The Honeydrippers, Vol. 1

by The Honeydrippers

Overview

A telling thing about Robert Plant at his peak is how he would sneak on-stage with Rockpile and sing Elvis songs, or how Swan Song signed Dave Edmunds when his retro-rock was about the furthest thing from the monolithic Zeppelin of Physical Graffiti. Plant always harbored deep, abiding love for early rock & roll, a fact that was often obscured by his restlessness, too, a side that he indulged on his first two post-Zep solo albums -- glistening, modern albums with a heavier debt to Robert Fripp than Little Richard. Two albums in, he switched tactics for the EP detour The Honeydrippers, Vol. 1, an unabashedly retro-rock project that hauled out five golden oldies from the pre-Beatles era and served them up authentically, or at least as authentic nostalgia. There is a certain sense of pastiche here, particularly in how "Sea of Love" is drenched in oceans of strings, far more than on the Phil Phillips original, which manages to evoke the era of lily white pop covers in a way that no straightforward cover could, but that's part of the charm of the record. Some may find this kind of pastiche a bit distancing, even campy, but there's a genuine warmth in Plant's performance, and his ad-hoc group of Honeydrippers -- including Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page in uncredited cameos -- have a great time running through these handful of oldies, particularly "Rockin' at Midnight." It may not be much more than a lark, but it's truly fun, even if it might have been slightly more fun making it than it is listening to it. [A remastered expanded version of The Honeydrippers, Vol. 1 was reissued as part of the 2006 box set Nine Lives and was then reissued as a separate disc the following year.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	02/19/2013
Label:	Jdc Records
UPC:	0093652694413

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Honeydrippers   Primary Artist
Robert Plant   Primary Artist,Vocals
Nile Rodgers   Guitar,Guitar (Rhythm)
Paul Martinez   Bass
Jimmy Page   Guitar
The King Bees   Horn Section
Crispin Cioe   Sax (Alto),Sax (Baritone)
Ula Hedwig   Vocals (Background)
Robbie Blunt   Guitar
Jeff Beck   Guitar
Richie Hayward   Drums
Queen Bees   Vocals (Background)
Jezz Woodroffe   Keyboards
Paul Shaffer   Piano
Bob Funk   Trombone
Millie Whiteside   Vocals (Background)
Arno Hecht   Sax (Tenor)
Paul Litterall   Trumpet

Technical Credits

Nugetre And The Fabulous Brill Brothers   Audio Production
Paul Martinez   Group Member
Ray Charles   Composer
Bill Inglot   Remastering
Jimmy Page   Group Member
Doc Pomus   Composer
Robbie Blunt   Group Member
Jeff Beck   Group Member
Rudy Toombs   Composer
Roy Brown   Composer
Richie Hayward   Group Member
Renald Richard   Composer
Nile Rodgers   Group Member
Jezz Woodroffe   Group Member
George Khoury   Composer
Phil Spector   Composer
Paul Shaffer   Group Member
Robert Plant   Group Member
Raj Das   Remastering
Ahmet Nugetre   Producer
Phillip Baptiste   Composer
Ed Vulliamy   Liner Notes
Daniel Hersch   Remastering