Honey (Ohio Players album)

Honey is the seventh studio album by American band the Ohio Players. Released on August 16, 1975, by Mercury Records. It is generally regarded as a classic, the band's best album, and the last great full-length release of their dominant era in the mid-1970s.

The cover image gained mild notoriety from urban legends involving one of the singles, "Love Rollercoaster", one to the effect that the honey injured Ester Cordet’s skin, ruining her career as a model, and another claiming that she was stabbed to death in the recording booth, with her scream captured on the song. These stories are false.

The album was recorded and mixed at Paragon Recording Studios in Chicago, with Barry Mraz as the recording engineer. Marty Link, Steve Kusiciel, Rob Kingsland, and Paul Johnson are credited as tape operators. Gilbert Kong mastered the final mix at Masterdisk in New York City.

The album peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200 during the week of September 27, 1975, kept out of the top spot by Jefferson Starship's Red Octopus. In addition, it was the third album from the band to top the Soul/Black Albums chart, where it spent three weeks.

Release history
In addition to the standard 2 channel stereo version the album was also released in a 4 channel quadraphonic version in 1975. This version appeared on 8-track tape in the US and was the fourth of five Ohio Players albums available in this format. The quad version was re-issued on DTS Audio CD in 2001.

Personnel

 * James "Diamond" Williams – drums, timbales, congas, percussion, lead & background vocals
 * Billy Beck – Hammond organ, acoustic and Fender Rhodes electric piano, RMI electric piano, clavinet, ARP Odyssey, ARP string ensemble, percussion, lead & background vocals
 * Marvin "Merv" Pierce – trumpets, flugelhorn
 * Marshall "Rock" Jones – electric bass
 * Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner – guitars, lead & background vocals
 * Ralph "Pee Wee" Middlebrooks – trumpets
 * Clarence "Satch" Satchell – tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, flute

Production

 * Ohio Players – producers
 * Barry Mraz, Gilbert Kong & Tom Hanson; engineers
 * Marty Linke, Steve Kusiciel, Rob Kingsland, Paul Johnson – tape operators
 * Richard Fegley – photography
 * Jim Ladwig – art direction
 * Joe Kotleba – design

Cover versions

 * "Fopp" by Soundgarden, from the 1988 EP Fopp
 * "Love Rollercoaster" by Red Hot Chili Peppers, from the 1996 soundtrack to Beavis and Butt-head Do America
 * "Let's Love" by Vanessa Williams, on her covers album Everlasting Love