on the old sixties Batman theme. If anyone wants to translate the lyrics for me, I’d be thrilled. I can’t imagine what they could be singing about, but I hope there’s some reference in there to the Batusi…
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