Written and first recorded by Les Baxter (1952).
Hit version by Martin Denny (US #4/R&B #11 1959).
From the wiki: “‘Quiet Village’ is an Exotica instrumental that was written and first recorded by Les Baxter (‘Unchained Melody‘) in 1952. Seven years later, in 1959, Martin Denny added exotic sounds to the song, and his instrumental version made it to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #11 on the R&B charts. Arguably the creator of ‘world music’, Denny’s arrangements were a combination of ethnic styles: South Pacific, the Orient and Latin rhythms.
“It was during a mid-1950’s engagement at Honolulu’s ‘Hawaiian Village’ Shell Bar that Denny originally discovered what would become his trademark sound.
Co-written and first recorded by Bobby Scott (1960).
First vocal version recorded by Billy Dee Williams (1961).
Also recorded by Lenny Welch (1962), The Beatles (1963).
Hit (instrumental) versions by Martin Denny (US #50 1962), Mr. Acker Bilk (UK #16 1963), Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (US #7 1965).
From the wiki: “‘A Taste of Honey’ was written by Bobby Scott (‘He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother‘) and Ric Marlow. It was originally an instrumental track (or recurring theme) written for the 1960 Broadway version of the 1958 British play A Taste of Honey. The original recorded versions of the song first appeared on Bobby Scott’s 1960 album, also titled A Taste of Honey. His composition would go onto win Best Instrumental Theme at the Grammy Awards of 1963.
“A vocal version of the song, first recorded by Billy Dee Williams in 1961, became popular when it was covered, first, by Lenny Williams in 1962 and, then, by The Beatles in 1963 on their debut UK Parlaphone album Please Please Me, and debut US album Introducing … The Beatles on VeeJay. (The group had begun to incorporate the song into their live repertoire in Hamburg, Germany, in 1962.)
“Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass recorded the most popular instrumental version of the song with a cover on their 1965 album, Whipped Cream & Other Delights. This recording won four Grammy awards in 1966 including Record of the Year.”
