The Honeys


The Honeys were an American girl group formed in Los Angeles in 1963. Their line-up consisted of Marilyn Rovell, her sister Diane Rovell, and their friend Ginger Blake. The group were a kind of female counterpart to the Beach Boys. Bandleader Brian Wilson served as the Honeys' record producer and chief songwriter, and later married Marilyn in late 1964. After 1969, they remained mostly inactive. In the 1970s, Marilyn and Diane formed another short-lived group, American Spring, also with participation from Wilson.

Background

The Honeys consisted of sisters Diane and Marilyn Rovell and their cousin Ginger Blake. Marilyn and Diane had met the Beach Boys when the boys performed at a Hollywood club called Pandora's Box in late 1962. Brian and Marilyn began dating, and he brought the girls into the recording studio to produce their songs, and included them as backup performers on Beach Boys records. The cheerleader voices on "Be True to Your School" were performed by the Honeys, and the two groups sometimes shared the same concert bill.

Career

In 1963 and 1964, the Honeys released a number of singles, with minimal to modest regional success.
The songs were either written, arranged, or produced by Brian Wilson. Among their other studio work, they also sang background vocals for The Beach Boys on the hit "Be True To Your School", for Bruce Johnston on the title song from his album Surfin' 'Round The World, and for Jan and Dean on the hit singles "The New Girl In School", "Dead Man's Curve", and "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena".
The Honeys' career faded as surfing music went out of vogue. Marilyn and Brian were married and became the parents of Carnie and Wendy Wilson, who later found fame as members of Wilson Phillips. Marilyn and Diane later re-teamed as a duo called American Spring during the 1970s, also under the production eye of Brian Wilson.
During the 1990s, the Honeys reunited and performed locally around Los Angeles. An anthology CD of their music also was released by Capitol Records in 1992.
On March 10, 2016, two of The Honeys participated in concert at the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena, California as part of a tribute to their long-time friend and 1960s songwriting legend P.F. Sloan.

Discography

Singles