Honey From the Bee

Willie and the Bumblebees make real music. It doesn’t fit into convenient slots or ready-made categories. If there’s a common thread to the songs on this album, it’s their sense of funky reality. The Bumblebee’s roots are on the midnight – flash side of the street, and their music is the celebration of their survival. If you had to list influences, you could list gospel, jazz, reggae, ballads and blues. . . but, like all good chefs, they know just how to mix their spices.

There’s a lot of energy here; not the automated frenzy of mindless disco, but rather the revelation of stories that feel good to shake your ass to. The music is raw, but up front and tight. . . it’s as immediate and undeniable as a 3 A.M. siren or the frantic undressing of a first-night passion.

For years the Bees have played bars and dances and have been on the scene of countless conquests, seductions, betrayals, brawls and reconciliations. Their music has punctuated most spheres of human activity, reflecting and catalyzing them as well. “Will you still love me after my hard on is gone?” is a more pertinent question to most of us that “can you do the hustle?” . . . and if you can’t dig how it feels to be “crazy with you, baby,” or if you can’t dig the cynical acceptance of “It’s my own fault, baby,” then you’re probably better off with some safe disco-muzak which won’t ever trouble your soul with any kind of feeling.

This is music for men and women; it’s made for those who live, love, lose, who get high and happy, crash and get crazy, get down and doomed, but always come back. . . one more time. It’s got to do with scoring and losing, with passion and paying, with guts and soul, and above all, involvement. This album is about you-and-me-and-them, and if you feel like listening while you’re partying, you might discover that we’re all a lot closer to each other than we like to let on. This is music around which you can drink, think, despair or dance. . . What else can you ask? Meet you down at the bar.

~ Tony Glover (1976)