HONEYCOMB
“Honeycomb” is a popular song written by Bob Merrill in 1954. The best-selling version was recorded by Jimmie Rodgers and charted at number one on the Billboard Top 100 in 1957. “Honeycomb” also reached number one on the R&B Best Sellers chart and number seven on the Country & Western Best Sellers in Stores chart. It became a gold record. The song is referenced in the McGuire Sisters hit song “Sugartime”, when the soloist sings the line: “Just be my Honeycomb” which is echoed by the other sisters and the male chorus (“Honeycomb, Honeycomb, Honeycomb”). (More from Wikipedia)
An amped-up version of a song by the country & western foundational musician Jimmie Rodgers (“The Singing Brakeman”, not the Jimmie Rodgers who recorded “Honeycomb”) was the most popular song by the Fendermen. The song is called “Mule Skinner Blues” (originally named “Blue Yodel #8”), and they were convinced to record the song with just the two of them, with no bass guitarist or drummer. The vocals are little more than a grumble; what really comes through are the gleeful laughs. Though the song was all rock and roll to me, I used to hear this version of “Mule Skinner Blues” occasionally on country music radio stations also. Unaccountably, the performance became a hit and made the Top Ten.
(December 2014)
