Honey Ltd. were an American 1960s

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

made up of sisters Alexandra and Joan Sliwin, Laura Polkinghorne and Marsha Temmer.

Background

The group members began singing with each other at

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

. They formed the Mama Cats and began performing in local venues with other Detroit-based musicians like

Bob Seger Robert Clark Seger ( ; born May 6, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and The Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s, break ...

(who wrote both sides of their first single),

Glenn Frey Glenn Lewis Frey (; November 6, 1948 – January 18, 2016) was an American singer, guitarist and a founding member of the rock band Eagles. Frey was the co-lead singer and frontman for the Eagles, roles he came to share with fellow member Don ...

and

Suzi Quatro Susan Kay Quatro (born June 3, 1950) is an American singer, bass guitarist, songwriter, and actress. In the 1970s, she scored a string of hit singles that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland, reaching No. 1 in th ...

. The group relocated to Los Angeles where they auditioned for producer

Lee Hazlewood Barton Lee Hazlewood (July 9, 1929 – August 4, 2007) was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late 1950s and singer Nancy Sinatra in the 1960s ...

who signed them immediately and took them to the studio to record with backing from the famed Wrecking Crew. He would later rename them Honey Ltd. Frey was the boyfriend of bandmember Joan Sliwin and followed her to Los Angeles. He was introduced to

J.D. Souther John David "J. D." Souther (born November 2, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He has written and co-written songs recorded by Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles (band), Eagles. Souther is probably best known for his songwriting ab ...

by Joan's sister and bandmate, Alexandra Sliwin.

Career

The group did not achieve widespread commercial success and only released one album. Their version of

Laura Nyro Laura Nyro ( ; born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' (1968 ...

Eli's Comin' "Eli's Comin" is a song written and recorded in 1967 by American singer-songwriter and pianist Laura Nyro. The song was first released in 1968 on Nyro's album, ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession''. Other versions *The song was recorded by Thr ...

was well received but was eclipsed by

Three Dog Night Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, with founding members consisting of vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael Allsup ...

's version released a few months later. In 1969 the group joined

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

on a

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

tour and headed to

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

to perform for the troops. Television appearances in 1968-1969 included ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

'', '' The Joey Bishop Show'', ''

Kraft Music Hall ''The Kraft Music Hall'' was a popular old-time radio variety program, featuring top show business entertainers, which aired first on NBC radio from 1933 to 1949. Radio ''The Kraft Program'' debuted June 26, 1933, as a musical-variety progra ...

'', ''

The Jerry Lewis Show ''The Jerry Lewis Show'' was the name of several separate but similar American variety, talk and comedy programs starring comedian Jerry Lewis that aired non-consecutively between 1963 and 1984. The original version of the series aired on ABC fr ...

'', ''

The Andy Williams Show ''The Andy Williams Show'' was an American television variety show that ran from 1962 to 1971 (alternating during the summer of 1970 with ''Andy Williams Presents Ray Stevens'')Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time N ...

'', ''Operation: Entertainment'', and '' The Bob Hope Christmas Special: Around the World with the USO''. By 1970 Alexandra Sliwin had dropped out of the group to marry

J D Souther John David "J. D." Souther (born November 2, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He has written and co-written songs recorded by Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles. Souther is probably best known for his songwriting abilities, espec ...

. The remaining members continued as a trio with a name change to Eve. The new group released another album that went unnoticed and were subsequently dropped by LHI. They split up shortly after and went on to varied musical careers as singers and songwriters. Laura Creamer (née Polkinghorne) is a songwriter, vocalist, and arranger who has recorded and/or toured with

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

Bruce Hornsby Bruce Randall Hornsby (born November 23, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. His music draws from folk rock, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Southern rock, country rock, jam band, rock, heartland rock, and blues rock musical traditions ...

Kid Rock Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock (also known as Bobby Shazam), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. His style alternates between rock, hip hop, country, and metal. A self-taught musician, ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

Thomas Dolby Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher. Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me ...

, and many others. She is credited as a backing vocalist on multiple albums including

's 1973

Piano Man Piano Man refers to a male pianist. Piano Man may also refer to: Music * ''Piano Man'' (Billy Joel album), a 1973 rock album by Billy Joel ** "Piano Man" (song), a 1973 song from the album * ''Piano Man'' (Hilton Ruiz album), 1975 * ''Piano Man'' ...

. Her ''West of Detroit'' CD was released in 2001. Alex Sliwin, Joan Sliwin, and Marsha Temmer were in the short-lived group Bijou with former

Association Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

members Jules Alexander and Russ Giguere, and subsequently wrote and performed with

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as " You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My M ...

and others. Marsha Temmer Darigan continued with studio work plus a stint as a backup singer/dancer for

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer o ...

. Her songwriting credits include a track for the

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

movie series and, along with Alex Sliwin, many of the songs for the "musical novel" ''UnderWing''. The Sliwin sisters are still actively performing as Like Honey. In 2013, a compilation CD titled ''Honey Ltd. - The Complete LHI Recordings'' was released featuring tracks recorded during the group's tenure at LHI. The CD includes all eight songs from the first album, two songs released only as singles, and three previously unreleased songs.

Discography

Studio albums

*1968: ''Honey Ltd.'' (LHI-12002) *1970: ''Take It And Smile'' (as Eve) (LHI-3100)

Compilations

*2013: ''Honey Ltd - The Complete LHI Recordings '' (

Light in the Attic Records Light in the Attic Records is an independent record label that was established in 2002 in Seattle, Washington by Matt Sullivan. The label is known for its roster of reissue projects and for its distribution catalog. Light in the Attic has re-rel ...

, LITA 102)

Singles

*1967: "Miss You"/"My Boy" (as Mama Cats) (Hideout 1225) *1968: "Come Down"/"Tomorrow Your Heart" (LHI-1208) *1968: "

Louie, Louie "Louie Louie" is a rhythm and blues song written and composed by American musician Richard Berry in 1955, recorded in 1956, and released in 1957. It is best known for the 1963 hit version by the Kingsmen and has become a standard in pop and ...

" (with Lee Hazlewood intro)/"

" (LHI-1216 promo) *1969: " Eli's Coming"/"Silk 'N' Honey" (LHI-3) *1969: "

Silver Threads and Golden Needles "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" is a country song written by Dick Reynolds and Jack Rhodes. It was first recorded by Wanda Jackson in 1956. The original lyrics, as performed by Jackson, contain a verse not usually included in later versions, ...

"/"No You Are" (LHI-12) *1970: " Anyone Who Had a Heart"/"Dusty Roads" (as Eve) (LHI-25) *1970: "Take It And Smile"/" You Go Your Way" (as Eve) (

Bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...

914) *1975: "Carry On"/"Children of the Highway" (as Bijou) ( A&M 1678)

Soundtrack

*1971:

Vanishing Point A vanishing point is a point on the image plane of a perspective drawing where the two-dimensional perspective projections of mutually parallel lines in three-dimensional space appear to converge. When the set of parallel lines is perpendicul ...

- "So Tired" (as Eve) (Amos Records AAS8002)

Other appearances

*1987: ''Girls In The Garage Volume 2'' (Romulan Records UFOX03) - "Miss You" (as Mama Cats) *2002: ''

Boyd Rice Boyd Blake Rice (born December 16, 1956) is an American experimental sound/noise musician using the name of NON since the mid-1970s, archivist, actor, photographer, author, member of the ''Partridge Family Temple'' religious group, co-founder of ...

Presents Music for Pussycats'' (Caciocavallo CAD 13) - "The Warrior", "Silk & Honey" *2002: ''Just The Right Sound: The Association Anthology'' (

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

, 8122783032) - "Carry On" (as Bijou) *2010: ''Lost Sixties Delights Volume 6'' (U-Spaces) - "Come Down" *2010: ''...Next Stop Is Vietnam (The War on Record 1961-2008)'' (

Bear Family Records Bear Family Records is a Germany-based independent record label, that specializes in reissues of archival material, ranging from country music to 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks. History The label has been in existence since ...

BCD16070, 13-CD set) - "The Warrior" *2012: ''Lee Hazlewood - You Turned My Head Around - Lee Hazlewood Industries 1967-70'' (Light in the Attic Records, LITA 094, 7" vinyl box set, 11 records) - "Tomorrow Your Heart" & "Come Down" (as Honey Ltd.), "Anyone Who Had A Heart" & "Dusty Roads" (as Eve). *2013: ''Lee Hazlewood - There's A Dream I've Been Saving'' (Light in the Attic Records, CD promo) - "Silk 'n' Honey" *2013: ''Lee Hazlewood - There's A Dream I've Been Saving'' (Light in the Attic Records, LITA 109, 4-CD box set) - "Tomorrow Your Heart" & "Silk 'n' Honey" (as Honey Ltd.), "Dusty Roads" & "Hello L.A., Bye Bye Birmingham" (as Eve). *2014: ''Night Walker: The

Jack Nitzsche Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche ( '; April 22, 1937 – August 25, 2000) was an American musician, arranger, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He first came to prominence in the early 1960s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spec ...

Story, Volume 3'' ( Ace Records, CDCHD 1430) - "Louie Louie" *2016: ''Where The Girls Are, Volume 9'' (Ace Records CDCHD 1431) - "Come Down"

References

;Notes ;Citations

External links

Laura Creamer Facebook page

Laura Creamer Myspace page

Laura Creamer at allmusic.com

Like Honey Facebook page

Review of ''The Complete LHI Recordings'' at Dangerousminds.net

Review of ''The Complete LHI Recordings'' at Pitchfork.com

Review of ''The Complete LHI Recordings'' at Drownedinsound.com

Review of ''The Complete LHI Recordings'' at Thefourohfive.com
{{authority control American girl groups American pop music groups Musical groups from Detroit Singers from Detroit 1968 establishments in Michigan