Honey Lantree, R.I.P.
Honeycombs’ drummer went places no man could go
THERE’S BEEN SOME WELCOME LOVE going around the internet as news of Honeycombs’ drummer Honey Lantree’s death by cancer on December 23 of last year has gotten about. Consider this an addenda to mine and Lew Shiner’s tributes to drummers in our kickoff week at Tell It Like It Was.
The Facts . . .
Honey Lantree: 1943–2018
Discography
Albums
1964
The Honeycombs
Released in the US as Here Are the Honeycombs. (Billboard: US #14)
1965
All Systems–Go!
1966
The Honeycombs in Tokyo
Released in Japan only.
Singles (US)
1964
“Have I the Right?” / ”Please Don’t Pretend Again” (US #5, UK #1)
“I Can’t Stop” / “I’ll Cry Tomorrow” (US #47)
1965
“That’s the Way” / “Color Slide”
“Something Better Beginning” / “I’ll See You Tomorrow”
“I Can’t Get Through to You” / “That’s the Way”
1966
“Who Is Sylvia” / “How Will I Know”
Singles (UK)
1964
“Have I the Right?” / ”Please Don’t Pretend Again” (UK # 1)
“Is It Because” / ”I’ll Cry Tomorrow” (UK #38)
“Eyes” / “If You’ve Got To Pick a Baby”
1965
“Something Better Beginning” / ”I’ll See You Tomorrow (UK #39)
“That’s the Way” / ”Can’t Get Through to You” (UK #12)
“This Year Next Year” / ”Not Sleeping Too Well Lately”
1966
“Who Is Sylvia” / ”How Will I Know”
“It’s So Hard” / ”I Fell in Love”
“That Loving Feeling” / ”Should a Man Cry” (1966)
The Story . . .
All that might not seem like a lot, but:
The Honeycombs had one big (and unforgettable) American hit, with 1964’s “Have I the Right,” which also topped the charts in the UK, where the band had a handful more. Their hold on history lay in the fact of having a female drummer in an otherwise all-male band — something history has not made a habit of repeating.
Anne “Honey” Lantree picked up the drums on the spot when she asked a local band using a rehearsal space in a building where she was taking guitar lessons if she could give their open kit a try. She was a natural, so much so that they hired her on the spot (she’d never played) and soon enough she had a nickname and was the only female drummer of the rock & roll era to have a hit band named after her (by the record company, where somebody at least knew a selling point when they saw one).
Anne “Honey” Lantree picked up the drums on the spot when she asked a local band using a rehearsal space in a building where she was taking guitar lessons if she could give their open kit a try.
She was a fine singer as well, but it was her drumming that went places no man could go. Karen Carpenter was one of many young women who took up the drums when she saw Honey Lantree on television. There are more than a few who say the day the suits forced Karen from behind the drums was the day the Hellhounds started down her trail.
But that wasn’t before a lot of other young women had seen her on television. History moves in mysterious ways, as does the business part of the music business, which runs on people being impressed by what has already proven successful.
She succumbed to cancer on Dec. 23, at home in Essex.
The sound she sent out into the world? Well, it ain’t dead yet.
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Thanks for reading! Below are links to three articles that are essential to knowing what Tell It Like It Was is all about. “Blogging with Tell It Like It Was” is my attempt to keep readers abreast of any changes happening here while “Introduction to Tell It Like It Was” is our mission statement for this publication.
And “Introduction to The Toppermost of the Poppermost” explains the project that John, Lew, and I embarked upon months before launching this publication: a series of articles that review every record to make it all the way to #1 on the Cash Box Top 100 charts from 1960 through 1969.
