Honey Ltd. were an American 1960s girl group consisting 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 university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...

. They formed the Mama Cats and began performing in local venues with other Detroit-based musicians like Bob Seger (who wrote both sides of their first single), Glenn Frey and Suzi Quatro. The group relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, where they auditioned for producer Lee Hazlewood, 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 JD Souther 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's Eli's Comin' was well received but was eclipsed by

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

'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 an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

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, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

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

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American 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 September 1971 by the ''CB ...

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

Kraft Music Hall ''The Kraft Music Hall'' was a popular old-time radio variety show, 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- ...

'', '' The Jerry Lewis Show'', '' The Andy Williams Show'', ''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 Souther. 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, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

, Bob Seger,

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

, Glenn Frey,

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

Kid Rock Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock, is an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter. After establishing himself in the Music of Detroit#Hip-hop, Detroit hip-hop scene, he broke through into m ...

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

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. 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 "Hey Loretta", "The Pill (song), The P ...

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 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...

. Her songwriting credits include a track for the

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

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-re ...

, 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, w ...

"/"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 /ˈbɛl/ () 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 m ...

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

Soundtrack

*1971:

Vanishing Point A vanishing point is a point (geometry), point on the projection plane, image plane of a graphical perspective, perspective rendering where the two-dimensional perspective projections of parallel (geometry), parallel lines in three-dimensional ...

- "So Tired" (as Eve) (

Amos Records Amos Records was an independent record label established in Los Angeles, California by Jimmy Bowen, in 1968. The label was located on 6565 Sunset Boulevard, and had an additional office branch in New York City. With Bowen producing most of Amos Rec ...

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. A pioneer of industrial music, Rice was one of the first artists to use a sampler and turntable as an instrum ...

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

Rhino Records A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

, 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 primarily in country music but varying in everything from 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks. History T ...

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 came to prominence in the early 1960s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spector, a ...

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