Sharing little more than a title with ‘Wild Honey Pie’, this pastiche of the British music hall style was written by Paul McCartney for the White Album.
Both John and I had a great love for music hall, what the Americans call vaudeville… I very much liked that old crooner style, the strange fruity voice that they used, so ‘Honey Pie’ was me writing one of them to an imaginary woman, across the ocean, on the silver screen, who was called Honey Pie. It’s another of my fantasy songs.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
The Beatles recorded a demo of ‘Honey Pie’ at George Harrison’s Esher home just before sessions began for the White Album. Released in 1996 on Anthology 3, this early version has slightly different lyrics, and lacks the introduction of the later recording.
I was definitely thinking of Fred [Astaire] and the whole world of the silver screen when I was writing ‘Honey Pie’… If I’d have to choose anyone, I’d be very happy to be thought of as a channeller of Nat King Cole or Fats [Waller] or Fred. I don’t think there’s any denying the idea of being a medium. I definitely dreamt ‘Yesterday’, so I’m sure I’ve channelled many other songs.‘Honey Pie’, then, is a throwback to the 1930s or even the 1920s, the flapper era and Hollywood.
The Lyrics: 1956 To The Present
In the studio
The Beatles began recording ‘Honey Pie’ on 1 October 1968, at Trident Studios in London’s Wardour Street.
Just one take was recorded on the first day, although it is likely that a number of rehearsal attempts had previously been recorded and wiped. Paul McCartney played piano, George Harrison was on a six-string Fender bass, John Lennon played an electric guitar, and Ringo Starr was on drums.
The next day McCartney taped his lead vocals, and Lennon added a lead guitar part.
John played a brilliant solo on ‘Honey Pie’ – sounded like Django Reinhardt or something. It was one of them where you just close your eyes and happen to hit all the right notes… sounded like a little jazz solo.
George Martin’s woodwind arrangement – prepared from a rough mix made at the end of the first Trident session – was recorded on 4 October. Written in the 1920s jazz style, it featured five saxophones and two clarinets.
At the end of the 4 October session McCartney added a brief vocal overdub: the line “Now she’s hit the big time”. It was fed through an audio compressor to reduce the treble and bass. The sound of an old phonograph record was also superimposed to give added period authenticity.
We put a sound on my voice to make it sound like a scratchy old record. So it’s not a parody, it’s a nod to the vaudeville tradition that I was raised on.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
Alot of people pan this song saying it’s another one of Paul’s wimpy ones but I’ve always liked it! If it were released in the 1920’s people of that time would have been grooving right along.
It also sounds excellent when played on the ukulele, I’ve found 🙂
Honey Pie is one of my favorite songs by Paul. It’s fun to listen to and I enjoy all the great performances, especially the woodwinds. Very authentic.
Since Paul played piano, and John played lead guitar, George played bass – and what a gorgeous line! Another masterpiece by all five Beatles.
Any idea what guitar John’s playing for that solo?
Hi Joe, an ukulele I can imagine and almost hear in this song. Notice Paul’ extreme high voice at 1:50 but I can’t recover a guitarsolo in it (white album) do you?
Very likely it’s his casino, it was virtually the only guitar he played on the white album (except for the acoustics)
I prefer this to When I’m Sixty-Four
I think any hatred toward this song as one of Paul’s silly songs is misdirected. Individually, yes, it is “fruity”, but taken in the overall context of the White Album it adds to the diverse musical landscape that the Beatles created that sets them apart from all other groups. It’s quite enjoyable.
More than that, it´s nothing simple to write a tune in another style that is , at the same time, credible and original, not a pastiche or an tongue-in-cheek imitation. That´s why music never should be analysed only by the “quality of the lyrics” , even because its lyrics are great, in that style. The apropriate introduction is splendid, resuming the theme of the song, just like Tin Pan Alley´s tradition. Whoever writes songs understands how difficult it is to write this kind of “silly love song”.
This song is genius! Paul has amanaged to encapsulate all of the beauty and fun of the 20s vaudeville american music into 1 song out of nowhere in an album totally unrelated to this feel of this song. This song is a gem, its a 1 off and is a real joy to listen to and deserves far more respect.
I just wanted to share that there’s a photo in Linda’s book about her photography of the Beatles recording “Honey Pie”; Paul is singing and playing piano, George is on electric guitar, and the session musicians are in the back. No John or Ringo in the picture. Just wondering if maybe George did the rhythm guitar or if there was an overdub later?
I’ve also read that they were recording ‘Martha My Dear’ in that photo, though it said ‘Honey Pie’ in the book.
Definetely that was Martha My Dear.
I love this song. A great Paul McCartney song. Straight out of McCartney’s best songs.
Just to add. Paul McCartney had a great fondness for music hall. His Dad was in a band and this obviously is a reflection of this. Just as “When I’m Sixty Four” was on “Sgt Pepper” and “You Gave Me The Answer” on the Wings album “Venus and Mars”. “Honey Pie”, just adds another twist to the great variety of song styles you get on the”White Album”.There is a brilliant tongue and cheek element to a number of the songs on this double album. Ringo’s “Don’t Pass Me By”, John’s “Glass Onion”, George’s “Savoy Truffle”, Paul’s “Oblidi Oblida”. This aspect to The Beatles compositions was evident right from the beginning to the very end i.e. “Her Majesty” off “Abbey Road”.
My Dad loved a lot of Paul’s songs. Dad played the piano accordion and we would ‘do’ these covers with me on guitar.
Honey Pie and When I’m 64 were his favorites. So really happy memories whenever I hear these tracks.
Sorry guys, but it’s the one really dull and fusty track on the White Album together with Good Night.
But it’s still my favorite album ever.
The mono version is by far superior, with few more notes in the solo that really makes it even more vaudeville. I agree the rhythm guitar sound like John’s Casino, however I was never sure who played the solo. The woodwind arrangement is excellent, really elevates the song to another level.
Hello dear Beatles fans.
Jazz appears to make fans uncomfortable… and yet “skiffle” was super popular in Liverpool. Jazz is a part of this, too.
Yes, the Beatles primarily played in a rock style, but clearly enjoyed jazz.
Paul even recently released a jazz-themed album, I believe.
I love “Honey Pie” and only wish they had done more of this.
Ringo would be a great jazz drummer.
Yes, humour… indeed, is a key part of the appeal for me.
Humour is essential for mental health and rock often lacks it. Jazz employs humour to great effect and I recommend a greater dose for Beatles fans, Charlie Parker, Miles, Dizzy and Ellington, of course.
There’s only so much you can do with Rock.
So the genius of “St Pepper” and “Mystery Tour” and “White album” is the burst of jazz and humour… as well as “World Music”… the 5 minute Indian music break on “Pepper” comes to mind…, also cool, that slip into the 1967 output, the best of all, and the best of 1968, though slightly less brilliant, in my view.
Though not quite as scintilating, “Honey Pie” continues the brilliance of “Pepper” and “Mustery Tour”. As such, it cannot be overlooked!
Cheers.
Picked up a ukulele 3 months ago. Having fun with the old 20’s tunes, everyone knows them, good sing along stuff. Woke up with Honey Pie in my head yesterday, got the changes down now, great fun uku tune, flows. no doubt Macas gotta be worlds No:1 popular song writer.
Beatlesebooks.com said that Paul is also playing guitar on the track, in particular the opening lick. I still have a strong superstition that Paul isn’t and it just John but he could be playing that opening lick.
I suspect often when the people suggest it is George or John on bass when Paul is on piano this isn’t the case – apart from Let it Be sessions they weren’t recording “live” so on a lot of tracks it’s likely Paul overdubbed bass and George and John aren’t on the track at all.
Good point about Paul playing bass, Andy. AFAIK, the only Paul-written track on the White Album where Paul did every instrument himself except for Ringo’s drums was “Why Don’t We Do it in the Road?”, but he didn’t deliberately exclude John and George from the recording – they didn’t contribute, because they were occupied with supervising string overdubs for “Glass Onion” and “Piggies” respectively.
I myself suspect that it may well have been George who played the guitar solo on “Honey Pie”, not John, because he was influenced by Django Reinhardt, and he claimed almost 20 years later that John played the guitar solo on “Honey Pie”. I take that with a huge grain of salt and it has to be noted that none of their memories were 100% perfect, obviously from copious drug or alcohol use at various times in their lives.
A lot of song line-ups are biographers’ guesswork or conjecture, either based on the usual routine (John and George on guitars, Paul on bass and Ringo on drums) or retrospective statements made many years later that are not always 100% correct or reliable.
I agree with the assessment that George played bass. The note selection was ‘Better-than-John’, but ‘Not as good-as-Paul’. It respected the feel of the music, but just didn’t have the rhythmic bounce of a Macca bassline (compare to When I’m 64).
Plus the timbre of the bass was more of a staccato thump, characteristic of a Bass VI; If Paul overdubbed the bass, he most certainly used his Ricky for a big fat, juicy kerchunk, not the fender VI. (Hah- he could even have used his hofner, for the ‘woody’ upright sound. but he didn’t.)
Thanks Walt. I was replying to Andy Sayer and I did suggest the likelihood of George overdubbing the guitar solo, given that he liked Django Reinhardt.
Suppose that Paul did in fact overdub the bass part himself, it’s more than likely that he used his Fender Jazz Bass, as he actually used it on much of The White Album, not his Rickenbacker.
The lyric “She was a Working Girl”, did Paul mean that in the sense of a prostitute, or did he mean that she was a working-class girl ?
Whatever you wish her to be. As Paul said, it’s a fantasy.
I think it meant she was working-class
“Honey Pie” is definitely NOT “fruity”!!! What an insult to an incredible song. The fact that McCartney could write a song in the style of the 1920s demonstrates his creative brilliance and his unbelievable diversity as a composer. There are so many things that separate The Beatles from other musical acts. The fact that “Honey Pie” can coexist on the same album as “Number 9” is mind blowing. Both pieces of music are universes apart, and that’s one of the things that I love about The Beatles. In each and every incredible song, they take us on a musical ride. One song can be in the 1920s; another can be in outer space! Everything that they composed in between was pure magic. Add their amazing harmonies to the mix, and you have a group that is “so far ahead, I’m in front of me”, as Sir Paul sang (probably emulating the hyperbole of Mohammed Ali).
To call “Honey Pie” “fruity” might be someone’s opinion, but I totally, 100%, emphatically disagree! The song is miles from “fruity”. In fact, you can’t even see “fruity” from there!
McCartney should be revered. The Beatles should be revered!
“Fruity”? Give your head a shake!
Are you actually calling “Revolution 9” a piece of music? Seriously?
You do realize that is a direct quote from McCartney himself describing the voice as fruity?
It’s not fruity at all. I adore all of Paul’s “granny music” because it’s beautiful and, yes, COOL. As a classical musician, I appreciate all eras of music and all music genres are worthy of respect. This is a catchy tune with great vocals from Paul, phenomenal drumming from Ringo, woodwind arrangements to die for and a superb jazz guitar infusion. I don’t care what anyone says, it’s a good song.
I don’t know if anyone’s noticed it or just me, but this song would be ideal for a tap dance routine. (I want to take tap lessons so I can dance to this song)
My Dad loved this song (as I did, and still do) back in the sixties. I can still see him doing a tap-dance and soft-shoe routine to it.
Where I lived (Pittsburgh PA) the Guy Marks song “Loving You Has Made Me Bananas” was a minor hit in 1968, around the time the White Album was released. Musically it’s very similar in style to “Honey Pie”, although lyrically it’s wackier:
Oh, your red scarf matches your eyes
You closed your cover before striking
Father had the shipfitter blues
Loving you has made me bananas.
Oh, you burned your fingers that evening
While my back was turned.
I asked the waiter for iodine
But I dined all alone.
According to Wikipedia, it was also a minor hit in the UK 10 years after (in 1978).
One of my fav beatles songs, so underrated!
I apologize in advance for getting political, but the Beatles were well aware that they were caught in, and leading players in, what some call a “culture war.” E.g. on 8/1/1965 during their Blackpool Night Out concert, John introduced “Help!” by saying, “the next song we’d like to sing…is our latest record…or our latest electronic noise depending on whose side you’re on” (Anthology 2, Disc 1, Track 12). John in particular was pushing traditional boundaries (e.g. “Tomorrow Never Knows”). Paul’s nods to older music hall songs (e.g. “Honey Pie,” “When I’m 64”) functioned as musical “olive branches” to conservatives. By venturing beyond the traditional boundaries of popular music the Beatles were not trying to destroy the musical culture they inherited and loved, they were creating sonic spaces for people to explore other musical traditions (e.g. “Within You Without You”) and to explore their own unique perspectives (e.g. “A Day in the Life”).
Great guitar solo. Very jazz.
Seeing a video of a tap dance to this song would be fantastic! Always felt those dancers have a talent that few possess
And that’s why I want to take tap dance lessons.
Anyone who saw the GET BACK documentary in which Lennon played constantly and proficiently, or who has witnessed John’s lead playing on “I Feel Fine, ” “Revolution,””You Can’t Do That,” and “Get Back,” and his rhythm guitar playing on “All My Loving” and “Happy Just To Dance With You” should realize that he was an excellent rhythm guitarist and more than capable of playing the solo/lead (and rhythm as well) on “Honey Pie.”
So it’s overlooked again that the boys enjoyed going into other styles and eras for the fun of it. And we’re complaining–why?—because these guys were having fun remembering their origins and earliest memories in music?